All Saints’ Church Refurbishment Project

COMMUNITY SURVEY: RESULTS AND WAY FORWARD
You can view the results here.

We were delighted with the significant response to the survey. Clearly many of you care greatly about the future of our church and have given much time and thought into answering the questions.

Every reply has been studied carefully by the small team that our PCC (Parochial Church Council) has entrusted with finding a way to ensure our lovely church remains a central Christian focus of our community for many years to come. We are extremely grateful to everyone who took the trouble to reply – and the results will be of very significant value in determining and funding the improvements that are clearly required. A summary of all the replies received can be found overleaf.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Our PCC has agreed that priority must be given to making the building structurally sound – after all, there is no point in spending a lot of money installing new heating, toilets, redecorating etc if the church becomes unsafe to use! The structural work entails dismantling and rebuilding the bell-cote and also part of the gable wall at the east (Altar) end. Our architect has produced detailed specifications for the work required, but initial quotations from builders indicated that the cost will approach £40,000 (or well over £1,000 per regular member of our congregation) which is clearly unaffordable. The better news is that there are a number of organisations that offer grants to help preserve precious buildings such as ours. However most include conditions that the work will enhance use by the wider community – so your feedback through the survey will greatly increase our chance of success.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS

A wide range of age groups (25 – 75+), including regular and non-regular visitors, engaged with our survey informing us of their thoughts around refurbishment and extended use of the building. The serenity and beauty of All Saints’ building was frequently mentioned by people.

It was clear that toilets, easy access and comfortable and flexible seating were considered as vital facilities for the church to be used as a place of worship and for community activities in the future. Improved lighting, kitchen facilities, wi-fi and multimedia resources scored highly too and, although not as vital, were still considered important facilities to have.

If facilities were improved, considerable interest was shown in using the church building for following:
creche/playgroup/children’s facilities
community shop and Post Office
space for meetings
community events/activities e.g. craft fayres, flower shows, choirs, book clubs, repair sessions
adult educations classes e.g. U3A

All Saints’ Flower Day 1939

https://www.weston-basford.co.uk/history/old-photos

TIME-LINE OF ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH

This picture shows the Delve’s Charity School and the church with it pinnacles in place.

As you can see from our time-line the church has had to adapt over its 181 year history. To ensure that our lovely church remains the hub of the community we will also need to adapt so it can be here for at least another 181 years.