The buyers of a £3.5m “derelict” church plan to turn it into a new mosque for Watford “with facilities like never before”.
St Thomas’ United Reformed Church, in Langley Road, Nascot, closed at the end of 2015 with the plan being to demolish and rebuild it because the building was “not fit for purpose” due to “serious structural defects”.
Despite planning permission being approved twice, the scheme never got off the ground and the land was put up for sale last year.
Ar-Rahmah Trust completed the purchase in January and plans to raise a further £1.5m for renovation by the end of this year, so that it can reopen the building as Masjid Al-Ummah in 2026.
According to a Launchgood page for the project, it will be a “welcoming, non-sectarian, and non-partisan environment providing accessible spaces for worship, learning, and community engagement”.
As well as space for prayer, Masjid Al-Ummah will offer a dedicated women’s gym, nursery, food bank, Quran classes and Islamic education, a social space for older people, youth spaces, a sports hall, study hubs and mortuary services.
Both the terms masjid and mosque are used to describe the planned facility, with both referring to places of worship for Muslims.
The Launchgood page is currently aiming to raise £500k during February to repay initial short-term financing. So far, £340k has been raised from 412 supporters.
“The Watford Muslim community has grown from a small group to a vibrant and diverse population of 15,000,” the project website says.
“While existing masjids and musallahs have served us well, the demand for space, especially during Jummah and Ramadan, has outgrown current facilities.”
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It adds: “Masijd Al Ummah will address the community’s spiritual, educational, social, and well-being needs, inspired by the traditional role of a masjid as hub for prayer, learning, and community cohesion.”
The trustees behind the scheme have apparently met with the Nascot Residents Association to discuss the best ways to inform and involve the community as it progresses.
It appears that the plan is to maintain the existing building, with some changes, rather than following the previous idea of demolishing and replacing it.
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