Community Launch Event held in May 2015
The Community Launch Event was a huge success, attracting over 100 people to the church and celebrating achievements to date. The project was launched by The Archdeacon of Boston, The Ven Dr Justine Allain Chapman, and those attending were treated to craft demonstrations and tours of the church.
Audrey Young of the Algarkirk Major Project Group opened proceedings:
” We thought this day would never come. From a rather depressing meeting in the village hall back in 2009 to inform the village that the church was to close, it feels like a long and arduous journey to get to this joyful point – celebrating the launch of the project to restore, re-establish and revive this amazing building. I want to pose and answer two questions.
Who are we?
local people, from the village and parish who make up the AMPG. It feels like a bit of a marathon relay team The four current members are Diana, Jayne, Cheryllynn and Audrey we currently hold the baton but we want to remember and acknowledge former and earlier members who were in at the start Steven, Elaine, Hennie, Christine and Anne, Jackie and Brian Dickinson, Peter and Jane, Kim Fisher, Bill Moore and Pam.
We also must thank the Diocese team Ben and Matthew for their expertise in guiding us through the grant process. All have helped build the foundations of this project.
We also want to thank and hope for their continued support the Village Hall committee, Algarkirk Radio, Sandy for her time and frequent baking of gorgeous cakes which she donates to the church, Martin for caretaking duties, John for our website and our families, supportive residents and neighbours who come to fund raising events, open days … and engage in consultation.
What are we hoping to do?
From the outset we have had a clear mission statement
St Peter and St Paul’s Church has been described as as “the mini-cathedral of the Fens”, magnificent and dominating.
Our project mission is to secure funds to carry out essential restoration and repairs to return the church to a significant and relevant role in Algarkirk in the 21st Century. Open and accessible to all:
- to enjoy the splendour and heritage of the building
- for worship
- as an ideal venue and facility for a wide range of community activities and events
- to create education and craft-skills programmes
When we asked Algarkirk residents, through the survey, there was overwhelming support for this. The survey is on our website and still receives positive responses. Interestingly House of Lords quoted Algarkirk as the ideal model for similar churches and communities in the 21st Century.
Obviously HLF who have awarded the grant believes this to be the way forward. Its purpose to develop our plans turn our mission statement into reality, It has meant we can appoint a Project Officer, Liz Bates of Lincolnshire Heritage Trust and Walker and Cunnington Architects as lead consultant
The challenge is we have to raise £40,000 to match the grant, part of this is evaluating the time and involvement of local volunteers (in the first 3 months of the grant award – 50 days 44 volunteers)
Finally
Our mission statement identified the need for the project to be sustainable. For us this means:
- to benefit the locality
- for local people to participate in the activities,
- a rich seam of heritage and historical significance for local schools and colleges to research
- wherever possible local businesses to tender for work
- contributes to the local economy
In short the project is owned by Algarkirk and has created a community resource for future generations.