Minutes of Meeting of St. Matthew's PCC

Minutes of Meeting of St. Matthew's PCC

Held on Monday 12h September 2017

The meeting was preceded by a celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

Present: The Reverend David Shepherd (FrD) (Chair), Debbie Lim (DL) (Church Warden), Adrian Gray (AG) (Church Warden), Raymond Boskey (RB) (Secretary), Chris Gear (CG) (Treasurer), Roger Tabor (RT), Pip Leese (PL ), Margaret Tabor (MT), Maxine Raphael (MR), Penny Kay (PK), Sandra Byrne (SB), Daphne Boskey (DB) and David Gould (DG).

Guest: James Ford RIBA AABC Architect

1. Apologies: Lynn Shepherd (LS).

2. Minutes of meeting held on 19th June 2017: Agreed

3. Declaration of Interest: None was declared.

4. Matters Arising:

i) FrD said that the builder had cleaned the gutter and repair part of the roof on the church hall. The lightning conductor has been inspected and a certificate received.

ii) MR is reviewing sending out of baptism cards.

iii) FrD said that Geoffrey Farrar and Vicki (our previous cleaner) had both expressed thanks for their gifts and Geoffrey has used his to buy a new fountain pen.

5. Discussion with Architect James Ford RIBA AABC:

Fr David opened the discussion by introducing James Ford as our Architect who was attending as adviser to the meeting to assist in our discussions for improving access to the church plus adding a tea station and toilet. FrD then invited James to address the meeting.

James’ initially pointed out that the simplest thing would be to do nothing but it was agreed that this was not a viable option as changes were needed. He then asked if we had prepared a ‘Statement of Needs’ to identify what we lack and what benefits would be gained by the parish as a whole. This statement need only be short and help can be obtained from the diocese in preparing it. He thought that our proposals would be accepted in principle and suggested that we speak to the Archdeacon at the DAC. He suggested that the needs are ordered under the following headings:

1. Facilities: include the Church’s requirements to encourage people in.

2. Space: once the facilities have been identified, list possible areas in the Church and grounds to install them.

3. Access: will everyone, including those with mental, physical and age related disabilities be able to use the facilities when they have been installed.

4. Liturgy: will the requirements fit in with the Liturgy of the Church for the normal services plus baptisms, weddings and funerals.

5. Other: finally we need to look at enlarging the use of the Church for the wider community within the parish.

The package as a whole needs to be discussed and he suggested that we visit other churches in the area where similar alterations have been made and discuss them with the members of those churches.

The main requirements that needed to be discussed at this meeting were the installation of a toilet and kitchen/tea station and he pointed out that we would find it less expensive and easier to get the necessary permissions if we kept the work within the current footprint of the building.

It was generally agreed that the best area for the tea station would be along the west wall at the rear of the church with the rood screen being moved forward to give more space. The altar frontal box (which is no longer used) would also need to be moved.

There was some discussion regarding the placement of the toilet. A suggestion had been put forward that this could also be included within the tea point area but some members were not comfortable with the idea of this facility within the church itself. Other suggestions were the vestry (although this has floor level issues) or inside the main porch if we moved the main entrance to the Lady Chapel entrance in line with an earlier suggestion that we lower the Lady Chapel floor to allow disabled access. It was also suggested that we move the Lady Chapel and combine it with the side alter in order to move it away from the entrance.

James agreed that he would draw up rough sketches for three or four options for our consideration and that he would come back in November to discuss these.

With regard to the provision of improved disabled access, James proposed that we undertake an access audit to look at all possibilities.

The meeting agreed that that the Finance and Standing Committee comprising be tasked with drafting the Statement of Needs and Access Audit.

6. AOB: The Treasurer said that he has received a new mandate form from HSBC to clarify our signatories for cheques and other documents. The current signatories are Fr David Shepherd, Deborah Lim and Christopher Gear. It was agreed that these will continue with the addition of Adrian Gray.

7. Future Dates:

Wednesday 15th November 2017

Wednesday 7th March 2018

Sunday 29th April 2018 : APCM followed by Short Notice PCC.

The meeting closed at 9:25 pm with the Grace

Next Meeting: 15th November 2017

Signed ……………..……………………… Dated…………………

Position …………………………………………………………..………