The Trangie Respite Centre is set to be operational by November, providing vital respite for people with disabilities and their families.

Trangie Community Connections (TCC) president Andrew Cayzer said it was exciting to see the project coming to life.

For years TCC had struggled to find funding for its dream.

It was a steep learning curve, with grant applications continuously knocked back until they registered for charity and benevolent society status.

“Once we got that, the next round of funding we went for we actually got some feedback,” Mr Cayzer said.

That feedback advised the group to get an asset. They purchased the former Anglican Church from the Anglican Diocese, who “gave us such a discount, it was the equivalent of them giving a big donation”. Then they received $176,000 from the federal government’s Building Better Regions Fund.

Since then it has been full steam ahead.

The committee has been busy drawing up contracts for the building – a portable construction including bedrooms, a kitchenette and bathrooms – and the church conversion – a kitchen, dining and lounge rooms and some offices.

The building is set to be delivered by the end of June, with a provider to deliver the service.

“We’ve persevered I guess, because we want it to happen,” said TCC treasurer Chris Welch, whose daughter Karina has disabilities.

“We know our town is a great town, and great for people with disabilities.”

Mr Cayzer added: “They’ve got lots of mums and dads in that sense, and grandmas and grandpas”.

Mrs Welch said it was vital people with disabilities had somewhere “safe” and familiar to go.

“Once they’ve used the facility then they’ll know the carers … when they don’t know the carers, don’t know where they are, why they’ve been dropped off, it just makes for a more upsetting time rather than a holiday,” she said.

They said the centre would also bring employment to the town, and keep people with disabilities and their families in Trangie.

“The provider will have to employ local people to clean and cook … so it’s going to mean some serious money for the town,” Mr Cayzer said.

“It keeps people like us in the town,” Mrs Welch added.

“Anybody with a disability, often you had to go away to access services, so to keep people in rural areas you need services like this.

“People think it’s easier to go somewhere else and we don’t want that.”

Mr Cayzer added the whole experience of developing the centre had brought the community together.

“It’s a great experience for people that don’t have people with a disability because you learn and you hear so much,” he said.

“It’s very exciting that the community can do things like this.

“The church, it’s going to be a beautiful-looking place as well. It will live on for another 100 years at least and it will keep getting more and more things added to it. It will be a proud thing for the town.”