More than 150 people turned out to celebrate the official opening of a community space after a 32-month battle to make it happen.

Many people had lent a hand in the campaign, first to have the building listed as a community asset, secondly to raise the funds for the purchase and then thirdly to repair the building and redecorate it, after the exchange of contracts last October, ready for public use.

However, speaking at the event, the parish council chairman James Thomas insisted that there were two people who were pivotal in the achievement – Bella Mansfeld and Tim Thomas.

Cllr Thomas said: “Tim and Bella had a dream of what this building could become – and they have created it.”

Ms Mansfeld modestly disagreed, saying: “I cannot live long enough to thank all the people who have had a hand in saving our church.”

Although the Methodists no longer worshipped there, she said she hoped the building would keep a spiritual dimension, with a Silent Sundays event where the community could sit in the former church in quiet reflection.

She expressed her hope that the Heart of Headcorn would be a happy place for the whole community to come together.

The Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Gordon Newton, congratulated the village on its “maginificent achievement,” and the Mayor, who runs a stone masonry business, also made an impromptu offer to renovate the war memorial in the old church hall.

The guests then moved outside where Ron Haggerty, who had been steward of the Methodist church for 50 years, was invited to cut the ribbon to open the building.

Guests were treated to a cava and canapes reception, and invited to listen to the music of The Lewes, Glynde and Beddingham Brass Band before moving on to the Parsonage Meadow, next door, where there was a family fete complete with an inflatable slide and party disco soft play for the children to enjoy.

The Methodist Church closed for worship in January 2021.

The church trustees had sought several times to sell the 150-year-old church at auction, with the likelihood that it would have been turned into flats.