Roof Project Newsletter
March 2024
Dear Members and Friends,
A year ago, it seemed that sorting out the Church roof so that it didn’t leak, and its future was secure might be beyond our reach. Our God is a great God and if we are faithful, so is God. The original working figure of nearly £500,000 to fix the roof is now revised down to about half that figure for a solution that is as good and, in terms of conservation, better.
Changes to the Roof Team
As the year has progressed, it has become apparent that the effort required from church resources was more that the team was able to manage. Essentially, three areas of activity need to be pursued:
-
Working with the preferred contractor to manage the specification of works, the various statutory permissions and establishing a fixed price contract;
-
Applying for grants to match or go beyond the funds we raise ourselves;
-
Raising funds ourselves.
As the team continues to engage with the preferred contractor, we have been blest by Jeff volunteering to lead the work researching and applying for grants.
It would be good to have someone lead discussions and activities to raise funds through our own, publicised events.
Overcoming Challenges
The challenge of reducing the cost of the project was overcome, not by some specific strategy, but just by trusting in God and moving the project forward by discussing our requirements with potential contractors. We began with a basic concept of requirements to do a “new for old” project and that was our brief to the structural engineer who had worked on the hall floor. As we undertook conversations with potential contractors and looked at the engineer’s recommendations with those contractors, it became clear that, for example, by using some well-established carpentry and building practices, in would be possible to optimise the design and so reduce the cost. As we arrived at a possible design that met our needs and was cheaper, we asked the builder, who has become our preferred contractor, to engage another structural engineer to validate his proposed design. This has now been done, and it is hoped that this final design will be submitted to Stroud District Council (SDC) for Planning and Listed Building Consent by mid-April.
The next challenge is for our contractor to work through that planning and consent process with SDC. Once the submission is made in April then we have to hope that the Planning committee with discuss it in either April or May, depending on whatever other applications are in the pipeline. Any issues will then have to be resolved with the contractor, but there is a strong possibility that we will be in a position to discuss when the work can begin and sign a contract within the next four months or so depending on our financial position.
The Roof project has been blest in many ways, we are so grateful to God for:
-
Looking after the roof that there have been no leaks in recent times;
-
Helping us establish a really good working relationship with our preferred contractor;
-
Guiding the contractor and ourselves to a design and works schedule that should achieve our objectives at a cost we can afford.
Encouragement
The roof team has been really encouraged by the ongoing good relationship with our preferred contractor. It is heartening that he seems to fully understand what we want to achieve and is sympathetic to our financial constraints.
Points for Prayer
-
Minimal caveats being raised by Stroud District Council to the Planning;
-
Permission and Listed Building consent;
-
Sufficient funds to enable the building work to start and for stage payments during construction;
-
Minimal undiscovered problems as work progresses;
-
The health and safety of all those working on the project now and in the future.