Renovation Update

 We are almost there! The final finishing touches are now taking place. Specially designed cladding has been installed around the two columns at the back of the church, complete with cleverly concealed doors that can be opened during tours to reveal the historic graffiti behind. Integrated leaflet storage has also been built in, helping to keep the space both welcoming and uncluttered.

The new chair storage unit is now in place, and the lighting has been carefully adjusted so that each area is illuminated exactly where it’s needed. Most striking of all is the transformation in the chancel. For the first time in the church’s history, it is fully lit and the difference is truly remarkable.

Activity Update

With the finishing touches almost complete, on a freezing day in February, a cohort of volunteers helped to load and unload four full truckloads from the storage unit back to the church, alongside the complete retrieval of items from Priors Hall Barn. It was a significant logistical effort, but thanks to the energy and teamwork of our volunteers and the project team, everything made it safely back to St Mary’s.

One of the real joys of the day was seeing a lovely mix of familiar faces and new ones joining in. This move marks the beginning of the final phase of the building work. With the official handover for internal completion now done, we are preparing for the next stage; unpacking, sorting, and restoring the church’s belongings to their rightful places. Over the coming weeks, volunteers will be invited to help open boxes, organise materials, and set up the spaces ready for our reopening.

The village of Stebbing has had a postcard hand delivered to invite everyone to our opening service on 29th March at 4pm. We are very excited and this promises to be a historic event as we celebrate being back in our restored church building.

The following Easter Saturday we will be holding an open day, with a variety of activities to take part in, or for people to simply pop in and browse at their leisure. Our new Cornerstone Café will be open, serving a selection of hot drinks and specially made biscuits and other sweet treats; there’s plenty going on and something for everyone; including children’s crafts and egg hunt.

And finally, we were delighted to host our first ever Volunteer Celebration event at the Stebbing White Hart. It was was such good fun! We rolled up our sleeves and made our own pizzas. There was lots of chatting, laughing, comparing toppings and of course eating our creations.

 We had a little awards moment too — every volunteer received their very own pizza-inspired medal and certificate. Here’s a flavour of some of the awards: the “Barbecue Chicken” award went to Louise Milner, for being “creative, bold, and always willing to try something new.” The Way Forward project lead, Rhoda Herbert received the “Spicy Inferno” award, for being “passionate, driven, and unstoppable!”

All volunteers also received a thank you card and a small spice bottle to take home. A simple gesture, but a heartfelt one.

We are so incredibly grateful for the time, skills, encouragement and good humour our volunteers bring to The Way Forward and St Mary’s. It felt really special to pause, sit down together and celebrate them properly. Everyone was encouraged to write down what volunteering meant to them, along a pizza theme, and it was heartwarming to read the responses.

There’s plenty planned in the months ahead. We encourage you to check the “What’s On” section of The Way Forward website regularly. 

Renovation Update 

With the major restoration work now complete, the final finishing touches are coming together beautifully. The new bricks have been carefully set in mortar, the porch is finished, and the new glass doors are not only elegant but also an impressive feat of engineering. Once the church reopens, the original inner porch doors will be pinned back, allowing clear views through the glass and inviting passers-by to glimpse the space beyond, helping to make the church feel even more open and welcoming.

The furniture at the back of the church is now almost complete. The new bench seating awaits its comfortable cushions, while new carpeting will soon be fitted in both rear corners. Cupboards, sockets and the control panel are all installed, and it’s lovely to see original pew ends thoughtfully reused to decorate the cupboard ends.

 The kitchen makeover is also nearing completion, and the toilet has been upgraded with new sanitary fittings, including a baby-changing unit. A radiator has now been installed too, which will make the space warmer and help tackle the persistent damp that has been an ongoing challenge.

New, discreet speakers are in place. They may look small but they are mighty!

Take A Look Tour: In November, we held our final inside peek welcoming around forty visitors over three hours. Guests explored the church and table displays charting the renovation journey, including close-up photographs of the carved faces at the tops of the columns.

 Planting for the Future: Later that day, after a heavy downpour that thankfully cleared, villagers and church members planted saplings in the church car park. Guided by Richard, our ecologist, the young trees and shrubs were carefully planted while the project team provided hot chocolate and biscuits. Each tree was tagged and “adopted” by its planter, with many tags carrying thoughtful messages in memory of loved ones.

Time Capsule Burial: We buried a time capsule within the church, in a specially crafted space set into the floor. Pupils and staff from Stebbing Primary School, alongside members of the local community, the ministry team and the project team joined us for this special moment as we laid our 2025time capsule to rest, preserving a snapshot of today for future generations.

School Engagement: Pupils at Stebbing Primary School have also enjoyed assemblies led by Esther and Caroline, where history was brought to life through stories told by the church’s resident (time travelling) bat, “Battholemew”, and his inquisitive younger sister, Betty, much to the delight of children and staff alike. Rev. Sue has also visited the school, leading lessons and helping to unpack big ideas in an accessible way, from the meaning of Christingle to the tricky concept of the Trinity. It was lovely to see so many school families at the recent Christingle service in Priors Hall Barn.

