Background to the Project (1)

A focal point for the Exeter community

Since the early 1970’s, a significant effort has been made to share the space and facilities available in St Stephen's Church with charitable and voluntary organisations to publicise their activities, recruit members and raise funds for their causes. The building is currently used for these purposes on most weekdays in the year in addition to the holding of regular Sunday church services. About 80 different charitable organisations have used the church in the last year.

The building is also used to stage occasional exhibitions, concerts and recitals and as a base for charities raising funds by street collections in the High Street. At its inauguration in the 1970's, the Exeter Festival (now administered by the City Council as a large-scale enterprise) used St Stephen's Church as its base. During this annual festival, the city centre location of the church has led to its use as an assembly point for artists attending events in the High Street.

The building is also used on a regular basis by self-help groups for meetings and for orchestral and choir rehearsals. It is the central location of St Stephen's Church in Exeter High Street that provides such a convenient meeting place, and a potential source of supporters and visitors from among the hundreds of pedestrians who pass its doors each day.

A building that needs to reflect its new environment

The current need is for the exterior of the church to be repaired and made safe and for the interior to be thoroughly reorganised and renovated if the building is to take its place in the newly regenerated city centre in a realistic way. External repair is urgent and the interior of the building requires redesigning and renovation in addition to an up-dating of the facilities within it. Particular emphasis needs to be placed on encouraging a close relationship between the building and Catherine Square with which St Stephen’s Church is historically linked. Now is the time to embark on a new phase in the life of this important building.

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