How old schoolroom becoming a cafe and bar will help improve village parish hall

Last year, leaders at All Saints Church in Cleadon decided the Old Schoolroom, part of the church’s estate on Sunderland Road in the village, was both under-utilised and expensive to run.

Now, the leasing of the Old Schoolroom will enable the church to reinvest into the parish hall.

The building was put out to market and a developer submitted an application to turn it into a café and bar - but church leaders say villagers can be reassured that this does not affect the parish hall’s offering.

Late last month South Tyneside Council approved the application. It is intended that the café will be open during the day and that a micro cocktail bar will be open on afternoons and evenings.

The Rev Vernon Cuthbert, Vicar at All Saints, explained: “After Covid we noticed that bookings for the Old Schoolroom had reduced while utility bills were increasing.

“We have plenty of space in our very large parish hall, which is unaffected by the leasing of our Old Schoolroom, and in our Chapter House, so we reluctantly took the decision to lease the space.

“Our parish hall is used by several community and church groups who meet in the hall itself or our upstairs function room. However, there are some repairs and improvements needed and we’ll be able to do some of this work thanks in part to leasing the Old Schoolroom.

“We successfully applied for a Diocese of Durham grant to pay for roof repairs to the Parish Hall, and will be looking for opportunities for other grants to help increase accessibility to the hall, and improve our kitchen facilities.”

A heritage statement submitted with the Old Schoolroom planning application said there would be “no structural alterations” to the building’s exterior, but internal alterations were proposed to bring forward the new use.

This included a second toilet, the installation of a bar/café area and an update to the kitchen space.

The developer, who noted the church has a “has a separate hall which is not the subject of this application and which is to be retained and used by their arrangement and control,” has now applied for a change of use certificate for the building.

If given the go-ahead, work could start on the site at Easter.

The Rev Cuthbert added: “There’s been a bit of confusion about what building has been leased, but it’s just the Old Schoolroom – the parish hall will be unaffected and the many groups, societies and individuals who book the space, or our Chapter House, can continue to do so.”