CHURCHGOERS who donated thousands of pounds to keep a Christian bookshop open have been left devastated by its closure.

Staff at Living Oasis on the High Street in South Woodford, were given just three days notice they were being made redundant, with the store closing its doors last Saturday (July 30).

The news comes as a huge blow to the local Christian community who thought they had helped save the shop with donations believed to amount to as much as £20,000.

The business, which was formerly part of the Wesley Owen chain of bookshops, was taken over by Ongar based Christian charity the Nationwide Christian Trust (NCT) and rebranded in January last year.

Store manager Dominic Stinchcombe, said: “We got pledges from customers and churchgoers amounting to £40,000.

“Once it became clear that we were being taken over, we passed the list on to NCT.

“They were able to realise about £20,000.”

NCT had ambitious plans for its new shops and hoped to integrate cafes and children’s play areas into the business.

But the dream proved hard to realise, and NCT began closing its bookshops earlier this year, reducing the number from 19 to just four nationwide at the time of writing.

Di Coombes works as an administrator at the Woodford Baptist Church which helped raise money to keep the shop open.

She said: “Given the amount of people that used the shop, I can’t believe they can have been losing that much money.

“It was always heaving when I went in there.”

Mrs Coombes, 40, of Pelham Road in South Woodford says Living Oasis was a focal point for the local Christian Community.

She added: “If ever I needed say 40 Bibles for an Alpha Course, I could just give Dominic a call and he’d get them for us.

“I don’t know what we will do without the shop, it was so much more than just a place to buy books.”

Mr Stinchcombe, 58, is still hopeful that another Christian bookshop will step in to save Living Oasis, but he said something needs to be done quickly.

He explained: “I have a letter saying that Nationwide Christian Trust trading as Living Oasis have gone into liquidation.

“I guess the rent on the shop has been paid for the next six to eight weeks.”

And he added: “NCT tried, but in hindsight they took on too many shops too quickly.

“I’m not rolling in cash or I would take the shop on myself.”

The Guardian is awaiting comment from the Nationwide Christian Trust.

Both the Nationwide Christian Trust and Living Oasis are still listed as active companies.

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