It has been some time since the open meeting in Barthol Chapel church to discuss the possibility and feasibility of re-modelling the interior of the church to create a flexible space, which could be of greater use to the school, the community and others, as well as a place of worship.  But the steering group have not been idle and the idea progresses.

 

There is much to do at this early stage, consulting and exploring need, costs, feasibility, manageable stages, who might use the building, how it might generate income, sources of funding and all the many practical considerations that are part of a project of this size.

 

Since the Open Meeting at the end of April, 

• The kirk session has agreed that it will find funding to carry out the necessary repairs to the roof and walls to make the building wind and watertight.  It is hoped this repair work will be done in early 2019, only if and when the church can secure the necessary funding.  

• Once repaired, the building will be wind and watertight and the church and community can continue work together to explore the possibilities of the bigger project, within a sound building. 

• The hope is to create a warm, flexible, accessible multi-use space for the whole community.

• Covell Matthews Architects have kindly drawn up some inspiring sketch proposals to show how the building might be used in various configurations once the floor is levelled and the large space created.  You can see these initial ideas in the church, at the café and on this website 

• The steering group is looking at the church/ community partnership to ensure sustainability and to safeguard the long-term position of the community, church and the building.   

• It is also exploring funding opportunities.  We have had one very small success with lottery funding, in that we have passed an initial stage and been invited to submit a full application, but there is no guarantee that the application will succeed.  The timing is tight: we heard we had been successful at stage one on October 30th and the deadline for the full application is January 14th 2019.  

 

It is very early days yet and it is very much one small step at a time, with reality checks at every stage along the way.  But we will keep you informed of progress with a newsletter blog and through social media.  There will be another Open Meeting shortly, probably before the lottery application deadline.

 

We would very much welcome feedback on the sketch proposals and all aspects of the project.  All comments, concerns and ideas should be sent to churchproject@bartholchapel.com   This is also the contact to use if you would like to help in any way -  from physical labouring to professional expertise and everything in between.

We would love to hear from you.   

 

Watch this space grow…… we hope!