The first ever event in the newly publicly owned Heart of Headcorn Community Centre was a tremendous success.

Italian opera singer Yuri Sabatini serenaded a packed audience of around 100 people in the pews of what had once been Headcorn’s Methodist Church.

The building had been saved from the threat of conversion to housing by the determination of villagers who raised funds to buy it from the church authorities for use as a community centre.

Ideally placed at the centre of the village and with the large village hall car park to its rear, the building is in the perfect location for community activities.

Saturday night’s audience at the black-tie event were treated to a tasty spread of free food and non-alcoholic drinks in addition to some superb opera.

Since completing the purchase of the building in October last year, volunteers have been hard at work restoring the interior of the church.

The main hall is complete, but work is ongoing to the gallery and to the former classroom area at the rear of the building.

Ward Cllr Martin Round (Con) was in the audience and he made a speech at the end thanking not only Signor Sabatini for his wonderful show, but also all the volunteers who had worked to save the church building, and particularly Bella Mansfield who had started the whole campaign.

The church closed for worship in January 2021.