By Gordon Berry

WORK IS shortly to begin on an ambitious £1 million building project at Cupar Old Parish Church thanks to the “overwhelming support” of the congregation.

The Rev Dr Ken Jeffrey said the C4WARD project has just reached its funding target.

The feat is all the more remarkable given the plea for a late drive to top up the fund, an effort which resulted in the final £140,000 being gathered in just 50 days, bringing the grand total to £1,037,765.

Yesterday Mr Jeffrey said the project includes plans to repair the stonework and refurbish the interior of the Grade A listed church built in 1785.

There are also plans to extend and develop the church hall built later in 1877 and to transform it into a modern church centre.

Apart from all that, the project includes a commitment to help build a home for abandoned street boys in Ica, Peru, under the auspices of The Vine Trust and Scripture Union Peru.

£60,000 will be sent to Peru, and last year a team of volunteers from in and around Cupar helped local men to dig and prepare foundations for the home.

It is expected the work will be complete by October next year and a second team from Cupar will help in the final stages and attend the opening ceremony.

The C4WARD was launched in February 2005 and until May of this year had raised £845,000. After tenders for the work were received, it was found that a further £100,000 had to be raised for the work to proceed.

Contracts for the Cupar work will be signed shortly and it is anticipated the project will begin next month and will take 10 months to complete.