Date: Friday 22nd March 2024
Time: 4pm
Place: St. Mary’s Church House
Chair: Ann Creegan
Attendees: Father Jim, Anne Hampton (AH), Andrew Mitchell (AM), John O’Meara (JO), Kenneth Brannan (KB), Ann Creegan (AC), Lisa Gould (LG), Nicky Marra (NM), Ged Fitzpatrick (GF) and Alison Houghton (Alison H)
Apologies: Robert Law, Maria Ogden, Scott McCallum, Michael Kidd, Paula Fenwick
Note Taker: Ged Fitzpatrick
Father Jim opened the meeting with a prayer.
The above apologies were noted by the Chair and the group agreed the minutes from the previous meeting.
AC welcomed NM to the meeting and asked the group to introduce themselves to him.
Agenda Item: Grant Funding – Presenter: Father Jim
Father Jim provided of an overview of the situation on behalf of MO who had updated the core group at the earlier meeting from that day. The full details are referred to within the minutes of that meeting.
Agenda Item: Buy a Brick – Presenter: GF
GF informed the group that 10 of the 16 spaces available for the half bricks have now been sold.
Agenda Item: Environment Expert – Presenter: GF / JO
GF stated that at last he had established contact with Dr Rebecca Wade, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Abertay University. Ongoing item
Agenda Item: Forgotten Skills Workshop – Presenter: GF
In the absence of MK and MO, GF updated the group with the news from MO that the arrangements for the workshop will commence after Easter. She also stated that Karen Hynd (NCT) is also very keen to become involved in this event.
Agenda Item: Book of Sponsors – Presenter: AH
AH informed the group that she had recently carried out extensive work with regards to the breakdown of the parish finances for the purpose of identifying those finances which specifically relate to the restoration work. As such, AH anticipates that she will be in a better position to create the book of sponsors over the forthcoming weeks.
Agenda Item: How to Care for your Church Workshop – Presenter: GF
MO reported that the date for ‘How to Care for Your Church’ Workshop, has now been confirmed by SPAB (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings). The workshop will take place on Wednesday, 25 September 2024.
The aim of the course will be to offer those who care for historic places of worship (very often volunteers/pastors) introductory guidance to understand their buildings better and to carry out basic preventative maintenance.
Agenda Item: History Sub-Group – Presenter: Various
New Parish History Booklet (hard and online copies) (GF)
GF reminded the group that George Burton (local Author) had agreed to write the updated history of the Church for the purposes of producing a book(let) and entry within the website. The challenge lay in identifying an appropriate researcher who could provide suitable material to George. Various possibilities discussed.
AM informed the group that within the church website, there is an archive tab which could be used for storing historical information about the church.
Visitor leaflet / QR code – (AM)
AM then went on to discuss the visitor guide / leaflet which was discussed a number of months ago. AM reminded the group that he had already produced one for St. John’s Church in Perth. Many of the group had read this leaflet and complemented AM on his impressive work. The group were very keen for AM to replicate his work at St. Mary’s.
Agenda Item: Web Site Update (restoration page) – Presenter: AM
AM stated that he had little to add other than a request to provide a more abbreviated version of the minutes for inclusion within the restoration page.
Agenda Item: Schools Update – Presenter: LG
LG updated the group with regards to the task given to her by MO in respect of the school survey whereby the pupils were asked to provide their thoughts on what they would like the church hall to be used for.
She explained that Mrs Curran (Headteacher) spoke to the children at assembly and thereafter the questionnaires were carried out by class teachers in order to obtain a varied response from different stages. These responses were very positive with a very wide range of suggestions offered.
Agenda Item: Fund Raising – Presenter: Father Jim/ AH
Father Jim led the update by revealing that the project had raised a total £209,156.99 through fundraising events and other donations. The group were extremely surprised by this news and agreed that this was a remarkable amount of money.
Date of Next Meeting:
Friday 26th April – 4 pm
