Month: March 2014

Heart of the Community project updates

Posted on by Laura Thomas

Construction and costs 

Rebuilding of the north wall is nearing completion. The steel frame of the new building is now complete, and work on the roof has begun. Internal and external walls on the ground floor are now about 50% complete. Corridors and rooms are taking shape, and work has begun reconstructing the internal arches. We anticipate the shell of the building will be finished by the end of July. 

Savings of about £20,000 have been made on the cost of the north wall, and further savings are expected to be made as disruption costs are minimised by a smooth continuation from phase 1 to 2. 

Finance

Following the DCC decision at their last meeting an application is being pursued for Heritage Lottery Funding via the ‘Grants for Places of Worship’ programme. We will be bidding for a grant of around £225,000 which will cover most of the work which needs doing in, and to, the church building. 

Outreach

We have recently awarded just under £15,000 to our mission partners working with Family Impact, to build a classroom block at a rural school in Zimbabwe. The current classrooms are mud huts with no desks or seats. The new classroom block, containing two classrooms to accommodate 80 children, will be built of bricks, made by the local community. There are plans to build three other similar classroom blocks so that the entire school can be re-housed. 

Events for the diary

Phoenix Trading – Coffee and Cards

Saturday 26 April 

Sue Woodhead Marsh is hosting an open home during the morning on 26 April. This will be an opportunity to drop in, drink coffee (or tea), eat cake, meet people and browse some high quality, good value, greetings cards and stationery. All proceeds to go to the Heart of the Community. (For more info please contact Sue on 07525 929085) 

 

Band Night

Saturday 10 May

Back by popular demand. More details to follow. 

 

Colour and Style evening

Tuesday 10 June 

If you are interested in the finding out more about personal image, and how to choose colours and clothing that will flatter and enhance your look, then pop this date in your diary. All proceeds from the evening will go to Heart of the Community. More details to follow. 


Archbishop’s visit

Saturday 13 September

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will be visiting the new Church and Community Centre to bless the project. 

Church gift day 2014 – running total

Posted on by Laura Thomas

Thank you so much for playing your part in the life of St Michael’s. So far the total gifts (including Gift Aid) totalled £42,119 for 2014. This is a marvellous result and will go some way to enabling us to achieve what God is calling us to do as a church in 2014. The Gift Day form is still available in church, so you don’t need to miss out! Please fill the form in and bring it back over the next week or drop it into the church office. 

Heart of the Community project updates

Posted on by Laura Thomas

Project finance

The shell of the new church and community centre, which is due to be completed in mid-July is expected to cost £2.5m, which combined with an estimated £2.1m to fit out the new building, takes the total cost to £4.6m. 

The project Steering Group has been considering various options of securing non-commercial loans to cover an immediate shortfall of £300k and the cost (approximately £700k) of installing mechanical and electrical fittings. This would avoid the substantial costs associated with the contractors leaving the site between phases and enable us to use the additional space as soon as possible. 

Any such loans would be secured with very favourable repayment terms and/or rates of interest, and represent a low risk. The DCC (church council) econsidered this issue at their meeting on 10th March and agreed unanimously (subject to auditors’ review and legal advice) that loans costing up to £1.6m (including cost of interest and repayments) be sought. This represents the maximum amount that can realistically and feasibly be repaid over 10-15 years. As well as covering the M&Es, it will contribute to the cost of fit out, but will not enable full completion of the building. 

Further funding

The DCC also approved a recommendation from the Heart of the Community Steering Group to seek grant funding from four extra sources, “Grants for Places of Worship”, “Our Heritage”, “Awards for All” and “Reaching Communities”, through the National Lottery. The DCC has had to recognise that this is the means by which the Government now funds many cultural, community and heritage projects and that funding from non-congregational sources has been less than anticipated. 

The House of Bishops Policy states: “Sometimes the Church resists proposed changes in our society, but when the decision is made we have to live with it. In this instance we recognise that the Government has made it clear that the Lottery is the way it will increasingly fund heritage and charitable and other matters. The decision whether or not to apply for such help is a matter for the responsible body in each case.” 

During discussions at DCC it was acknowledged that: “ i) all money is God’s money; ii) God can redeem all things, including money some of us might see as tainted; iii) we would rather National Lottery money be used for projects which have the explicit aim of advancing the Kingdom. We believe that the good that can be done with the funding outweighs the potential negative elements.” 

Heart of the Community applications would focus on grants from the Heritage Fund to repair and refurbish the existing church building. The DCC and Heart of the Community steering group were agreed that this is a “fall back” option should there be no miraculous intervention for funding needed. Even if “reaching communities” funding is granted, the funds allocated do not have to be accepted if the funding has come from else- where in the meantime. The recommendation was approved by a majority vote (15 for; 1 against; 1 abstention). 

 

Heart of the Community project updates

Posted on by Laura Thomas

Church and community centre construction news

Work on rebuilding the north wall is progressing well, and is due to complete on 16th March. In addition, the steel frame work is pretty much completed now, and construction of some internal block walls and conservation arches are underway. Work on the brickwork and external stonework is due to start shortly. Although there is still some delay to the programme, the professional teams are working hard to reduce this. 

Prayer

Thank you to those who continue to pray for the project. At this time please pray in particular that the funds needed to meet the imminent shortfall will be made available at the right time. We thank God that He promises His spring-time ‘rain’ of blessing. “Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.” (Zechariah 10:1) 

Buy a Brick

This term St Michael’s Primary School are getting behind Buy a Brick and will be supporting the project by asking pupils and parents to get involved by buying bricks and helping to raise funds. The new main auditorium of the church and community centre will be a wonderful resource for the school, providing space for the whole school community to meet together, and to host events for all parents and families.