Dear Church Family,
As many of you will be aware, we are currently undertaking essential roof repairs at St Matts. Three years ago we completed essential roof repairs over the church offices and side chapel. We followed this by renovating the now beautiful room above the offices with restored access via the original spiral staircase. In this current phase we are repairing the roof over the north aisle which has been letting in water and damaging the fabric of the building. The old slates are being taken off, new insulated felt being put on, the timbers treated and then the slates put back on with new fixings, using existing slates as much as possible (each new slate cost £12). New guttering is being installed. It is a thorough job on the north roof that cannot be accessed from the valleys and the one that is therefore most difficult to maintain.
Through a tendering process we obtained a very competitive quote from a small family firm of contractors and they are doing an excellent job. The cost of the works is:
Cost of items
- North roof repairs: £45,000
- Contingency: £5,000
- Management fee: £5,000
Total: £55,000
The above costs do not include VAT which is fully reclaimable.
We have applied for grant funding to several trusts and wonderfully, have successfully raised £28,000, for which we are incredibly thankful to God. The remainder, we now need to raise from our church family to complete the works which amounts to £27,000. I am therefore asking you prayerfully to consider whether you can contribute to our efforts.
Roofs are not the most exciting part of a church building but are nonetheless essential to maintain St Matthews as a much-loved space which is used heavily by both the parish and by other rental users. I know the Lord has big plans for us as a parish and for Bath as a city. We need to be ready for those plans and I believe this wonderful and increasingly loved building will have such an important role to play.
Thank you for taking time to read this and for prayerfully considering a response.
Please make donations to:
Account Name: Widcombe PCC
Sort Code 60-02-05
A/c Number 00133051
And reference your payment St Matts Roof
Thank you for your support for this vital work.
Tim Buckley
Vicar of St Thomas à Becket & St Matts, Widcombe
(Gift Aid can be applied to your donation. If you are not already registered for Gift Aid on donations to the church, you can download a form here and send it by email to any of the church team.)
