Few 888 Ladies would go as far to suggest that bingo has something of a religious following although one former bingo hall in Scotland is bringing the game of bingo and religion much closer together.
A former bingo hall in the town centre of Cumbernauld, Glasgow, once at the heart of the community before its demise, was purchased by the Cornerstone Christian Fellowship last year to be transformed into their new house of worship.
Twelve months on and thanks to £120,000 worth of donations from the 140-strong fellowship, the hall is nearing completion with bookshop, cafe and 500-strong conference centre joining this new religious focal point.
The project was at one point in doubt, as the credit crunch meant that raising the £100,000 finance needed to renovate the hall was not forthcoming from banks but the church followers, helped with the support of a local newspaper, rallied round the cause and set-up a number of fundraising events to turn the bingo hall into their new house of worship.
Pastor Welsh, who is very proud of what his congregation achieved, said: ”Because of the credit crunch, this is not a good time to be asking for outside help but it is a real testament to our members and their faith that they raised the money themselves.
“We are obviously very excited,” added the pastor who last year appealed to the public via this newspaper in a bid to get the project back on track.
“At the moment most of the mucky work is finished and we are just dealing with fitting the glass and the iron fixtures. We have already been visited by North Lanarkshire Council’s building control staff, so we are just hoping that everything is okay.”
A cheery story like this really warms the 888 Ladies cockles!
