The project for redeveloping Christ Church is gathering pace. The recent and welcome news is that the church received support from Bishop Pete, the Diocesan Advisory Committee and then the Chancellor for the revised and simplified plans that were submitted. We now have all the permissions we need to start.
Martin Blower, Iain Lowe, Andy Patrick and John Cunnington, architect, worked with consultants to look at possible savings and brought the cost of the construction for Phase 2 down to £671,000. When adding the consultants fees and contingency this approximates to an overall cost of £800,000.
On the other side of the coin the Fundraising Team and Steve Clarke, deputy treasurer, have worked on raising money. Applications for funding to trusts have numbered over 40. We are very grateful to Sheffield Church Burgesses Trust, Benefact Trust, Garfield Weston, Gavins Foundation, Cutlers’ Trust, Dore School Charity and Land Trust, Sheffield Diocesan Board of Finance and Aviva for their support for Phase 2. We await the results of three more trusts who will report back by the end of January whether or not we have been successful.
The PCC met for an extra meeting on 30th November 2023 dedicated to looking at the financial background and whether we should step out in faith at this point and sign contracts. The PCC decided that it was important to do this because deferring would incur significant costs from inflation and renegotiation. This will mean that because there was a potential £200,000 shortfall a loan or loans would need to be arranged. The day after the meeting we received welcome news, as a result of your prayers, that we had been awarded £25,000 and so the total we need to borrow is starting to come down. There have been exploratory conversations between Steve Clarke and 4 potential lenders regarding a loan.
Some members of the church congregation have come forward to say they are prepared to loan the church some money. This would be arranged through Steve Clarke who is happy to have confidential conversations with you if that is what you wish to explore.
The decision of the PCC was to direct Martin Blower to sign the contract with our construction company T&C Williams, Builders of Sheffield. This is good news for us as an eco-church that we have a local company with a smaller carbon footprint and also gives local Sheffield tradespeople work.
So what next? There will be a phase of communication with our church family and then the neighbours and community. The church building closes on the last day of the year with a combined thanksgiving service at 10am. The whole church will come together and give thanks for God’s goodness helping us along a difficult road. On 8th January some items such as the Decalogue Plaque will be removed and put in safe storage for conservation. Others such as the pews will be removed.
The next few months will see changes and this can be both exciting and unnerving. The church leadership will be communicating regularly with you about what is happening to the church building and if you have any questions please speak with a member of your PCC.
Update from the PCC December 2023