The Development & Community Use of Church Buildings - Case Studies

Tina Andrew

Church Heritage & Conservation Officer

November 2014

St Mary’s Church Brecon • St Mary’s Church is a Grade II* listed building of medieval

origin situated in the centre of town – Large church with nave, chancel, north & south aisles and tower – Has a small garden on the north side but no burials

• Flexible seating throughout the church • Thriving cafe in the south aisle

– Sells good quality local produce (where possible) – Food preparation, storage & display areas – Limited cooking facilities – Employs 9 part-time/job share staff

• Plus students in the summer

– Turnover for full year of trading 70k • 20k profit due to work done by volunteers at all levels (eg. payroll,

admin, etc)

• Used for other activities during the day and evening

How Did it all Start?

• PCC wanted to open up the church for wider community use • Started with a “talking wall” in the church for the

congregation to post suggestions on (using Post-it-Notes) at an initial workshop

• Carried out a comprehensive community review – Invited local organisations to submit a “statement” of what

facilities they wanted • eg. public sector organisations, local traders, charities, residents, etc

– Received 117 statements • Yielded 22 suggestions

• PCC started implementing the suggestions which ranged in cost from free upwards – First priority was to open the cafe – Closely followed by the removal of pews to create flexible seating

areas

The Practicalities • Parish did a footfall count to see if there would be enough people coming

past the door to warrant opening a cafe • Borrowed £7,000 from a parish fund to buy catering equipment, tables &

chairs • Cafe opened for a trail period of 6 weeks in the first summer

– Run solely by volunteers (no wage costs) – Paid back the borrowed money within this time

• Next year cafe was open for 6 months – Mixture of volunteers & paid staff

• Now cafe is open all year • Run as a not-for-profit limited company

– Incumbent, churchwardens & treasurer are directors

• VAT registered • Needed planning permission for change of use in order to operate the cafe • St Mary's has been assessed for local business rates and also pays for

commercial waste disposal

Stow Park Church Newport • The church is jointly run by the URC & PCW

– Consists of early 20C chapel & new community centre

• Large hall and two smaller meetings rooms for hire • Small cafe (open 4 days/wk) • Runs a small print shop

– currently with two NVQ trainees

• Has a food bank & provides food parcels • Community lunches provided twice a month • Breakfast provided for homeless people every Saturday

morning • Operates a ministry for local care homes • Health Help International charity run from the centre

The Facts • The original URC building in Newport was sold and the money

used to create a new community centre attached to the existing PCW church • The existing PCW church hall (which was in poor condition) was

demolished to make way for the new centre

• Church members overwhelmingly voted to use the new centre to help “those on the fringes of society” as part of the mission and ministry of the church

• The print shop was created specifically to help disadvantaged young people gain work experience • Run by members who have the necessary skills to mentor the NVQ

trainees • Most of the equipment was donated (ie. negligible start up costs)

• Food bank provides food to local people in need • Partnered with Raven House Trust & Bettws Food Bank in Newport

• The centre is run by a mixture of paid & volunteer members

St John’s Church Hafod Swansea • Large Victorian grade II listed church

– Built in 1880 by the Vivian family (along with most of the terraced housing in the area) who owned the nearby Hafod copper works

• Rear part of the church has been redeveloped to accommodate ten flats

• Front (chancel & vestry) of the church has been redesigned to give a worship area, hall, kitchen & toilets

• There is a new roof over the whole building • Repairs/redesign were paid for by Gwalia Housing

Association – The nave is on a 125 year lease from the Church in Wales

• Grounds of the church jointly maintained by Gwalia & CiW • Church has links with school & local community

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-21591356

The Background

• The parish were struggling to keep St John's open in the late 1990s – Could not afford to meet the costs of the repairs recommended in the

latest Quinquennial Inspection report

• The Archdeacon of Gower and the incumbent at the time started to explore ways to remove the burden of repair & maintenance costs on the parishioners and maintain the Christian presence in the area

• Options included: – Selling part of the site to raise funds – not enough land in this case – Demolishing the existing building to make way for a new development

that would also incorporate a new small church on the site – Adapting the existing church

• Talks began with a local housing association (Gwalia) who had been involved with several church & historic building schemes – Carried out a feasibility study which concluded that it would be

possible to adapt the present building to provide flats and keep a worship area

• The PCC, Diocesan CPC and Swansea City Council Planning Committee approved the scheme which was completed in 2000

