St Peter's Building Project
St Peter’s Project 2026
St Peter's is a lively, multicultural community worshipping in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, as it has done since the Church was founded in 1915. We are a place of gathering and of celebration, both for the Christian worshiper and the local community person. We host a rich programme of community and cultural events each year, and the church is well used and well loved by thousands living locally.
It is our hope that St Peter's will remain to be at the heart of our community life in North Chiswick however there are some important works we need to do to ensure this continues. Including improving our heating system, drainage and flooring. This programme of works will protect and improve the church building for generations to come.
Our project has been costed at £275,651 of which we have secured and pledged over £100,000 (40%).
Some problems we have identified at St Peter’s :
Drainage
The drainage to the north and to the south-east of the church has historically been poor causing the surrounding areas to become a quagmire with rain. The bogged ground has cause cracking to the external adjacent masonry. A survey of the drainage system carried out in 2015 identified numerous radial cracks, fractures and offset joints.
Internally, the magnesite floor finish immediately inside the church is also cracking and becoming friable as a result of the damp conditions. In the south-east of corner of the church, a puddle often forms with rain, creating an area of hardstanding water that covers access to the hall and the vestry.
Failing rainwater goods are allowing moisture into the building fabric, particularly at high level. If this work is not undertaken now it will result in increasing damage to the fabric, further erosion to the pointing and lead to higher repair costs in the future.
What do we want to do?
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Both water runs to the north and east of the church need to be replaced in their entirety. This will include rodding eyes and gullies, and the replacement of two short feeder runs in the south-east corner. The works are intended to stop the damp issues in the church, to ensure that rainwater is removed effectively from the building and to prevent further damage to the magnesite floor internally from damp. The cracking of the magnesite flooring is a particular issue as it contains asbestos fibres as reinforcement, so the fragmentation of this finish presents a health and safety concern.
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Excavating and relaying the rainwater below ground drainage to the north of the church, and to the south-east of the church
Magnesite Flooring
Magnesite is a flooring material that was used during the 1930s-1950s and was made from a mixture of calcined magnesite and magnesium chloride solution with various fillers which could often include asbestos. At St Peter’s there are extensive areas of a buff-coloured Magnesite flooring within the church as it is laid as the primary flooring surface outside of the timber floored seating areas. Our flooring has been tested and is, as we feared, known to contain asbestos.
It is understood that Magnesite is a relatively stable form of an asbestos but there remains a risk of exposure to the fibres where the surface is abraded, e.g. by footfall or furniture movement, and as a material it offers little resistance to damp conditions. At St Peter’s the Magnesite is cracking in the north chapel, close to the location of the failing below ground drainage and is scuffed and scratched in all other areas of the church.
The Magnesite on the choir balcony has previously been treated with a breathable sealant as a test area, and this has proven successful. The works now are to encapsulate the magnesite flooring at ground floor level with the same system. The topcoat of the system has been specified to match the existing flooring colour. As none of the standard colours are a good match this will be a custom colour. This work is urgently required as a health and safety issue.
What do we want to do?
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Coat the existing magnesite (asbestos) flooring with a breathable protective coating creating a safe, workable surface throughout the affected areas.
New heating system
St Peter’s Church requires a new heating system because our existing gas boiler has reached the end of its serviceable life, becoming unreliable and inefficient. The current setup can no longer provide consistent warmth across the building, impacting comfort for worshippers and community users.
To ensure the church remains a viable space for worship, outreach, and events, a modern, energy-efficient replacement is needed. The new system will also support the Church of England’s Net Zero Carbon ambition by the end of the decade. The replacement will also reduce maintenance issues, energy consumption, and the risk of system failure during colder months.
What do we want to do?
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Replace the existing gas boiler with two new Vaillant wall-hung commercial condensing boilers. These will achieve a high efficiency of 97.3% and be connected to the existing radiators and pipework.
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A new Wi-Fi’ digital control system will be installed to optimise heating times and allow remote operation through internet-connected devices, reducing fuel use and carbon output. We will also install new carbon-monoxide alarms and full electrical connections, complying with safety standards.
New Access Ramp and doors
St Peter’s is a much-loved church at the heart of its community, welcoming a growing number of people and groups into its worship and community life. As activity is increasing it has become clear that the current entrance - with its worn ramp and solid timber doors - no longer reflects the openness and accessibility that the church seeks to offer.
What do we want to do?
To support this ambition for greater inclusion and openness, a new entrance is proposed: a thoughtfully designed combination of ramp and steps, along with a pair of entrance doors that can stand open and internal glazed doors that allow the life of the church to be visible from outside. This transformation will create a more inviting and accessible threshold for all who come to the building.
The new entrance will significantly improve access for wheelchair users, people with limited mobility, and those with pushchairs & prams, while also offering a warm visual welcome to the wider community. As the first phase of enhancing the church’s capacity and use, it helps St Peter’s continue to grow as an open, active, and inclusive place for everyone.
I work for The Upper Room homeless charity and over the years we have benefited considerably from the support of St Peter's and its parishioners. It's one of those churches that is genuinely deeply embedded in the local community, providing a base for countless activities for old and young on top of its role as a spiritual centre.
