Roof
Project.
We give
Praise to our Lord
that this October saw the completion of 2 ½ years hard work.
The
Baptist Tabernacle has served
God in our
local community for over 100
years; it is used by many groups in the community and provides
services and activities for everybody.
Unfortunately,
the
beautiful
building
was
beginning
to
show
its
age
inside
and
out
and
we
had
started
to have major problems with leaking roofs. The members of the
Church
were faced with the daunting task to find finances to fix the damage.
In
April
2007
the Deacons
proposed to
the members that we start to
fund raise
to re-cover the 2 flat roofs and also protect the leaded light windows
which
are located on the roof from damage by installing a secondary glazed
window
with sills to keep the rain water out.
Before
After
Before
After with sill
Situated
under
the
two
flat
roofs
are
12
rooms,
the
majority
of
these
are
damaged
to
such an extent that they can not be used by the community or ourselves.
The
large
antique
organ
situated
under
the
roof
on
the
South
side
was
also
in
danger
of being damaged as a consequence of the water coming through
the roof.
Our
Fabric
Steward,
Mel
Baker
although
having
no
experience
in
fund
raising,
was
given
the
daunting
task
to secure the almost £90,000 needed to make the
church
dry. We would like to thank the
following, ‘The
National Churches
Trust’ (formally known as Historic Church Preservation Trust) for
their
substantial gift towards the work and also for the additional gifts
from ‘Garfield Weston
Foundation’, ‘Catherine
Cookson
Charitable
Trust’, ‘The
J.H.
Burn Charity Trust’, ‘Allchurches
Trust’
and ‘The Rank Foundation’.
A
further £10,000 interest free loan was offered and accepted from ‘The William Leech
Charity’
to be paid back over 5 years.
In
addition,
Church
members,
worshippers
and
a
number
of
unnamed
contributors
gave
in
Faith
more
than
half of the monies needed, which is a truly
significant
testimony to the importance of the work the church delivers to
individuals,
groups and the wider community.
By
the
end
of
October
2009,
with
almost
all
the
monies
required
in
place,
the
work
on
both flat roofs had been completed and the often frustrating path,
the
sleepless nights and all sorts of additional problems before and during
the
process of getting the church dry have finally paid off.
Now
that
the
roofs
are
fixed
and
once
the
members
have
recovered
and
recharged
their
finances
and energy. We will look at the refurbishment of the 12
rooms; It
is time to thank all the people who were involved in this process for
their
commitment, time and hard work.