CHURCH-goers in Kesgrave have forked out a staggering £17,000 through a gift day to boost the redevelopment of their church.The response of the worshippers to the gift day, held on Sunday, has delighted Jim Sayers, pastor of Kesgrave Baptist Church.

CHURCH-goers in Kesgrave have forked out a staggering £17,000 through a gift day to boost the redevelopment of their church.

The response of the worshippers to the gift day, held on Sunday, has delighted Jim Sayers, pastor of Kesgrave Baptist Church.

"It is a cause for great thanksgiving to God, he said. "It was not something done grudgingly, but joyfully."

The fundraising kitty for the £300,000 two-phase redevelopment of the church has now reached almost £100,000 in the five years it has been running.

The majority of the money has been generated through donations to the church, although around £2,000 was raised by a sponsored abseil in July last year. Along with 12 other church members, Mr Sayers abseiled down the maternity ward of Ipswich Hospital.

Suffolk Coastal District Council this week granted planning permission for the project.

Phase one of the project, which will cost £200,000 alone, will see a suite of rooms being built on the south side of the main building. It will include an office, toilets, a meeting room and a kitchen and building work is expected to commence in around one year.

Phase two, which will be built on the east side of the building, will include a hall and a crèche room.

Mr Sayers said he hoped the new facilities would attract new people to the church, both young and old.

He added the church, which is on Cambridge Road, Kesgrave, would be continuing their fundraising efforts in the coming months to try and reach their target of £300,000.