YOUNGSTERS helped bury a time capsule on the site of a new church building.

Children from Leigh Road Baptist Church Pre-school buried the time capsule today as part of the church’s £1million re-development project of their home in Marguerite Drive, Leigh.

Work started in May and is hoped it be finished by the end of the year.

The redevelopment will provide; a new and inviting glass landmark entrance and meeting area, a bright and inviting worship and performance space seating around 250-300, an enhanced community hall for events, sports and celebrations, a new purpose built pre-school facility with internal open-air safe play area and a garden and open-air events space for all to enjoy.

The children and staff of the pre-school were joined by senior minister, Rev Steven Hembery, Graham Milne and Tom Lawrence of building contractors T.J. Evers Ltd and Jane Brookes, the church’s build project coordinator.

The time capsule contained church, local and national items that show a snapshot of life in 2011.

There were local and national newspapers, photos and programmes of the many groups that meet at the church, a Bible and details of the other community services that are held from the church site, as well as some work of the pre-school children.

The churches website for last Thursday, when the capsule was buried, was also archived and placed on a memory stick along with some sample recordings of different church services from the church’s weekly podcast.

Mr Hembery said: “We are delighted that every week hundreds of people use the church premises for a multitude of activities. “We currently provide a coffee shop, community centre, auditorium, halls, retail outlets and warehouse facilities.

“However, we desperately needed to modernise our premises - the new development will help us to serve and welcome our neighbourhood more fully.

“The new upgraded hi-tech worship area, will also allow us to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ in a relevant and accessible way.”

Until the work is the completed, the church is open for business as usual, with Sunday services and many of the weekly activities still taking place.