The Siri Guru Singh Sabha Northampton and the Sikh Community Centre and Youth Club (SCCYC) are relocating the Gurdwara and community centre.
The new temple, which has taken more than two years to build so-far, is set to open in the next couple of months with a larger prayer hall for up to 350 people and car parking for 100 cars.
The charities, which were recently awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the highest accolade a voluntary group can receive in the UK – plan to more than quadruple the number of free meals they provide for vulnerable and homeless people to 700 a week.
Run by a network of 70 part-time volunteers, the organisations will also use their new site at St James Mill Road to ramp-up the activities and support services they provide for thousands of people every year, from language and computer classes, to youth clubs, health checks and housing support.
The new development will include a food bank, a gym with changing room and shower facilities, meeting and conference rooms for businesses and an extended museum to welcome school children from across Northamptonshire to learn about the Sikh faith as part of the Religious Education curriculum.
Amarjit Singh Atwal, charity trustee, said: "What we are hoping is not only will the Sikh community use it but the wider community will use it too. There's meeting rooms, halls can be used for yoga and wellbeing activities and there's a gym too. We want the building to be a hub. When you look at the architects' drawings normally the real thing never looks the same as the pictures but the architects said ‘it looks spot on’ and it's beyond our expectations as well."
The charities raised £1.5 million through community donations and grants, including the Big Lottery, Sport for England and Garfield Weston, to fund the building work for the new Gurdwara and were further supported with an £800,000 business loan from Lloyds Bank.
