FRIENDS OF CLAINES CHuRCH
Claines Church Re-
Whether it’s a Summer wedding or a Christmas Carol Service we think that our Church of St John Baptist, Claines is special, the right place to celebrate those particular moments in life. Our Church means a great deal to us, partly because it looks every inch the traditional country church, partly because many of us have celebrated stages on life’s journey in this building. In this building we have been affirmed and comforted by the knowledge that God cares for each one of us, and that for centuries people have gathered in this very building to pray and sing God’s praises.
Each generation has the responsibility to care for this building and to ensure that it continues to bear witness to God’s love in our children’s time and in their children’s time. So each generation of worshippers has a duty of care as good stewards, and must try to discharge that duty as faithfully as possible.
We are most fortunate that people have taken that duty seriously in past times, so that the fabric of the building is in good repair, but there are always maintenance issues which need to be addressed. The most pressing of these issues over the past 10 years has been the rewiring of the church. The electrical wiring has been inspected and found to be inadequate, there have even been small fires in the Church over the last few years, so we have had to do something about it.
Part of the challenge of the rewiring project has been to replace the light fittings, these have been found to be inadequate for a number of reasons.
Firstly, they are only capable of giving out a comparatively low level of light and in parts of the church it can be difficult to read the service books, this is particularly the case near the altars of the main sanctuary and in the Lady Chapel.
Secondly, we are not able to use modern energy efficient lamps with the present fittings and so we consume much greater amounts of electricity than we need to, which is both costly and wasteful of energy.
Thirdly, the light fittings we currently have do not allow the heat from the light sources to be dissipated, which has led to the wiring of the light fittings over a period of time becoming brittle and breaking down.
The problem that we have faced is that we actually like the light fittings which we have in Church, and we would like to keep them. And perhaps here you can help – because we do not know when they were first installed in the Church, and we would like to know, so that we can pass on that information to English Heritage and a number of Architects within the Diocese.
So if you know when the lights were first installed and by whom please let us know, it may even help us with the next stage of the project.
AND WHAT IS THE NEXT STAGE OF THE PROJECT?
1. To start the rewiring scheme over the next month. This will need to be a total rewire of the church, from distribution board to lighting (and heating) sources and electrical sockets.
2. To engage a local blacksmith and glazing company to copy the light fittings which we currently have, but on a slightly larger scale to allow for a higher level of illumination, using energy efficient light sources, which allow for the heat generated by those sources to be dispersed and so protect the wiring.
Our scheme has been commended by the Diocesan Advisory Committee and a faculty for the work has been granted. We have a contractor waiting to come on site in July, with the expectation that the total project will run for approximately 8 weeks. Our electrical consultant, Tony Taylor, our architect, Nick Joyce and a small group of parishioners led by Ian Cramp have been busy for many months bringing the project to this stage.
Through the hard work of the parish team we have been awarded a grant by Entrust Landfill Tax Grants Scheme towards the project, we have also applied for other grants and await decisions on those applications. Our reserves are such that we can top up the grant already made and have so far raised in excess of £35,000, but the total scheme will cost £50,000.
And that is the second place you can help. We need to raise a further £15,000 in order to bring the project to fruition. How can we do that? Each light on our new fittings will cost a total of £300. Will you sponsor a light – or perhaps a total fitting at £900? With the many people who look to Claines Church as their Church this should not be too onerous a goal.
So, can you help? If you can, speak to the Wardens:
John Dorrell 01905 458855
Sylvia Duggan 01905 453743
or contact the Vicar on 01905 754772,
or drop a line to:
Revd Stephen Agnew
The Vicarage
Claines Lane
Claines
WORCESTER WR3 7RN
On line donations are always possible using the PayPal link below.
Thank you for taking the trouble to read this appeal for help.
We look forward to hearing from you.
July 2010