Restoration Project

The John Quirk evening on 13th was enjoyed by all who attended.  Thanks to John for an enjoyable and informative evening following the history of he musicals.  Over £450 was raised for the fund.

 Joan Williams School of dancing concert on 13th October was another success and raised £250 for the fund.  Thanks to Joan and her dancers for arranging this to support St Judes.

At the end of August the country and Western evening was a very enjoyable evening and raised over £400 and the attendance at the Swansea Male Choir surpassed all expectations and was a great success enjoyed by all and raising over £600.  We should also mention the wonderful contribution of the soloists,  Jane Williams who sang and Bethan her daughter who played the violin.  Bethan at only 16 played beautifully and with a professionalism that went way beyond her years and earned her the best ovation of the night.   Our thanks to the Swansea Male choir,  Jane, Bethan and the accompanyists and to all those who turned out to support the event.

In common with many other churches,  St Judes is showing the signs of age.   At the recent quinquenniel survey it became apparent that a lot of money needed to be spent to prevent further deterioration of the condition of the church.   The total estimated by the surveyor is in the region of £350,000. 

A project to carry out the restoration work was launched last November and a committee was formed to oversee the project.

With a relatively small congregation the sums involved are fairly daunting,  but it is hoped to raise the bulk of the money through grants,  in particular a large grant from the Lottery heritage Fund as well as a number of smaller grants from  other organisations. 

The first phase of the restoration is set at £250,000 and if the main grant is forthcoming it is hoped that work can start at the end of 2007 or early in 2008.

Meanwhile we cannot simply sit back and wait for grant money to come in,  we have to fund raise as well and several small events have already taken place,  so the fund is already off the ground with around £1,000 from the collection and other gifts at the Launch service which was held in church on 22nd November 2006 and smaller sums from other events.

The first of the larger events that have been planned,  a concert by the Swansea Male Voice Choir, should have taken place in March,  but due to a leaking roof causing the electrics in church to burn out,  it had to be postponed and will now take place on September 21st.  Any fund raising by individuals of smaller events will be greatly appreciated and any help with arranging of the larger events will also be appreciated.

Despite the need for this special fund raising,  we must not allow this to blind us to the fact that the day to day running of the church is still our prime concern and this also costs money.  In addition to our "Parish Share" which is paid annually to the diocese we also have electricity and gas bills,  routine maintenence and as recently noted emergency repairs,  so please bear this in mind in your giving and fund raising.  Every year with inflation your pound is worth less than the previous year.  Tax payers can help by gift aiding their regular giving and other donations and making every pound they give worth £1.28.

The first grant application has now been made during March 2007, to the Lottery Heritage fund and a letter of acknowledgment has been received.   

At the latest PCC meeting,  on 18th July 2007, members were informed that an enquiry form had been received from the LHF,  which is good news as it indicates that serious consideration is being given to our application.