Hall closure in the new year – here’s what to expect

The hall, lobby, kitchen, toilets, Breukelman Room and office will all be out of action for three months from the New Year. So how will we manage?

Last Sunday’s Q&A session with Simon and Lesley was a chance for everyone to share their views. Here is a summary of the things we discussed and some of the very useful suggestions made by church members.

The key points of information were:

• As many activities as possible will be moved into the church.  This includes Messy Babies and Sunnyside Community Playgroup
• We will be able to use the accessible toilet – access from the church
• The main entrance will be the south porch door
• Most of the things we need will be stored in the chancel
• There will be a catering station for hot drinks etc in one corner of the church
• There will be a seating/socialising area in the rear of the church
• The builders will store things in the Breukelman room (possibly before Christmas) and will have a depot in the car park.
• Access down the car park steps will be severely restricted in their working hours.

Useful additional points made by church members:

• As the south porch will be the main entrance we should have a ramp to make a smooth entrance for people with restricted mobility – good thought, we should do this, Simon to investigate
• We will have to use disposable cups for serving tea and coffee: could everyone be encouraged to bring their own reuseable mugs to church and wash them up at home? – Yes, let’s do this
• What about the large pile of rubbish behind the Breukelman room? – This is all the stuff we are clearing out.  When the pile is large enough it will all be put in a skip sourced in conjunction with Playgroup.
• What about Easter?  Will the hall be ready in time? – the schedule is very tight so we are not sure.  The builders have been told that Holy week is of key importance to us and they must do their best to make as much of the facilities available to us as they can.

A hall closure planning group will work on a plan to make the whole process as painless as possible

If you have concerns or suggestions, please contact one of the members – we may have overlooked something important.

More information about the planning group, including who is on it, in the next newsletter.

We will be looking for lots of practical help, especially in the days between Christmas and the New Year when everything needs to be cleared from the hall.

Lesley Culley and Simon Lewis, for the Fit for the Future Project Team