Month: July 2013

Sixty thousand pound donation to Heart of the Community

Posted on by Laura Thomas

This week we received an extremely generous grant from a charitable trust in Bristol.

The Heart of the Community finance and fundraising team have been carefully applying to many different funding organisations. 

The Temple Ecclesiastical Charity said they “were impressed by the application, by the boldness of the project, and by all the hard work which is clearly being put into it” and offered to donate £60,000 to help us realise our vision of living to make a difference.

The trust’s purpose is to support the charitable work of the Church of England in the Bristol area. Their funding policies give priority to the projects where they feel their grants will “make the most difference”.

We are extremely grateful for their generous support, particularly as it will help to fund the capital costs of the new church and community centre building work.

This is the third major donation to the Heart of the Community project from different trusts and charities. Please join us in giving thanks for this encouraging support, and praying for the success of future applications to other funding organisations.

 

Safety hoardings installed as builders prepare to raise the roof

Posted on by Laura Thomas

The Heart of the Community project is becoming more visible.

The wooden hoardings are now up right around the old barns site. On the side of the building along North Road pedestrians are now being diverted to the opposite side of the road. This is happening because, in the next 2-8 weeks, the builders will be bringing in machinery and working in that space to take the roof off the north barn*.

Signage will be added to the wooden fencing shortly, giving information about the plans for the site. 

(*Please note: they will be putting the roof back again once the new building structure is complete.)

Local media splash as building begins

Posted on by Laura Thomas

We marked the start of building work on the new church and community centre this week by inviting local media to a celebratory photo opportunity in the sunshine.

On Tuesday morning a gang of junior builders from St Michael’s Pre-school and Nursery put on their hard hats and high-vis jackets to watch the action at the site, and pose for the cameras.

The professionals from Bray and Slaughter – our appointed building contractors – were extremely hospitable, and choreographed a splendid photo-call complete with diggers and rubble. The story was covered by BBC Bristol, the Bristol Post and others. We were on the front page of the Bristol Observer and more detailed coverage is planned for the forthcoming edition of Little Stoke Matters too.

Once the photographers had finished snapping and the little ones were safely back at Pre-school and Nursery, work continued apace on the site, in preparation for the first stages of construction in the months ahead. What a scoop.

Youngsters watch as bulldozers move in to start work on new church and community centre

Posted on by Laura Thomas

Press Release

Youngsters from a Stoke Gifford pre-school and nursery took their buckets and spades to watch work begin on a new church and community centre.

The children, from St Michael’s Church Pre-school and Nursery donned hard hats and hi-vis jackets and took their buckets and spades to see diggers at work on the site of the Barns in North Road, Stoke Gifford

The derelict site is being transformed into a 600-seat auditorium, meeting rooms and other facilities which will provide much needed conference space for schools, charities and local businesses as well as wedding receptions and other celebrations. It will also serve as a resource for the wider region, within easy access of the M4 and M5 motorways and next door to Bristol Parkway Station.

The contract has been won by Bristol-based building contractor Bray & Slaughter.

The new church and community centre is key to the church’s £5.5m Heart of the Community project, which also includes refurbishing the Old School Rooms adjacent to The Barns and renovating the 14th Century church, next door to the pre-school and nursery. Ten percent of all money raised by the congregation will be used to fund similar projects overseas.

The congregation has already raised £2 million in one-off donations and pledges over the next five years towards the project. The church plans to raise the rest of the money from fundraising events, grants and the generosity of individual and corporate donors. 

The Rev. Simon Jones, Rector of St Michael’s said, “The local population is set to rise from 12,000 to 20,000 over the next ten years. There is an increasing need for local amenities, particularly where the wider community can join together.

“St Michael’s has a long history of serving the local community and beyond. This building is not just for the needs of the church today, but for the whole community, the wider region and also for future generations.

“We are grateful to God for what he has given us, but we don’t want to keep it to ourselves. We want to use what we have to serve others.”

ENDS

 

Heart of the Community is go

Posted on by Laura Thomas

Building work started this week on the first phase of the Heart of the Community project. Praise God! 

The story so far

The project is part of the vision of St Michael’s – Living to Make a Difference. Our desire is to share what God has given us with others in the local area and the wider region as part of our ongoing commitment to serve the community in which God has placed us. It is the way that we believe God has called our growing church to meet the needs of our growing community.

Some have been dreaming and praying about this for over 20 years. Others have been working towards it for the last 5 years. Many more have got involved recently. We’ve seen God’s guiding hand and miraculous provision each step of the way: from acquiring the land in the first place, to being granted planning permission at the first attempt, to the incredible generosity of the congregation in giving or pledging over £2m last May.

The phases

Over the next 12 months, Bristol-based contractor Bray and Slaughter will be building the full shell of the new church and community centre on the derelict site of the Old Barns. This first phase also includes provision of church toilets and some useable space in the new centre.

The next phases of the HOTC project will be the complete fit-out of the church and community centre, including a 600 seat auditorium; the refurbishment of the church; and upgrading the Old School Rooms. We have also committed to give 10% of the money given and raised by the congregation to similar building projects overseas and the Mission Action Group have already given £20,000 for a church and community centre in Moldova and a girl’s dormitory in India.

Please pray with thanksgiving for 

God’s continuing favour

The safety of all involved

Minimum disruption to our neighbours

A quick completion of the shell

The remaining funds (another £1m by Autumn 2014, £5.5m in total)

Play your part

Everyone is invited to play their part. Visit the website for the most up to date details of the project and to find out ways to get involved in giving, fundraising and praying. Watch out for more opportunities in the Autumn!