Reproduced from the May 2006 edition of 'The Bridge'

Building update……

Representatives of the Buildings and Identity Committee met with the consultants and contractors on Friday 31^st March when the contractors were given our formal letter of acceptance for the work of refurbishment of the Church sanctuary. It was agreed that they would commence work in early May with a contract period of 15 weeks. Our last services in the church were held on Easter Sunday, 16^th April and the removal teams began on the following Tuesday, with contractors moving the heavy items to the Old Hall. The following day, our own teams met to move all of the smaller items, either to St Josephs for our summer services or to the Old Hall for storage during the refurbishment period. We are grateful to Anne Shaw, her Committee and her teams for all their hard work. A number of people have expressed an interest in purchasing one or more of the old pews, and these will be one of the first things removed by the contractors on the commencement of the work. If you are involved, you will be notified when the pews will be available for collection.

Sunday services started in St. Josephs on Sunday 23^rd April and we are indebted to Fr Michael Regan and our friends in St Josephs for their kindness.

You will know by now that we have had first refusal to purchase St Josephs Church, but before any decisions can be made, we felt it prudent to have the building surveyed to establish its condition and any short term work considered necessary to make it suitable for our purposes. This was enacted on the basis of the remit under Motion 3 (b) from the special Congregational meeting held on Sunday 20^th November 2005 i.e. “the congregation instructs the Office–Bearers and the Buildings and Identity Committee to give further thought to future development (bearing in mind, but not limited to, previous plans), and authorises continued fund raising”. A local firm of architects and surveyors has been appointed to do a full structural survey but, at the time of writing, we are awaiting their report.

Ian Alexander