Discovery Park has pledged £1,800 to help clean up damage after a fire at St Mary’s Arts Centre in Sandwich.

The community events space was forced to close last week after a small fire broke out in the 14th century building’s kitchen.

This meant moving Nativity plays which were scheduled there.

Firefighters were called and although the damage was limited, fine specks of soot meant a major clean-up was
needed.

Julian Stowell, chairman of the Sandwich St Mary’s Community Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Discovery Park was able to come to our aid.”

Funds for running the charity arts centre are already limited, so trustees of St Mary’s Community Trust contacted staff at Discovery Park to see if they could help.

Less than a week after the fire, the space has been professionally cleaned and is ready to re-open to the public.

Mr Stowell added: “We are extremely grateful for their contribution. Their generosity enabled us to get back up and running and the church looks even better than before the fire.

“This has been a wonderful example of Discovery Park reaching out to the local community and is just the beginning of the collaboration between us. Funding the clean-up ourselves would have made a huge dent in our very limited resources.

“We have ambitious plans to further develop St Mary’s as a resource for the community and are looking forward to an exciting year ahead.”

For more information visit the website at www.stmarysartscentre.org.uk