Recent Progress
In April this year questionnaires were delivered to 7,413 households in the area by some 35 volunteers from the congregation, Whitkirk Arts Guild and the community, for which we were extremely grateful. The feedback that we have received has been encouraging and has enabled us to understand further the views and the needs of local residents. A very big thank you to all those people who took the time to respond. This information has been used, along with the findings from the earlier walk in sessions to start formulating ideas about additional activities and services that could run from the redeveloped Hall.
During June and July 2017 the redevelopment team have met with various local and national organisations (Cross Gates Good Neighbours, Age UK, local schools, Alzheimer’s Society etc) and a number of them have indicated their interest in the redevelopment. Further meetings will be held with them as we go forward to develop ideas. We have to bear in mind that the building works are just a starting point and foundation for all the desired community outcomes which will take several more years of hard work to bring to fruition.
Additional consultations regarding the design of the kitchen were undertaken with some of the groups and individuals who use the kitchen on a regular basis. Some good ideas were generated through this process and a number of changes to the kitchen design have been made. The revised plans can be viewed on this website and are also on the display board in the Church Hall foyer.
Design & Costs
The current estimated cost of the project is £434,000. We already have £150,000 from our property fund leaving £284,000 to be raised through fundraising.
What Next?
Work will begin soon on preparing bids for funding to a wide range of trust funding bodies. This will be a lengthy process with the results of our initial bids unlikely to be known until early next year. While we are hopeful that the majority of funding can be raised in this way, we will also be looking to our local community to take ownership and help raise funds for this project.
In terms of timescales for the actual redevelopment work, we are currently planning on a start by June 2018 with completion in September 2018.
If you have any questions please speak directly to any members of the Hall Redevelopment team who are:
Trevor Sirrell, Mike Jackson, Tony Bond, Revd. Matthew Peat, Revd. Alison Battye, Janet Blenkinsop, Liz Hayes and Shelagh Freer.
On behalf of the Parochial Church Council, St Mary’s Church Whitkirk.