WORK NEEDED |
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BRICKS AND MONEY! |
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St George's Church is a Grade II listed building and it takes a lot of work to maintain the interior and exterior of the building. In 2010, the architect's report specifically pointed out the need to re-point the whole of the outside of the Church, replace the gutters and carry out other repairs. In 2010 it was envisaged that the total cost of these repairs could be as much as £250,000. DEVELOPMENT GROUPWe formed a St George's Church Development Group whose job it is to apply for grants and raise money for a Development Fund. The fund was kicked off with a generous donation of $1,000 from a former member of St George's now living in the USA. It is envisaged that there will be a number of fundraising activities with different people taking responsibility to coordinate them. |
St George's has served its local community since 1840 and we want to continue to do so in the future. In 1976 the Church was adapted to create rooms for community use. The Development Group are looking at how to extend our use of the building, especially in the daytime. DEVELOPMENT PLAN We are doing well but there is much still to do! How would you like to see the building being used? Get in touch and let us know your thoughts! |
WORK COMPLETED
Many smaller projects have been completed over the last few years, financed by a combination of grants and the generosity of our Congregation and friends :-
- Equpiment and a program for the maintainance of the graveyard.
- Created a "Garden of Remembrance" for internment of ashes, located next to the south gate.
- Replaced the ceiling-mounted church lights with new low energy lights which allowed us to insulate the roof cavity, so to conserve heat.
- Replaced the 39 year old boiler with a pair of high-output condensing boilers, giving us a better control of our heating. The combination of roof insulation plus new boiler system has reduced our gas consumption by about 30%
- Relaid the main west path to make a safer and more attractive entrance into church
In 2016 we started the major building projects with the renovation of the south side of our church and gutters (click link to see details), funded with the help of a grant from the 'Listed Places of Worship' fund, and many generous donations from members of the congregation.
After another couple of years of planning and fund raising by our congregation, and thanks to a generous grant of £233,000 from the 'National Lottery Heritage Fund' towards the £300,000 project, in 2019 we were finally able to renovate the Church roof and gutters in time for out 179th anniversary. The scheme also included a major update of our emergency lighting system and renovation of the upper lounge kitchenette.
In addition to ongoing maintenance, further plans include:
- The renovation of the whole east end of the church, including replacement of the two leaking vestry roofs
- The restoration of our historic Renn organ
- Lift access to the upstair hall for increased community use
- The continued maintenance of the churchyard