FCC Bedford Church Building
Donation protected
After many years of renting properties for places of worship and our various Social Action Initiatives, Faith Community Church and our Charity Arm, Faith Community Project (1111208) of our own accord, successfully raised the finances to purchase, what is formally known as St Martins Church Hall, in Clapham Road, Bedford and now begin the task of renovating it for 21st Century use.
The building is situated immediately west of this historic town centre, within the historic town of Bedford; well known for being the home to the likes of preacher and writer of the acclaimed book ‘Pilgrims Progress’, John Bunyan, Edward the Elder’s first known castle fortress and Barony of Bedford.
The building is located on the A6 (Clapham Rd) which is easy to get to regardless of which route into Bedford you are taking. The building is placed between St Martins Church and Livingstone School as well as being a short and enjoyable walks to the beautiful Bedford Park.
Use of the Building
The intention for the building is primarily to be used as a place of worship for ‘all nations’ within the community of Bedford. F.C.C will also play host to a number of community initiatives such as a children’s and Youth activity centre, Meet & Chat Coffee Mornings, Soup Kitchen, OAP’s luncheon activity day, educational activities as well as a Performing Arts initiative. Once complete, the F.C.C building will stand as a beacon in Clapham road Bedford, bringing a fresh look to this area of Bedford.
How far have we come?
St Martins Church, after being unable to keep up with the maintenance of this building, eventually sold it to the council, which planned to turn it into a pre-school in coalition with Livingstone Primary School, which is its neighbouring building to its right. After promised money from government to improve schools were withdrawn, the council had no choice but to put the church hall back on the property market.
Being on the market for two years, we made some inquiries and after much debate about the condition of the property and its value, we managed to decrease the asking price from £250,000 to £70,000. We had managed to raise £82,000 and we were able to buy the property in 2013 cash for £70,000. At the end of 2015 we finally received planning permission for the refurbishment, partial rebuilding and extension of the old St Martin’s Church Hall, to create a significantly new, multipurpose community centre.
The official plans can be seen at the Borough Councils Planning Portal here:
http://edrms.bedford.gov.uk/PlanningBrowse.aspx?id=seZayNzlK66rbT8o9SOTWQ%3d%3d
Since obtaining Planning Permission, we have focussed on...
1. Raising as much funds as possible (£53,000 to date)
2. Putting a design team together, this consists of an Architect, Quantity Surveyor, Structural Engineer, Electrical & Mechanical Engineer and a Principle Designer (CDM) (as well as having integral input from all energy and power supply companies. This team alone will cost £16k circa.
3. Obtaining 4 builders quotes all ranging from between £500k to £1.5million
4. Writing to Funding Organisations, Churches and Individual Donors.
The design team are working hard to have the “Working Constructions Drawing” (Building Regs Plan) completed by Christmas 2016 to tender in order to Start work within the first quarter of 2017.
Among the core services we offer our community, we also aim to provide a range of high quality and cost effective services to the local community, with the potential to develop new services in response to the changing needs of the community. The many types of skill sets available through FCC affiliation as well as the many needs those skills sets aims to reach on a weekly basis, leaves us with no choice but to build upon what we already have, bringing what we do using four different location, under one roof.
Another part of our project that we are excited about involves working in partnership with Bedford Borough, local doctor surgeries and community services to pilot a volunteering ‘Community Health Champion’ service. Active ‘Health Champion’ models in action combined with the spiritual and emotional support churches offer across the UK have proven to be very successful; our aim is once the project has matured and gained the local communities trust, we will run a 24 hours support service for the emotional and mental needs of beneficiaries at the time their crisis occurs. Crisis can happen at any time, in the same way an individual with a broken leg or a heart attack shouldn't have to wait to see a doctor during office hours, those with emotional and mental crisis should have the same opportunities.
Mental and emotional health should have the same amount of care, thought and urgency, as physical health. As our building sits in one of the lowest deprived areas in the country, we aim to notably promote this unique service in this particular LSOAs (Lower Layer Super Output Area) which is among the 0-20% most deprived areas in Bedford and Kempston town.
Time banking’ (TB), a way for people from all walks of life to ‘deposit’ their time in the TB by giving practical help and support to others, being able to ‘withdraw’ their time when they need something done themselves. TB promotes social inclusion and empowers individuals by making members feel valued, enabling them to share their skills with others learning new skills themselves.
Partnerships and effective community involvement is vital to ensure our project services and activities are a success. Involving local residents, particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, in helping to design and deliver our projects and services will help build confidence, ownership and a sense of community. We are in the process of consulting with local council and professional organisations, such as TB UK regarding planning, implementation and sustaining our community service as well as contacting other similar projects to share and learn from their experience.
How can you get help?
With your help we can complete the renovations needed to establish the vision of Faith Community Church. FCC endeavours to contribute to meeting the needs of its community as well as foreign missions, but can only do this with your help.
We sincerely hope you will consider us for funding as we endeavour to impact our community long term.
