The Bemerton Community Group continues its work to secure a future for St. John’s. We have decided to ask the parish to have most of the building deconsecrated, which will allow it to be used for community activities while still retaining the chancel for religious worship. Although this autumn will see the end of regular services at St. John’s for the foreseeable future, there will still be occasional services there (at Christmas, for example) and the church will definitely remain open.
While there is still a long way to go before we know what the converted church building will look like inside, there is no intention at this stage to make any significant changes to the exterior so from the outside St. John’s should look much the same after any alterations. It is difficult to predict when the conversion work will be done, but in order to avoid any disappointment no bookings for weddings at St. John’s will be taken from October 2010 until at least the end of 2011.
What we do know is that the conversion will cost quite a lot of money and one of the task teams set up by the Group is finding out what grants might be available. We shall also need to raise some of the cost by local fundraising, and the Group will make a start on this at the Bemerton St. John's School Fete on 4th July.
Another of the task teams has put together a questionnaire to gather ideas from the local community for possible uses of the converted building. They will be widely distributed locally and will also be available at the School Fete. Please get hold of one and fill it in – this is your chance to say what you would like us to do with the converted building.
We still intend to report back with detailed proposals to a village public meeting in September.
While there is still a long way to go before we know what the converted church building will look like inside, there is no intention at this stage to make any significant changes to the exterior so from the outside St. John’s should look much the same after any alterations. It is difficult to predict when the conversion work will be done, but in order to avoid any disappointment no bookings for weddings at St. John’s will be taken from October 2010 until at least the end of 2011.
What we do know is that the conversion will cost quite a lot of money and one of the task teams set up by the Group is finding out what grants might be available. We shall also need to raise some of the cost by local fundraising, and the Group will make a start on this at the Bemerton St. John's School Fete on 4th July.
Another of the task teams has put together a questionnaire to gather ideas from the local community for possible uses of the converted building. They will be widely distributed locally and will also be available at the School Fete. Please get hold of one and fill it in – this is your chance to say what you would like us to do with the converted building.
We still intend to report back with detailed proposals to a village public meeting in September.