Last year our charity put on an event featuring David Tennant and we quickly realised that the venue we had booked was far too small for the number of people who wished to attend. St Peter's offered the use of their premises and their team, led by Father Fabrizio and Tassy Russell, did an amazing job to ensure we were able to provide around 700 avid David Tennant fans with an evening to remember!
Thanks to St Peter's, we raised a record amount of money to help us support homeless and vulnerable people in the area. The importance of this church cannot be overstated, and I wish them every success with their refurbishment project.
We started coming to St Peters because of the children's activities put on for the community. We have found that St Peters is more than a church, it's a hub of life, music and community, and we have been made to feel so welcome every time we enter. I couldn't think of another place in the local area that has so much reach and connection with the wider community.
St Peter’s is more than just a place of worship — it’s a vital heart of our community where families, children, seniors and visitors from all walks of life come together in warmth and welcome. For us, it’s a place of shared laughter, music, support, friendship and belonging.
The building project is essential: fixing the drainage, renewing the heating, and making the church safe and accessible again means that future generations will continue to enjoy the church — not only for services, but for children’s groups, concerts, social events and all-important community activities.
I deeply value what St Peter’s does for so many people and our beloved community.
St Peter's Church in Acton Green is, for me, far more than a place of worship - it is a home of the heart. When I walk through its doors, I don’t just enter a church, I step into warmth, friendliness, laughter, music, children’s voices, and the comforting hum of life shared together. Strangers become familiar faces, and familiar faces become family.
What moves me most is its openness, the way everyone is welcomed just as they are. No labels, no separations, no "us" and "them." We come from different cultures, languages, ages and stories, yet once we are inside, we stand together as one. At St Peter’s, nobody needs to earn belonging - we simply belong. It is a place where no one is forgotten, and where every person is held at the heart of the community like a member of one family.
The life of this church stretches beyond Sundays, with its after-school clubs for children, seasonal gatherings, coffee mornings, music, talks, playful afternoons, shared meals, volunteering, and countless moments of togetherness. It welcomes the elderly seeking company, parents seeking support, children seeking wonder and joy, and anyone in need of a gentle place to rest, breathe or be heard.
St Peter’s is a pulse in the centre of Acton Green. It is vibrant, diverse, compassionate and alive. It supports the needy, lifts the lonely, celebrates every culture and builds bridges where differences disappear. It is a family made not by blood but by openness, kindness and love.
And for me personally, it is an anchor. When I have been away for too long, something feels missing, as though part of my rhythm has fallen out of place. Returning feels like coming back home, back to people I love, back to family.
St Peter’s is not just a church. It is home. It is a community. It is family, living, loving and growing together.
I have been working as Director of Music at St Peter's now for 3 years, and am always touched and motivated by the energy, enthusiasm and encouragement of the whole community in their support of a wide variety of music-making at the church. We have set up and maintained a weekly children's choir and formulated a regular recital series, drawing in large numbers of the wider local community to the church. We have also programmed events aimed for toddlers, young children and their carers, which have proved popular in our local area. The planned refurbishments will ensure that we can continue to offer such activities from this central venue.
We absolutely love the community and family-friendly environment of this church. We have always felt so welcome by all, and enjoy coming to services and Sunday School. The music concerts hosted here are also of the highest quality. I hope this project can be accomplished - it is certainly a worthy cause
As a Chiswick-based professional musician I’ve had the pleasure, not only of giving
many concerts in St Peter’s with my colleagues, but also of attending concerts,
dance evenings, a jazz festival and other events organised by the church. Although
our family are not church-goers the activities organised and/or hosted by the church
greatly add to our sense of community and involvement in local life.
The church has an excellent acoustic for music and its large floor area allows it to
accommodate a huge range of events. For instance, we regularly promote tango
concerts with an attendance of around 200 people seated at tables but still leaving
ample room for a dance floor.
While church has enormous potential as a resource for the whole community its
facilities can only be described as basic with limited access to outside toilets and no
easy access to water. Upgrading these would allow it to further develop and increase
the range of its activities, make for easier access, and enhance the comfort and
enjoyment of its many visitors.
David Juritz, violinist.
St. Peter's Parish is undoubtedly one of the most artistic and vibrant parish communities in London, hosting prestigious concerts over the years. I remember many of my concerts, including one of my first concerts in London upon my arrival in the UK and the one, a couple of years later, with the baritone De Luca, sponsored by the Italian Consulate. St. Peter's has always been a supporter with love and dedication, and hosted the inaugural concert of BriosOrchestra, the volunteer orchestral project that Beatrice Limonti and I conceived, which helps musicians in financial difficulty. I am grateful to Fr. Fabrizio for his support over these years, and I hope he and his community will continue to pursue increasingly ambitious projects that have Beauty and Truth as their unconditional subjects.
The improvements described would be very helpful for the local community, and I hope that these project can be done.
St Peter's is a wonderful community church. I come to the mindfulness class and to the St Peter's Hall for Move Into Well Being and I come to concerts here. I think Father Fabrizio is a good shepherd.