Google Maps

Sardis Community Chapel Ynysddu • Refurbished chapel (2006) & new community hall

– Chapel built in 1909 as a combined chapel & school – Hall was originally owned by St John’s Ambulance

• The ground floor of the chapel was redesigned to incorporate a worship area, kitchen & disabled toilet

• The upper floor now has two meeting rooms, a kitchen & toilets • The old wooden community hall opposite the chapel was

demolished and completely rebuilt – It now has a large flexible hall area, small meeting rooms, kitchen &

toilets

• A wide range of community activities are held at the hall & chapel – Day & evening classes (arts & crafts, photography, exercise, languages,

computer, etc) – Exhibitions & concerts – Coffee mornings, mothers & toddlers groups, ladies fellowship, etc

• Holds Ecumenical services (guest/visiting ministers)

How Did it Happen? • The chapel had only three regular members in 2000 and faced

demolition – It had dry rot, woodworm and needed replacement windows

• Wendy Roberts (wife of an Anglican minister) joined the congregation in 2000 and started re-engaging with the community to save the chapel

• Extensive community consultation followed – eg. questionnaires to villagers asking them what they wanted – a village committee was formed with its own constitution

• The chapel was renovated first at a cost of £225,000 – Money came from fund raising, local donations, the sale of

Cwmfelinfach PCW Chapel (£84,000) and various grants – Lots of help & advice from the Gwent Assoc of Voluntary Orgs (GAVO)

• The Community Hall rebuild has now been completed at a total cost of £150,000 – £10,000 from members & community fundraising, £50,000 from URC,

£25,000 from Community Archives Programme and the remainder from CFAP (a Welsh Government grant)

Geograph.org.uk

Geograph.org.uk

Geograph.org.uk

Southwalesargus.co.uk

St Peter’s Church Centre Peterchurch

• St Peter’s Church is a 12th Century Grade I listed building with nave, chancel & apse in a rural area

• The nave was re-ordered to create an open useable space with under floor heating, new lighting and a mezzanine floor giving access to the tower

• Facilities include a kitchen, toilets, lift, library and flexible seating areas

• A variety of activities are held at the Centre including: – exercise, tai chi and language classes – Weekly cafe – Mother & tots groups – Concerts & theatrical productions – Lunches for Red Cross & WRVS – “Sure Start” programmes (a child & family support initiative)

How Did it Happen? • The Diocese of Hereford had been proactive in making partnerships

with local organisations (such as the Local Authority) for some years – As a result the Early Years & Extended Services (EYES) dept from the

Local Authority contacted Wendy Coombey (Diocesan Community Partnership & Development Officer) to discuss the possibility of using St Peter’s Church to deliver some of their services

– EYES had been having difficulty finding suitable venues in the area to deliver the Sure Start programme

• St Peter’s PCC and EYES met to discuss the proposals – Both parties thought the church was a viable option providing the new

facilities could be sympathetically inserted into the Grade I listed building

• A project team was formed with representatives from the PCC, LA, wider community, DAC and existing community centre – Held a public meeting and distributed questionnaires – Carried out a detailed audit of existing community facilities within a

10m mile radius

Funding & Future Plans

• Total project cost was £450K incl fees & equipment – £250K from EYES – £100k from Advantage West Midlands (a regional development

agency) from their Multi Use Facilities programme – Other major contributors were: the Church Urban Fund, the

Church & Community Fund (C of E), Herefordshire Council and some European and Big Lottery Funding

• St Peter’s Centre aims to be self-sufficient within 7-10 years – It has funding to employ several permanent staff for the next

three years to help develop its activities and role within the community

• It is hoped that St Peter’s Centre will also compliment the activities of the new Community Centre in the village – Both creating a rural hub that will serve the needs of people in

the Golden Valley area of Herefordshire

Caerleon Roman Baths Museum

• Run by Cadw and one of its few historic sites that is under cover

• A prime attraction for school parties and families that come to Caerleon to see the Roman Legionary Museum, Baths & Amphitheatre

• In addition to the remains of the Roman bath house the site also has information panels, interactive displays, objects for visitors to handle, a video history area, a shop and projections of Roman bathers!

Any Questions?

To download copies of this presentation go to:

http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/heritage/

tinaandrew@churchinwales.org.uk