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Funding Progress to May 2010
The £962,840 raised to date provides 62%
of the total sum required to complete both Phase 1 and
Phase 2 of the St Stephen's Project.
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Full
Funding Report |
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Activities in March and April
2010
During March, we were informed that the
Diocesan Advisory Committee agreed to issue a
certificate of approval to proceed with the second phase
of the Project. There are a number of proviso's included
with this certificate mainly linked to the need to
produced further detail relating to the proposed
lighting, the art work in the south-facing windows and
the window/door conversion. These are currently being
worked on. With the DAC certificate to hand a petition
for a full faculty to proceed with the work required has
been lodged with the Diocesan Registrar. To go with
this, a public consultation period commenced on 17th
April and is to be concluded on 15th May. This
consultation requires the display of the proposed plans
and other documents in St Stephen's with an invitation
to consult them on notice boards both inside and outside
the church. This procedure is required owing to the
antiquity of the building and in recognition of the
right of the public to be consulted.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 31) |
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Annual
Report 2009
In the first of
six progress reports issued in 2009 it was stated that
January 2009 marked the start of Phase 2 of the St
Stephen's Project. During this concluding phase the
lower-level external repairs and the full re-ordering of
the interior of St Stephen's are planned to take place.
While the development and administration of this phase
of the Project is seen as a whole, the building works
are planned to proceed in a series of sections. But
before any building work can be undertaken it is
necessary to prepare the detailed design of the phase as
a whole in order to proceed with the proposed works.
With this in mind, detailed discussions began in January
and continued in one form or another throughout 2009. At
the same time and after the successful completion of
Phase 1 at a cost of over £450,000, seeking funds to
complete Phase 2 was commenced with enthusiasm >>>
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Income and
Expenditure Account for 2009 >>>
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Activities in January and
February
2010
As 2010 proceeds, good news abounds. Our
major sponsor for Phase 2 of the Project, Viridor
Credits, is having a re-think concerning the restriction
of using the grant they have promised for development
costs. A meeting took place in January during which the
difficulty of reconciling cash-flow needs in paying our
professional advisers and meeting the advance
contribution required to release the promised grant
while at the same time attempting to raise funds for the
next tranche of development costs was fully discussed.
Part of the problem is due to the (necessary)
requirement that no contracts for work are initiated
unless the funds to meet the costs of such work are
available. This combined with a restriction for paying
development costs created a very difficult situation for
our fundraising effort. As a result of this meeting,
strong efforts were made to find sufficient funds to
meet the grant release contribution of £40,936; this was
forwarded to Viridor Credits in early February followed
shortly by a claim of £54,300 to cover payments already
made. This allows us to return the short-term loans we
were obliged to seek.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 30) |
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Activities in November and
December
2009
This period started with a flurry owing
to the need to get all reports ready for the submission
to the Diocese for permission to proceed by November
20th. There was uncertainty about the siting of the gas
boiler room for the central heating system. St Stephen's
has no out-buildings or places where equipment can be
stored away from the main body of the church. It was
initially suggested that the boilers should be placed in
a corner of the body of the church enclosed by a screen
but this was abandoned owing to the close proximity to
the dais. There was concern about possible noise during
performances or church services. The only possible
alternative place for the boiler room was in the
intermediate room half way up the tower and above the
proposed meeting rooms. The logistics in arranging this
site for a boiler room are problematic and potentially
expensive but it has to be. This meant re-drawing the
plans involving considerable work by the professional
team within a tight time frame. The boilers are
necessary to provide the under-floor heating system as
well as a hot water supply to the new servery.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 29) |
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Activities in September and
October
2009
This has been a heavy period for the
professional consultants employed on the Project. Once
it became apparent that the cost of professional fees
could be met and contracts signed, the signal was given
to prepare the detailed plans and reports necessary to
gain official permission for the work to go ahead.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 28) |
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Activities in July and August
2009
This period has introduced the ups and
downs of fundraising in a big way. The agreement letter
with Viridor Credits, who are responsible for the
administration of the £400,000 Landfill Community Fund
grant previously negotiated, has been signed at our end
at last. The delay and uncertainty arose as the
previously accepted cost estimates based on the building
works needed to be translated into the actual timing of
payments - especially where the cost of the detailed
planning preparation required has to be met in advance
of the building work. Permission to proceed with this
phase of the Project has been agreed 'in principle' but
detailed drawings etc. are required before building work
can actually start.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 27) |
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Activities in May and June 2009
The financial support being received and
promised has meant that we can begin the detailed
development work for this phase of the Project.
Contracts have been signed with our architect, with new
consulting engineers, with our surveyor and with our
health and safety consultant; others will, no doubt,
follow. The first task is to prepare for and submit
detailed applications to gain the necessary permissions
to proceed. Both the local Diocese and the Exeter City
Council have agreed in principle to the work to come but
now we need to produce the detail. There is much local
interest in St Stephen's owing to its ancient origins
and to its location in the very centre of Exeter.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 26) |
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Activities in March and
April 2009
The annual assessment of the work
undertaken on the St Stephen's roof and tower took place
in early March and the architects were satisfied that
Phase 1 of the Project can now be regarded as complete.
The final (retained) payment to the contractors is being
arranged. We can now fully concentrate on planning for
Phase 2 of the Project
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 25) |
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Annual
Report 2008
The most important
Project event during 2008 was the completion of Phase 1
- the repairs to the roof and tower - with St Stephen's
declared safe and watertight with all bills paid. >>>
read more
Income and
Expenditure Account for 2008 >>>
read more
St Stephen’s
Project Accounts for the years 2003 to 2008 >>>
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Activities in January and
February 2009
January 2009 marked the beginning of the
second phase of the St Stephen's Project. During this
concluding phase the lower-level external repairs and
the full re-ordering of the interior of St Stephen's are
planned to take place. While the development and
administration of this phase of the Project is seen as
whole, the building works are planned to proceed in a
series of seven stages. But before any building work can
be undertaken it is necessary to prepare the detailed
design of the phase as a whole to the level necessary to
gain the permissions to proceed with the proposed works.
With this in mind, detailed discussions took place
during January and February with our commissioned
architects and quantity surveyor. These resulted in
agreement concerning the Phase 2 development costs and
the proportions payable as the work proceeds. This is
necessary in order to keep to the most important
financial principle governing the funding of the
Project; namely the need to have available the necessary
funding (in the form of bank deposits or promises to pay
from recognised grant-giving trusts) before any contract
is signed. This requires the identification of the
minimum sum required before any work can commence.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 24) |
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Activities in November and
December 2008
A good deal of November was spent in
visiting and re-visiting the printing firm responsible
for producing the new project brochure and leaflet.
These are now available and being sent out.
During this two-month period we have had
good news from the Council for the Care of Churches who
have offered us a grant of £4,000; a further £5,000 was
received from the St Kerian;s Trust and £3,000 from the
Foundation for Sport and the Arts. These grants have
gone a long way in helping to pay for the organ repair
and relocation.
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More
activities
>>> Updated
Financial Statement (Report 23) |