Yours faithfully
Daniel Brown
Senior Pastor & Head Chair
On behalf all FTM Trustees
Faith Community Church
Bedford & Cambridge
Tel: 01234 352625
Mob:07411 295086
2016: Building, Growing & Establishing Victoriously
The building is situated immediately west of this historic town centre, within the historic town of Bedford; well known for being the home to the likes of preacher and writer of the acclaimed book ‘Pilgrims Progress’, John Bunyan, Edward the Elder’s first known castle fortress and Barony of Bedford.
The building is located on the A6 (Clapham Rd) which is easy to get to regardless of which route into Bedford you are taking. The building is placed between St Martins Church and Livingstone School as well as being a short and enjoyable walks to the beautiful Bedford Park.
Use of the Building
The intention for the building is primarily to be used as a place of worship for ‘all nations’ within the community of Bedford. F.C.C will also play host to a number of community initiatives such as a children’s and Youth activity centre, Meet & Chat Coffee Mornings, Soup Kitchen, OAP’s luncheon activity day, educational activities as well as a Performing Arts initiative. Once complete, the F.C.C building will stand as a beacon in Clapham road Bedford, bringing a fresh look to this area of Bedford.
How far have we come?
St Martins Church, after being unable to keep up with the maintenance of this building, eventually sold it to the council, which planned to turn it into a pre-school in coalition with Livingstone Primary School, which is its neighbouring building to its right. After promised money from government to improve schools were withdrawn, the council had no choice but to put the church hall back on the property market.
Being on the market for two years, we made some inquiries and after much debate about the condition of the property and its value, we managed to decrease the asking price from £250,000 to £70,000. We had managed to raise £82,000 and we were able to buy the property in 2013 cash for £70,000. At the end of 2015 we finally received planning permission for the refurbishment, partial rebuilding and extension of the old St Martin’s Church Hall, to create a significantly new, multipurpose community centre.
The official plans can be seen at the Borough Councils Planning Portal here:
http://edrms.bedford.gov.uk/PlanningBrowse.aspx?id=seZayNzlK66rbT8o9SOTWQ%3d%3d
Since obtaining Planning Permission, we have focussed on...
1. Raising as much funds as possible (£53,000 to date)
2. Putting a design team together, this consists of an Architect, Quantity Surveyor, Structural Engineer, Electrical & Mechanical Engineer and a Principle Designer (CDM) (as well as having integral input from all energy and power supply companies. This team alone will cost £16k circa.
3. Obtaining 4 builders quotes all ranging from between £500k to £1.5million
4. Writing to Funding Organisations, Churches and Individual Donors.
The design team are working hard to have the “Working Constructions Drawing” (Building Regs Plan) completed by Christmas 2016 to tender in order to Start work within the first quarter of 2017.
Among the core services we offer our community, we also aim to provide a range of high quality and cost effective services to the local community, with the potential to develop new services in response to the changing needs of the community. The many types of skill sets available through FCC affiliation as well as the many needs those skills sets aims to reach on a weekly basis, leaves us with no choice but to build upon what we already have, bringing what we do using four different location, under one roof.
Another part of our project that we are excited about involves working in partnership with Bedford Borough, local doctor surgeries and community services to pilot a volunteering ‘Community Health Champion’ service. Active ‘Health Champion’ models in action combined with the spiritual and emotional support churches offer across the UK have proven to be very successful; our aim is once the project has matured and gained the local communities trust, we will run a 24 hours support service for the emotional and mental needs of beneficiaries at the time their crisis occurs. Crisis can happen at any time, in the same way an individual with a broken leg or a heart attack shouldn't have to wait to see a doctor during office hours, those with emotional and mental crisis should have the same opportunities.
Mental and emotional health should have the same amount of care, thought and urgency, as physical health. As our building sits in one of the lowest deprived areas in the country, we aim to notably promote this unique service in this particular LSOAs (Lower Layer Super Output Area) which is among the 0-20% most deprived areas in Bedford and Kempston town.
Time banking’ (TB), a way for people from all walks of life to ‘deposit’ their time in the TB by giving practical help and support to others, being able to ‘withdraw’ their time when they need something done themselves. TB promotes social inclusion and empowers individuals by making members feel valued, enabling them to share their skills with others learning new skills themselves.
Partnerships and effective community involvement is vital to ensure our project services and activities are a success. Involving local residents, particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, in helping to design and deliver our projects and services will help build confidence, ownership and a sense of community. We are in the process of consulting with local council and professional organisations, such as TB UK regarding planning, implementation and sustaining our community service as well as contacting other similar projects to share and learn from their experience.
How can you get help?
With your help we can complete the renovations needed to establish the vision of Faith Community Church. FCC endeavours to contribute to meeting the needs of its community as well as foreign missions, but can only do this with your help.
We sincerely hope you will consider us for funding as we endeavour to impact our community long term.
Yours faithfully
Daniel Brown
Senior Pastor & Head Chair
On behalf all FTM Trustees
Faith Community Church
Bedford & Cambridge
Tel: 01234 352625
Mob:07411 295086
2016: Building, Growing & Establishing Victoriously
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FaithCommunityChurch Bedford
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