Friends of St Cyriac's Church
St Cyriac's Needs Friends
Our elderly, redundant and splendid Church is looking for friends.
At a meeting on 22 September in St Cyriac and Julitta's, 25 interested locals heard what was needed. Maintenance and repair of the fabric of this listed building is in the care of the Redundant Churches' Trust and will remain their responsibility. Funds for this come from the Church Commissioners and the Department of Culture. On 17th October, approximately £30,000 of work on the Church will start.
However, there is little point in maintaining a building which is unused. The Commissioners are therefore looking for a group of local people to form a support group. Once such a group is established, it will be possible to investigate additional funding for improvements to the building. These could include heating, toilets and disabled access which would enable more frequent and diverse use of the building. Without a group of friends any Community Development Project is doomed to failure.
The project needs: committee members, subscribing members, volunteers to write letters of support and distribute literature and event organisers.
The Churches Conservation Trust would like to establish a Friends organisation for St Cyriac's Church, Swaffham Prior. Although this much-loved building is already wonderfully cared for by a few dedicated individuals, in order to plan for the future of the church it is essential to establish a larger group of supporters.
A Friends group would work with the Trust to care for St Cyriac's and to promote the church as an important community venue, piece of local heritage and educational resource.
A Friends group would be able to
- Organise and support local events and activities in the church.
- Raise money to pay for specific work at the church. This will include working with the Trust to apply for external grants..
- Support the work of the Churches Conservation Trust to promote the church locally as an important piece of built heritage and as an educational resource
What will the advantages of this increased community involvement be?
- Forming a constituted body dramatically increases chances of obtaining funding fromgrant-giving bodies.
- The church will be able to respond more fully to the needs of its village.
- A greater sense of community ownership and function will be returned to the church.
- The group will be able to help shape the church's future, contributing to discussions with the Trust about future work at the church.
How do we set up the group?
We need to set up a properly constituted organisation. This will be done at a public meeting. (A draft version of the constitution is available on request).
We need a chairman, a treasurer and a secretary to serve on the committee.
Once the committee has been established, the group will then open its own bank account.
Who can be Involved?
Any person over the age of 18 and any corporate or unincorporated association.
How much time Is involved?
There will be an Annual General Meeting. The frequency of additional general meetings will be decided by the chairman, though they would typically be quarterly or biannual.
Interested?
Please get in touch. Offers to serve on the committee are particularly welcome, but we would also love to hear from people who would like to join us as ordinary members or simply offer moral support. Contact Verity Stroud on 01279 771478.