St Michael’s and All Angels, Winforton: Grade 1 Medieval Church
Type of Project:
Community Centre
Community Population: 259
Size of Congregation: On average, maximum 10 on a Sunday.
Cost of Project:
£75,000
Funding Sources:
Sale of Parish Room: £30,000.
Local Authority: £15,000
Countryside Agency: £25,000
The first thing to say about this project is that it used the Mansel Lacy Project as its
template, using their experiences and good practice to develop their own project.
Winforton is a small hamlet, in a very rural location. There were no facilities in the
village, no shop, hall, pub or any other community meeting place. The parish room,
owned by the church and in a very bad state of repair, was demolished and the
ground sold. The proceeds of that sale, amounting to £30,000, were restricted for
the use of a community building and were invested until this was possible.
Over a period of time, the vicar became aware that there was a tangible decline in
the sense of community in the hamlet, which seemed to be caused by the lack of
opportunity for local people to meet and interact. She started to carry out some basic
research on the quality of life within the hamlet and what activities and opportunities,
if any, people felt they were missing out on. This initial consultation was carried out
by questionnaire. From the initial responses, it became evident that the single most
important element impeding on their quality of life was a place to meet.
Subsequently, the question was asked as to whether or not the community would
support the development of the church building as the central meeting place. A
public meeting was held to explore the possibility and see if it was feasible. The
community showed overwhelming support for the idea, and formed a development
group to take the idea forward. The development group was made up of people from
the whole community – inside and outside the church – with a mandate from the PCC
to proceed with the project and to secure the funding to develop the building.
The applications for funding were made by a sub group from the steering group,
under the guidance of the Diocesan Officer with the responsibility for parish
development. The building work was commenced, which included new toilets,
kitchen, removal of Victorian pine pews, new lighting, sanding down and repair of the
floor and the installation of church yard lighting. It also incorporated a curtain across
the chancel arch, so that when the building was used by the community, there was a
clear demarcation between the holy space and community space.
It was agreed that the subsequent delivery of activities within the building should not be
the sole responsibility of the church, and a Community Association was formed, using
the Mansel Lacy Model (See above). The PCC and the Community Association agreed
to pay 50% each of the insurance and that income form the letting out of the church
would be fairly split between the two organisations, once the overheads from the use
the building had been met.