THE fundraising mission with a vision to expand Barrhead’s newest church took a huge leap forward with a successful fundraising fair.

St Andrew’s Parish Church was bustling with visitors as its guild held a get-together which raked in more than £800.

Formed in 2013 after the amalgamation of the South and Levern and Arthurlie churches, the congregation at St Andrew’s has continued to grow.

So much so, plans have been drawn up to expand its capacity by creating an annex by late 2019 that will host meetings of the town’s Girl Guides, Brownies and Tweenies.

Kind-hearted parishioners were only too happy to contribute to the coffers on Saturday, November 11 as they sampled a fine array of home-baking, all produced by church members.

Cath McGrath, St Andrew’s Parish Church guild convener, told the Barrhead News the event would not have been such a success without the assistance of the local Boys’ Brigade and Girl Guides.

She said: “It is a tradition that the guild has a coffee morning at this time of year.

“We had bric-a-brac, coffee stalls, cake and candy and it was really, really busy, which is great.

“The guild has about 30 members and we are all retired now so we are not as agile as we used to be. We had to reach out to the Boys’ Brigade and Guides and they were a great help.

“We raised about £830 which is a great sum to get at this time of year.

“The money will go into guild funds and at the end of the year, when we tot up what we have raised, the majority goes back to the church.

“At the moment we are a bit short of space after the two churches merged. We’ve now got Guides, Brownies and Tweenies as well so we’ve decided to build an annex.

“All of the money is going towards the building fund.”

The St Andrew’s guild is always looking for new faces to join its weekly gatherings.

Members meet every Monday at 7.30pm in the church’s Westbourne Room and cover a varied syllabus.