PROJECT Gateway blog - September & October 2024
FOCUS ON FINANCE
Great News!
We're delighted to have had our application to Your Fund Surrey approved! That's £495k to add to our project funds which is a huge boost. A massive thank you to everyone for helping to support the application, we couldn't have done it without you. We're also very happy to let you know that we have started our tender process to find our building contractor.
Read more about what has been happening in September and October below.
Latest cost estimate
Having completed the project design for RIBA Stage 4, our quantity surveyors have updated their project cost estimate. You might ask 'why are you doing this now - aren't you about to get the tenders back soon?' Well, it is true that it is an ESTIMATE and we won't know the exact cost of the project until we have completed negotiations with our selected contractor. However, the cost estimate gives a good benchmark for the amount of money we need to raise and a baseline when assessing the tenders.
It also allows the Gateway team to look at options for 'value engineering' the project. If the tenders all come in above the amount of money we have raised, we will have to look at ways in which we can cut back; finding any 'nice to have' elements that we can sacrifice.
The total project cost remains £5m and can be broken down into 3 parts:
35% for essential upgrades to the church’s systems. Current systems are past "end of life"; if they fail completely we would be forced to close the building.
25% to build a new Youth and Community Centre. The current Youth Room is too small. We want a dedicated centre for outreach to young people after school and at weekends, and to the community through the week.
40% to improve access and visibility into the church. We want to improve our entrances, repair and redecorate the nave, the bookshop, the cafe and all the other rooms. If we need to find savings they will be made here.
Fundraising
So far we have secured £3.7m. £3m of that is from our amazing congregation, giving and pledging money to the project, and interest earned on our savings accounts.
The other £700k is from grants:
Your Fund Surrey £495k
Benefact £75k
Garfield Weston £75k
Laing £30k
Marshalls £25K
In addition, we could raise up to £500k through a mortgage on 4 Orchard Drive if we have to. However, we would like to keep this as small as possible, or not use it at all.
Our aim is to raise another £1m through our October 2024 Gift Day and by the end of 2024.
Going out to tender
A comprehensive set of documents specifying the project's design have been sent out to a number of shortlisted companies who have expressed an interest in our exciting building project.
We’ve already been talking to them and they have all been invited to visit us to find out more about the project and see it for themselves.
We are expecting their responses by late November after which there will be a thorough examination of the bids. Assisted by our consultants, they will be assessed for compliance with our requirements and their price.
We expect that there will also need to be a period of negotiation to fine tune the price and contract details, meaning work on site might not start until the end of February 2025.
Making sure we don't lose our planning consent
Some of you may remember that if we have not started the project by the end of January 2025, our planning permission expires!
Given the likelihood that we will not have appointed our main contractor in time for this, we are undertaking some minor work with a local builder in December 2024, ensuring we keep our permission and do not have to start again!
Find out more
If you want more information about the project, or to find out how you can support it financially, take a look at our Gateway pages on ChristChurch’s website, or you can chat to any of the members of the team: Adrian Beavis (Vicar), Steve Roberts (Project Leader), Walter Coxon (Finance), Mike Pearce (Technical), Peter Wichmann (CCW building knowledge and expertise), Rachael Purvis (Project Coordinator). If you’d like to email us with a specific query you can do so at this email address: gateway@ccwoking.org.