About Us

St. Joseph’s Kingsbridge Community

St. Joseph’s Kingsbridge Community is a registered charity that provides a large multi-purpose facility for the residents and visitors of rural Southwestern Ontario. Our organization strongly believes in community involvement and rural revitalization, and is funded entirely through donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, associations, and public agencies.

History

Kingsbridge is a hamlet in Southwestern Ontario surrounded by farms and seasonal cottages. When the former St. Joseph’s Church closed in 2012, it left a vibrant rural community feeling isolated and without a venue for social events. Community members came together to form St. Joseph’s Kingsbridge Community, a non-profit organization created with the intention of preserving a local historic building while reinvigorating a common community establishment for generations to come.

By June of 2015, Kingsbridge had obtained charitable status and full ownership of the building. Privately funded repairs to the former church – now referred to as the Kingsbridge Community – allowed for the partial reopening of the facilities on August 22, 2015.

The Kingsbridge Community is now a multi-use facility run entirely by volunteers. The upper portion of the building is used by the community for rentals, concerts, community gatherings (card parties, ecumenical prayer services, community BBQs, seasonal events), and as a gallery for local artists. Kingsbridge volunteers are actively renovating the basement into a learning centre for community enrichment (computer training for seniors, parenting classes, etc.), rural education, and summer programs for youth as funds permit.

Kingsbridge’s business plan has the cultural activities in the upstairs of the building generating the income to provide the operating costs of the building; this provides an affordable facility for seniors, youth, and community use.