Christ Church with St Philip

Worcester Park

Future Links

What is Future Links?

You may have seen the Future Links logo – a design by Jason Carpenter - we use it during services, we use it on out letterheads, on our notice sheets … but what does it show? It was selected since it reflects the church reaching out to the community.

Future Links is the name we have called our refurbishment project – a scheme where we will be totally refurbishing our halls, making improvements to our church and most importantly, building a link between the church and halls incorporating a new entrance lobby.

 
A Future Links Steering Committee met frequently to look at various schemes.

What schemes were reviewed?

A number of schemes were reviewed and ranged from a minor update to our halls only, to building a totally new hall complex where the houses in Cheam Common road are and selling off the site of our existing halls…and various other schemes comprising a bit of both!

We employed the services of an architect, Mr Ralph Ball, to help in our deliberations and costing estimates.

Were people involved in the decision making?

All the schemes were presented by the Steering Committee to special meetings called of all interested parties where the pros and cons of each were debated and finally a decision was made on what to proceed with.  This continues to be the pattern – before any further decisions are made on the final layout of rooms, or the decoration or the storage etc, further meetings will be held to listen to ideas and to ensure that what we do meets the needs of as many people and groups as possible.

How will it be financed? When will it all happen? What additional benefits will there be?

All these questions and lots more were raised at the special meetings in 2002 and the following presentation from the Steering Committee at the time with further recent updates answers most if not all of people’s anxieties:

Why do anything at all?

We do not believe it is right NOT to do anything. We have to look to the future – to build a facility that will benefit the community, that will enhance our worshipping life and be a monument to God. With the sale of the old St Philip site, and with a well thought out feasibility plan, together with a motivated congregation, we should move forward to provide facilities for our future generations just as our predecessors did. The time is right!

Why not just smarten up our existing halls?

This is an option we have fully explored and have various plans showing what it could look like. However the result would not look very different from the outside and would be unlikely to attract any new visitors and would not have the impact of the new link development either on the community or to motivate the existing congregation.

Can we do things in stages?

The disadvantage in this approach is reflected in our current buildings. Eleven years ago we were at this same stage – we decided to develop in stages and now we have only the results of the first stage (the front church entrance and balcony) to show for it. It is too easy to give up after partial completion or when money starts to become a problem or when we lose the motivation.

How much would the new scheme cost?

For the new link building complete with new entrance lobby with totally refurbished halls and changes within the church, based on costs in 2002 including future inflation, we estimated the cost to be about £750,000.

How realistic is this? The last time we embarked on development, we only managed phase one (the front of the church) as it cost twice what the architects had predicted and the money wasn’t forthcoming to continue?

Only time will tell how accurate our estimate was. However, the Future Links Management Group have been very careful with our planning and by using the experience of our architect, we have a pretty good idea. Obviously we need to ensure the building work is well managed and that the interior finishes are of a suitably durable nature without being too elaborate in order to maintain this budget.

When we can’t seem to balance our books at present, how can we afford any new building work?

We said in 2002 that we could do it and with approximately half the money raised by November 2005, we still consider it very feasible. It should be noted that at the same time as raising this money towards Future Links, we have raised over £35,000 in addition for charities in the last 12 months alone!

How will we generate an income to maintain our new facilities?

From hall users, from continued and realistic giving by members and continued fundraising.

How will we raise the money?

By various means … money already set aside from the sale of the old St Philip’s site, grants, fund raising events and by increased giving.

Do we have a business plan?

Yes, we recognise the need not only to fund the initial development but also to have a viable plan in place to ensure that a sustained income is received from the use of the facilities to pay for maintenance. This plan is being developed.

How will we ensure the new premises are used to pay for maintenance?

The existing excellent lettings procedure will be further developed to maximise the paid use of the new facilities.

Will hall users be charged a greater amount in order to pay for the ongoing maintenance?

It is essential that we get a market value for the use of all the facilities. Outside hall users will be expected to pay in accordance with this rate which will be commercially attractive by comparison to other existing facilities in the area.

Youth organisations will be advised of the appropriate value of the hall usage and will be encouraged to donate to the church an amount viable without causing undue difficulties for their leaders in the necessary fundraising. This will be discussed in more detail in due course.

Will there be sufficient storage space?

Storage space has been recognised as a priority for all hall users. It has also been recognised that each organisation would like a storage facility within the space they use. This will be incorporated wherever possible within the new development. Regular hall users will be consulted on their requirements before any plans are finalised.

What about car park space?

We will have slightly more space than we currently have.
 

How about the tree outside the front entrance that’s caused us so many problems so far?

This issue has received a lot of attention during the last year and we are still in negotiations via the Methodist legal department with Sutton Council. We hope the outcome will eventually be the removal of the tree. (This tree was subsequently found to be the cause of the recent subsidence at the front of the church and the council have removed it).

What about security / vandalism?

These issues will remain with us and we have to be aware and take whatever precautions we can to ensure the safety of people and protection of property.

Will we put as much energy into improving worship especially to encourage a younger congregation?

Yes, it is recognised that new facilities without the people to make use of them is unthinkable. We will be aiming our worship to appeal even more to a younger congregation to address our known high average congregational age. We will also be advertising our church as an outgoing, future thinking church simply by embarking on this new development and we will seek to attract greater numbers through our contacts and by improved communications.

Will we have as much room in the newly refurbished halls?

The usable space will be greater than we currently have and there will be added flexibility of rooms especially for Epworth Hall which will have a divider allowing it to be used by two separate groups independently when required.

How long could we be without hall facilities?

Maybe about 9 months. However, St Matthias are currently undergoing a similar experience where their hall has been demolished whilst their new ones are built. Their organisations are currently using our halls and we hope that we might have reciprocal arrangement when our halls are being refurbished. With our church refurbishments already completed by then we will also make more use of the church itself for organisations use.

Will there be any changes to the existing church building?

The church will remain more or less as it is now however some improvements are envisaged with the balcony, lighting, visual aids and sound system. There may also be alterations made to the sanctuary area, pulpit and Lady Chapel but no changes will be made without full and complete consultation and agreement.
It is envisaged that the church will become a more widely used space for such things as concerts, dramas, exhibitions etc.

When could all this happen?

It is hoped that we could have the church refurbished during 2006 and the new link facilities and the refurbished halls open by September 2007.

So what will it look like?

Within this presentation are some early artistic impressions of the new entrance lobby area, the path beside the church, some internal sketches and some views looking at the side of the halls although you will notice that the trees shown in these pictures have now been removed allowing a more open view of the new entrance area.

And where are we now?

In November 2005, we have now raised over £340,000 towards the project. We still have a way to go but we haven’t yet received any grants and we are confident of success!

How can you help?

By supporting the project through the various Fun(d)raising events that are happening at regular intervals, by being a part of this exciting development and contributing ideas and by your continued prayers for its success.
 

This is an exciting time for our church and we hope everyone involved will reap the benefits.