Revitalising St Mary’s Project

February 2010 – Update on Reordering and Community Centre project


Target £390,000

Raised so far £281,000

Amount to reach target £109,000

 

Thank you to everyone who has generously given, we are so lucky that we have a supportive and generous congregation, all of your donations are much appreciated.

Since my last update in October, we‘ve still had pledges coming in from our congregation giving as they have been able to, we have had some amounts come from families who have had their children baptised at St Mary‘s and also an impressive donation of £486 from the Shalford Choral Society who most kindly chose us for their retiring collection at their December concert. Thank you all!

We are 72% of the way there!

The Fundraising Steering Group continue to beaver away behind the scenes, our last meeting earlier this month consolidated our strategy for January to June 2010.

In my October update I said that after reaching the magical 60% mark we could start looking outside our church family.

We have planned for Spring 2010, letters to:-

Trust us
We also have started to apply to Trusts and Grant-making bodies. This is a HUGE daunting task which Jenny Davies has tackled with indeterminate enthusiasm with the help of Zoe Figueiredo.

We are delighted to announce we have our first successful application for £1,500. It‘s a great start and we are now awaiting news of other recently submitted applications plus preparing information for further applications.

However, here we need your help. Success with Trusts is often down to having a link with a Trustee.

If you don‘t know anyone immediately, please ask around, it‘s amazing what you can find out by asking!
The PCC is already working on their individual contacts. The further we can spread the work the more chance we have of success.

Starting the work
David Davies will be the Project Manager for the overseeing of the renovation. We are looking for additional helpers who may come onto the Works committee.

All the architect‘s work is finalised and so we are looking to prepare tender documentation in the next few months with a view to getting tenders out in May of this year. By September, we hope to have negotiated and appointed a contractor to start from January 2011. The work is anticipated to take 3 months, therefore finalising in March/April 2011 and celebrating Easter 2011 in our newly reordered building.

Helpers are required to help David with tender preparation, sourcing builders, assessing the tenders, scheduling the work, managing the site & co-ordinating the work to be finalised by April 2011.

Can you help?

Please talk to David Davies or Jane Barrett (without obligation!)

Doing this together
Now we have received the majority of the donations from our church family, we will be looking at other ways of raising money and having fun too! If anyone at an early stage would like to organise an event for us for 2010 or 2011 please do let me know.

Jane Barrett
Development Officer

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October 2009 – Fundraising update

Modernising our village Church for 21st Century use

We have very exciting news this month for you!
At long last, we have the FINAL permission to go ahead with Phase 1 of the project at St Mary‘s from the Registrar of the Diocese of Guildford. This was the last of many approvals we needed to gain and we now have the vital piece of paper with that all important wax seal!

So with approval from Guildford Borough Council, The Diocesan Advisory Committee (church planning permission) and now the Chancellor in Westminster – we are finally there! Phase 1 is the maintenance, restoration and enhancement of our Victorian church into a more flexible, adaptable church for the 21 st century.

Now it‘s just a case of raising the money. No mean feat, that‘s for sure.

We are in our first year of our two year plan to raise £390,000. Before the summer break we had reached £93,255 just from our congregation. Over the summer those donations swelled to £104,889. This is incredible given the uncertain economic times and shows how our congregation are truly committed to ensuring our village church doesn‘t go to wrack and ruin.

Given the commitment of our church family, the PCC has also recommended that we include a legacy that is currently invested and is receiving very little interest. It will be much more beneficial to use that capital now to secure our future than to keep it as a long term investment for a future capital project. This amount totals £152,295.

With residual amounts in the pots mainly from last year‘s fundraising events, the recent Musical Medley and further table top sales this adds a further £6,541.

Therefore we now have a total of £263,725. This is a whopping 67% of our target.

We have reached the magical 60% figure in just 5 months. This means that doors are opened to us in terms of further fundraising requests. To ask for donations from Trusts, companies and Shalford residents, we must show we have raised the majority from within our church family – which we can definitely say we have (and with knobs on!)

A word from the Vicar, Revd John Cruse:–

“ After so long wondering if we‘d ever get to this stage, it‘s great to know that we have reached this exciting stage on our journey. Enormous thanks in particular are due to David Davies who has fought the good fight with bureaucrats and masses of paperwork with his characteristic determination, and Jane Barrett who has done so much as our Development Officer.

A restored church building will lead to a revitalised Church – the people who continue to come to seek a vision for their lives and world as revealed in Christ, and the guests we welcome in to share the space, physical and spiritual, with us”.

The Fundraising strategy for Autumn 2009 and Spring 2010 will concentrate on moving outwards into the community, to businesses and residents and to Trusts & Grant making bodies.

