Orwell Methodist Church

“The Bad News and the Good”

May 2007

We have had a bit of a rest over Christmas and Easter and concentrating raising general church funds to keep the building open and paying for everyday running costs. The next project we have in mind is the kitchen. Please do keep supporting us.

September 2006

We have been working very hard! We now have a toilet for our disabled visitors, in the same room we have baby changing facilities. We also have ramp access into the Church for visitors. The kitchen has been repainted and the Vestry has a new carpet. Its all looking very nice ready for our Centenary.

June 2005

We have been given the go ahead to start the work. Already the woodworm treatment has been completed and we have a date set for the builders to come in and underpin the corner of our building!

March 2005

The scheme has been given local technical approval by the Circuit Finance and Property Committee. By implication they also supported the financial proposals in the scheme. The 'Technical Report' form our Civil Engineers is now with the Connexional Property Committee in Manchester for technical approval. The Scheme Paper seeking financial approval is now ready to go to the Circuit, District and the Connexional Property Committee. If everything goes to plan we hope to go out to contract soon and receive the tenders and then let the contract by the end of April.

2004

We heard some very bad news in October. A crack, which had appeared earlier in the year at the northeast corner of the chapel, had suddenly got much worse and we were told that it needs urgent repair. The estimated cost was between £15,000 and £18,000 which was much more than our reserves, or recent annual income. It was also pointed out that there are a number of other repairs which will be needed to the building in the next few years – like removing all the slates on the roofs and renewing the fixing nails, renovating the kitchen, and providing a toilet for the disabled. While we had some of these planned we had not raised any money for them.

However, the church Council decided to bite the bullet and attempt to raise about £50,000 for a major renovation scheme covering all the work considered necessary by our structural engineer to give the building many years of trouble-free life.

And now comes the good news. Thanks to the generosity of our members and friends we have already had over £13,000 promised and we know from past experience that we can raise about £1,000 a year from special events like a special Christmas Concert by Gerald Gifford, a guest organist, Quiz Evenings, our Christmas tree Festival, etc.. So we have made a very encouraging start. But, of course, there is much still to be done and we will keep you up to date with progress as it happens.

If you can help us in anyway i.e. donations, offers of fund-raising etc. please don’t hesitate to contact me, Samantha Pascoe, or write to The Methodist Church, Town Green Road, Orwell, Royston, Herts, SG8 5QL.

Just to keep you all updates with what is happening with your money

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