MEMBERS UPDATE, MARCH 2023: WE ARE ALMOST THERE!

Our Vision: ”A Café, Shop and Heritage Centre to benefit and enrich the lives of the whole community”

Since we last contacted you in December and January, the Project management team has been hard at work planning details of Phase One of the project, completing a new Business Plan and getting quotes from builders, tradespeople and consultants, in light of the funding changes announced in December.

Our Vision for the project has not changed at all, but details of timings and proposed works to the Chapel have changed.  The project belongs to you, our members, so we want to ensure we have your continued support.

At the end of February, we showed the board and officers of TAP (Teesdale Area Action Partnership – our key funders) around the Chapel.  We're delighted to report that this was a very positive meeting. They are all extremely interested in the Project (they have actively supported us all along) and are impressed with the potential of the Chapel building itself.  Our funding bid is in the final stages of approval by the TAP Board - we're hoping for the 'green light' very soon.  Several of the delegation said as much as they could possibly say to indicate that our application for funding will be approved, and that funding will be in place in time for completion of the purchase of the Chapel in April.  This is brilliant news.

We hope you will understand that we have not made the purchase price of the Chapel public because we did not want to risk another party sneaking in to jeopardise our plan to save the Chapel for the community.  We have one chance to secure the building for the village, otherwise, that opportunity will be lost forever.

As soon as we have approval from TAP for our funding, we will notify you of the date of the Members' Meeting when we can consult you and discuss the details of our plans for your Chapel Project.  We expect this meeting to happen before the end of March.  In the meantime, do get in touch if you have any questions or concerns, or to express your support (or otherwise).

We believe there are advantages to a phased approach - it allows the Project to grow organically, learning lessons as we go.  While some aspects of the original project will wait for further fundraising, our vision remains the same. Our phase one plans will protect the building from deterioration and create a warm, welcoming space in which we can run a shop and café in a safe, professional and financially viable manner. The TAP officers stated that this approach is much more achievable and realistic in the current economic climate, and one they very much support.

Please have a look at our revised Business Plan on our website at https://theoldchapel.info/business-plan-mar23 

 

Here is a summary of where we are now and our proposed plans:

  The works we plan to do include:

·        Full roof renovation to get the building watertight, sound, warm and safe 

·        Interior plastering, painting

·        Essential window replacements and secondary glazing

·        Decor to the standard as planned before

·        Work to insulate and re-lay the floor

·        Kitchen and toilet upgrades

·        Provision of cafe/kitchen equipment and shop fittings

·        External signage

Cafe/shop opening times will be limited to start with but will expand as we find our feet.  The heritage side of the project will get underway as soon as we have bought the building, and will be an integral part of our plans.  Once we have completed this phase we will continue to fundraise for further development including additional internal and external works, for example fitting out the school-room, fully replacing the kitchen, creating better access at the main entrance, and enabling use of the outdoor space.  Fundraising will be much easier once we own the building.

  • We have held nine Pop-Up Cafes. Our last one on February 11th was a Repair Cafe sponsored by Durham CC recycling initiative and we had a lot of folk bringing in items for repair, plus PAT testing, and some useful contacts were made for the future.  We have maintained momentum and a level of enthusiasm in the village for the pop-ups demonstrating how much the project means to the community.

  • On average our pop-ups have made a profit of around £600 each

  • Share Offering Open We greatly appreciate all the financial and practical support of our shareholders and volunteers.  For a £10 investment anyone can be part of supporting the vision of having a thriving cafe, shop and heritage centre in the heart of our beautiful village.  For details of how to either purchase shares as a new shareholder or how to increase your current shareholding please visit https://theoldchapel.info/buyshares

  • Estimated Timescales It is very difficult to predict when things will happen, as we’re dependent on so many other parties and people.  We expect to be able to complete the purchase of the Chapel in April, and we’ll hope to get to work straight away after that, but we’re in the hands of building companies for the major works, and they can’t commit to any dates until we can tell them to definitely go ahead.

We welcome feedback on the Project so please feel free to contact any of the management team or email us at info@theoldchapel.info

Many thanks for your continued support on the journey.

The Management Committee