It is clear that no one wants the village church to go into decline as proven by this fantastic commitment, we just hope and pray that the wider community feel the same and join us on this exciting journey.

Jane Barrett
Development Officer

Carry on reading below for previous updates and see how far we‘ve come!

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June 2009 – Update on Reordering and Community Centre project

Phase 1 – Maintenance and reordering of the church interior
Phase 1 is in progress now and with a timescale to raise £390,000 by January 2011.  

How much have we raised so far?
From our congregation, we have pledges amounting to:–

£73,630 Pledged so far (as at 28th June 2009)
£19,625 Gift Aid reclaimable from Government
£93,255 Total
24% achieved
36% still needed to get to 60%
£2,220 Average pledge

We‘re a quarter of the way there! Thank you to all who have pledged.

What is happening now?
We are still asking for all members of our congregation to pledge money for the project. Experience tells us that the majority will need to come from our nearest and dearest – our congregation who worship at St Mary‘s and St Michael‘s. The magic figure we need to get to before we can ask outside the church is 60%. That‘s £234,000. So we still need £140,745.

Free donations from the Government
Just look at the £19,625 above we can already claim from the government in the form of Gift Aid. That is why asking for pledges from individuals is the most cost effective way of fundraising. Unfortunately, grants, company donations and events do not attract Gift Aid, so that is why asking for individual pledges is so important.

If you haven‘t yet pledged, please can we ask you to do so before the end of August.

Please note: July pledges and acknowledgements
Please note that if you pledge during July, your pledge will not be acknowledged until early August. Ian Johnson is away all of July and Richard is not able to take on managing the pledges, therefore we are sure you will understand that you will get a thank you letter and further instructions – just not straight away!  

What is happening over the summer?
Ian will still be managing the pledges once he is back in August. Myself and the rest of my committee will be taking a break over the school summer holiday – phew!  

Where will the rest of the money come from?
We will also be approaching trust and grantmaking bodies, but we need to show we have raised at least 60% first. That is £234,000!

Therefore in September when we total the pledges, we can then plan whether we are in a position to be able to start applications. We will also be approaching local companies for corporate donations and asking the whole village to support the project financially, but again we cannot start this process until we have 60%.

If we do not achieve the 60% we will have to re–visit our strategy.  

Timescale
May – August 2009 – Asking for pledges from our congregation
September 2009 – Review pledge totals, assess whether we can start asking outside sources
October 2009 – April 2010 – Outside approaches

Outside sources are:

We can only start to ask them when we can show substantial support from our own church family.

Last but not least – a big thanks to my Fundraising Steering Group  
Naomi Fraser (Secretary) – For excellent & prompt minute taking
Ian Johnson (Donations Coordinator) – For managing the pledges coming in
Ellen Hallam – For producing such an excellent brochure
Bill Ward – For organising the suppers and lunches
Anna Souster – For hosting & amazing cooking of the above
Jenny Davies – For researching the Trust & Grants available
Sam & Steve Perkins – For taking on the approach to businesses
John Cruse, Jane Wetherall, David Davies – For their ongoing direction, support & enthusiasm

The Fundraising Steering Group will meet early October to discuss the strategy for 2009/10.

Jane Barrett
Development Officer

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March 2009 – Update on Reordering and Community Centre project

Following our very exciting news in January of obtaining approval from the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee), I have further positive news to tell you.

Fundraising Strategy approved by PCC
Following extensive research over 2008, I presented a Fundraising Strategy with timescales to the PCC in January. It was unanimously approved with much excitement at the prospect of a realistic and well researched way forward.

Obtaining a Faculty from the Chancellor
There are still letters going back and forth ironing out little points, mainly to do with the liturgical furniture and fabric of the reordering which we are confident will be recommended in due course. The actual Faculty (permission required before any work can be undertaken by a church) once recommended is only issued when 80% of the funds have been raised.

The Fundraising strategy
The best and most positive way forward is to phase the project in two parts. Phase 1 will be the reordering of the church and Phase 2 will be the new build Community Centre.

Starting now with Phase 1 – Reordering of the church interior
Phase 1 is in progress now and with a timescale to raise the money by January 2011 – that‘s in less than 2 years. We could have a beautiful re–ordered church for Easter 2011 or before. It‘s very very exciting to see light at the end of the tunnel after so many years of planning and talking about it!

Why start with the Reordering?

