Around 70 people turned out for the meeting on Monday night, which was incredible—thank you to everyone who made the effort to come along. Here is a summary of what we discussed.
Vision: We first recapped the vision for the Chapel (you can find it here), which is a tenanted café and community space which will evolve to fit the needs of the village. This will be a flexible space supporting functions like hot desking, youth activities, and community and family-friendly groups.
Current activities: We then discussed current activity for the FCBS management committee, which includes examining the draft contract issued by the Methodist Circuit, applying for charitable status, working towards grant applications, and more in-depth building surveys. We are also engaging an architect and embarking on detailed building quotes.
Charitable status: Regarding our application for charitable status, this changes nothing in terms of the proposal put to the village previously—the offer will still be to buy shares in the Community Hub, and those shares will be repayable subject to reserves. However, charitable status does provide benefits for donations, whether allowing taxpaying donors to add gift aid, or donating businesses to claim tax deductibility.
Grant opportunities: These have narrowed significantly over recent years, and so our focus is currently on the National Lottery Heritage Fund and a local charity, as well as the so-called ‘Section 106’ money for which this project may now be eligible a result of the approved planning application from Pye opposite the school.
Workstreams: The workstreams identified were 1. Building Purchase; 2. Fundraising for renovation, and 3. Renovation. It was noted that a fourth workstream needs to be added, which is 4. Village Engagement, to provide a two-way opportunity for communication, feedback and ideas. Importantly, concerns were raised about the possibility of future parking issues and noise/disturbance to neighbours. We take these very seriously, and at our next management committee meeting will be discussing ways forward on all of them.
Volunteers: We have a range of jobs that we’ll need help with, from managing architects to decorating, fundraising and so on. A number of volunteers came forward at the meeting to help with fundraising, project management, rotas for the community space, decorating and landscaping. Thank you! If you have any other ideas or comments, or have other skills you think would be relevant, please let us know!
Thanks: Thanks were given to the wider support network for this project, especially the Parish Council which has donated £10,000, County Councillor Liam Walker who has provided a second pot of £2,500 from his discretionary funds (the first being back in 2018), and to our District Councillors Roger and Lidia, who have been incredibly proactive in providing support with WODC.