The 3Cs project (Community, Cuppas, Convenience) aims to create a servery area and an accessible WC in the South Transept of St Giles Church.
Our objectives are below and if you'd like to find out more including how to get involved, please contact Jem Bowden via email at [email protected]. The success of the project relies upon St Giles raising enough funds to make it happen, and we welcome donations in support of this which can either be done on line or by completing the attached form.
OBJECTIVES
Community. We want our beautiful and historic church to continue to be a pivotal and important part of community life in Hartington. Offering a modern, more comfortable and welcoming space within the church makes our service to the community more accessible to everyone, whether in terms of regular worship, major festivals, important family occasions (weddings, funerals, baptisms), local school visits or other events.
Welcome. Hospitality and welcome have always been essential components of the Christian ethos. We always strive to make St Giles a welcoming place, and hope we continue to manage to do so, in spite the difficulties presented by the very basic arrangements we have for catering behind the screen at the back of the bell tower. An open servery area will make hospitality and the warmest welcome so much easier to deliver. The new arrangements will provide clean and modern appliances for volunteers to use, and will improve both hygiene and health and safety.
Convenience. We currently have no toilet facilities at the church at all. By providing an accessible WC, we are recognising that we have a duty of care to our visitors, especially our younger, more elderly and disabled visitors, who should be spared worry, inconvenience and embarrassment when attending.
Environment. The delivery of this project will be informed by our ongoing commitment to the environment and sustainability, as demonstrated by our recent Silver Eco-Church award. Upon completion we will ensure the WC is twinned through the Toilet Twinning charity.
Events. St Giles Church is a very important village venue, and is able to welcome large numbers of people. It has historically hosted events (especially concerts and exhibitions), but better catering facilities and a WC will give the church more options and opportunities, providing a village resource to enhance quality of life for both residents and visitors, as well as providing potential income for the church.
Mission. In recent years, the Church at St Giles has been growing. With God’s grace we intend to continue to attract more people to use St Giles as a centre of worship, living out our faith in action and deepening it through discipleship. We believe this project is a small but important step in making the church fit for the future and, by making the space we have more flexible and welcoming, we are unlocking more of its potential to be of service to people of a wide range of age and diversity.