  1. To show our supporters we embrace change and are a “church that do”
  2. To show that our ‘church family‘ show commitment to raise funds for the church and its sustainability for future generations
  3. To provide a flexible space to hold activities inside the church that currently use (and most importantly don’t use!) the church room
  4. To enable us to review and regenerate our services within a flexible building to fit a changing society
  5. To increase our profile in the village
  6. To gain support and publicity for Phase 2
  7. All re–ordered churches increase their congregation significantly – the whole point of our mission (see Parish Vision below)
  8. The Church will then become a rentable asset e.g. for concerts which will provide a small income and awareness towards Phase 2

Current Parish Vision
1. Welcoming God‘s people to a place where he is celebrated and encouraging them to join us on the journey: A welcoming, enquiring and inclusive church is our ideal
2. We aim to be a welcoming community seeking to understand and live out our faith in a modern and inclusive way

How much will Phase 1 cost?
The Reordering costs are still being finalised, now we have decided to phase the project, but we expect it to be in the region of £400,000.

Who is involved?
I have formed a Fundraising Steering Group and each member has a special responsibility. The group includes some PCC members and some of our congregation. Those involved so far are:

Jane Barrett (Chair)
Naomi Fraser (Secretary)
Ian Johnson (Treasurer‘s assistant)
John Cruse
Jane Wetherall
David Davies
Ellen Hallam
Bill Ward
Anna Souster
Sam & Steve Perkins
Jenny Davies

I still require more help for either a position with special responsibility or general ad hoc help. Please let me know if you would like to be involved at any stage for however long.

What happens next?
We will first be asking YOU – our parishioners to donate what you are able to give. It is the collective responsibility of our ‘church family‘ to raise the vast majority of the funds. We will also be approaching trust and grantmaking bodies in the autumn but we need to show we have raised over at least 60% first. We will also be approaching local companies for corporate donations and asking the whole village to support the project financially, HOWEVER experience tells us that the majority will need to come from our nearest and dearest – our congregation who worship at St Mary‘s and St Michael‘s.

Not everyone can give the same amount, some people are in a position to be able to give substantially more than others, but we ask you to start considering now what you will be able to give (or pledge) either as a lump sum or a regular commitment over 2–4 years.

Please put these dates in your diaries now

Sunday 26th April – APCM
Sunday 28th June – Patronal Festival

Please diary these now, they will be very important dates for information updates, giving out brochures and crucial parts of the Fundraising process. It is hugely important we have as many of you there as possible. Your support is of paramount importance.

Timescale
May – July 2009 The ‘BIG ASK’ to our congregation
September 2009 – April 2010 Trust & Grant applications, company approaches and letter with brochure to the village
April 2010 – Jan 2011 Further applications and Fundraising events if necessary

You will get far more updates now as the work behind the scenes is really happening fast!

If you have any questions, please do ask me or any of the Steering Group.

Jane Barrett
Development Officer

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An ambitious project to reorganise our church interior and build a new contemporary Community Centre.

To enable us to serve our Community more easily we need to turn our church into an ‘everyday church’ to serve our churchgoing and wider community who wish to use it as a community resource. It will be inclusive &ndash available for everyone regardless of their beliefs.

Plans of the new community centre

Plans showing the new community centre to the left of the church.
Click on the image to see a bigger plan (shown in a new window)


Why do we need a Community Centre?
To replace our ageing, damp church room. The contemporary new building will house a large foyer, large meeting/function room, fully fitted kitchen, the Vicar and Parish Secretary‘s Offices. It will have full disabled facilities and secure and plentiful car parking. The building will be integral to the church making the whole area much more user (and weather) friendly for all ages and abilities.

Why does the church interior need changing?
To keep up with the times and allow for modern liturgical needs. Many modern lively churches are now utilising their beautiful historic interiors for functions such as concerts and wedding receptions. By installing flexible seating it will give us enormous opportunities to use the space wisely for the benefit of many. Also there are many positives on a practical nature regarding the fabric and ongoing maintenance of the church this will solve.

Who will it serve?
Everyone in our community. Of course for our own church functions, particularly after service drinks, but we also plan for it to be available to anyone. It will be used in the daytime, evenings and weekends for community and support groups, local authorities (council and police meetings) private hire for parties, wedding receptions and baptisms and for a quiet reflective area after funerals. We also hope to have drop in coffee mornings every weekday morning open to everyone at no cost and to organise community events for all groups of our community.

How much will it cost?
Currently it is estimated to cost £1.25m. This is for the church reordering and New Build Centre project to completion.

How will you get the money?
From our parishioners, our village community through individual donations, or corporate donations. Also from fundraising events, grants and community funding projects. We are registered for Gift Aid donations too.

Most importantly, we‘ll be having FUN whilst raising this money! Many community events will be organised – please help support them. Click here for information on our fundraising events.