Provision of a New Level Access to the Church

Provision of a New Level Access to the Church

As you may have noticed, we have poor access to the church for users who have restricted mobility, including those using mobility devices, those who have difficulty walking and those who have difficulty with steps.  This is because the entrance steps are uneven, worn and do not meet the current standards for level access.   Whilst we have no legal duty to rectify this (in the strictest sense) we do have a moral duty to look after our congregation and visitors if we can possibly do so.

Some members of the congregation have come up with the idea of an access ramp rather than the heavy, cumbersome portable ramp which is not very welcoming.  One of the congregation, with experience in this area, drew up plans for two options and, after consideration, one has been chosen.  This is for a landing at the church doors and a ramp down the drive with steps to the car park.

Of course we will need funding to employ a builder to construct the ramp, and an architect to produce the detailed drawings.  We have estimated this cost to be in the order of £15,000 and quotes we have had support this.  In order to get the funds we have held some events and raffles and have made over £1000 in the last six months.  It would take us a long time to raise all of the money in this way, so we have searched for grants from charities to supplement our efforts.  We have already secured a donation of £5,000 from the Horace Taylor Trust and have two applications under consideration for further funds.  We still need to keep fundraising as grants alone may not be enough and we need to consider what we can do in self-help terms, so if anyone can help in any way we would be most grateful.  Any ideas for fundraising events or sources of funding would also be gratefully received.   If you have any questions about the project please contact Michael Hann (07768 113586, mikehann@gmail.com) or Julia Lidster (07557 686570), julialidster@hotmail.com)