Helen, our Volunteer and Training Co-ordinator, together with Esther, has hosted several enjoyable volunteer social evenings. Guests enjoyed cheese and wine, warm drinks, snacks and great conversation, with some even trying their hand at crafting in preparation for the Victorian Christmas Experience.  Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and these are sure to become a regular feature in 2026!

And finally, on 6th December, the Village Hall was full of festive cheer as the community gathered for our Victorian Christmas Experience. Families and friends enjoyed traditional Victorian-style crafts, from crepe-paper flowers and dried fruit garlands to Christmas crackers filled with jokes and sweets. It was lovely to see people of all ages crafting together and sharing the moment.

Our Victorian hosts, dressed in period costume, helped bring the past to life, while St Nicholas delighted children with festive storytelling beside the Christmas tree. With warm drinks, homemade treats and plenty of cheerful conversation, the hall buzzed all afternoon.  Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this a warm, creative and memorable celebration!

Looking Ahead: We are looking forward to moving back into the church next spring once the renovation works are complete, followed by a short period of settling back in as stored items are returned and the space arranged. We hope to return to the church for our first service back as a congregation on Palm Sunday, 29 March, followed by an open day for the wider public on Saturday 4 April. We look forward to many joyful celebrations next year!

Renovation Update:

Bricks, bricks and more bricks! Weeks and weeks of them. Rather like with the scaffolding work, this final layer to the floor is a BIG job. From carefully levelling the sand bed to shaping bricks to fit around ancient stonework, every brick is placed by hand with patience and precision. There are six different heights of bricks and not all are the same shape. The work is both painstaking and beautiful. Chris and Kevin, our bricklayers, have been on their knees every day. Whilst not in prayer, the beauty that they are creating certainly inspires it! With the nave almost completed, bricklaying work has now begun in the chancel.

Activity Update:

In August, we were delighted to welcome Helen to The Way Forward project team as our new Volunteer and Training Coordinator. With her wealth of experience, enthusiasm and natural flair for bringing people together, she’s hit the ground running! Volunteering herself elsewhere in the community, Helen truly understands what it’s like. We’re thrilled to have her on board!

Kneville the Benevolent Knight

We enjoyed taking part in Stebbing’s scarecrow competition. We didn’t win but there were some fantastic creations all over the village. Kneville was a team effort. Richard our ecologist and Caroline our historian put Kneville together. Esther and Sarah gave him a face and a few embellishments. He finally had some boots, which Helen managed to find!

 Kneville should have been on display at Stebbing’s Village Fayre but bad weather meant the event was cancelled.  Instead, Sarah, Esther and Helen attended the Friday market where along with other stall holders, there was an opportunity to sell the lavender bags we had made and enjoy some great conversations and volunteer recruitment. Several folk signed up to “adopt a tree”; these will be planted in the church car park on 29th November and individuals will be able to enjoy seeing the trees and shrubs flourish in years to come. 

Brilliant Bug Builders

We held back this newsletter so we could share news from our event on Saturday 4th October — but in the wake of Storm Ana, the strong winds had other ideas! Our Brilliant Bug Builders afternoon has been postponed to Saturday 25th October, and we’re hoping for calmer skies and plenty of families joining the fun.

Victorian Christmas - Save the Date! 6th December, 4-6pm

We are very excited about this event. Find out more here.

Whilst we anticipate the major restoration work to be completed sometime in November, there will still be lots of things that need to be done to complete the reordering. We hope to be back in the building in the first quarter of 2026. Plans for reopening will be published in due course.

Renovation Update

Our pdf newsletter has all the photos!

Renovation Update: In the past two months, significant progress has been made at St Mary’s. As we shared in our previous update, the timber shutters were installed, marking the future locations for the ledger stones. These shutters created spaces around which the extensive cabling for the electrics, audio-visual system, and pipework for the underfloor heating could be routed. The underfloor heating system alone spans over one mile, while the electrical cables stretch over two miles, and the audio-visual cables extend well beyond five miles. Additionally, a new stone base for the font was laid in the south aisle, near the entrance.

We hosted another Take A Look tour in February which allowed members of the public to come and see inside the church and marvel at all the work being carried out.

After the cables and pipework, the next crucial step was the installation of the final layer of limecrete. This process, carried out by hand, was both time-consuming and technically demanding. The workers transported the limecrete using wheelbarrows, with the mixture prepared on-site in a special lorry. Long planks of wood were used to smooth the limecrete over the network of cables and pipes. Throughout the process, the team carefully measured the depth of the floor to ensure it achieved the necessary gentle slope from the chancel. The timber shutter boxes were used to guide the limecrete around the areas designated for the ledger stones.

Limecrete, distinct from concrete, is designed to allow moisture to pass through, which is essential for maintaining the right humidity levels in historic buildings like St Mary’s. Its flexibility helps to reduce the risk of cracking and structural damage over time. Furthermore, limecrete provides excellent insulation, improving energy efficiency. In historic buildings, it can reduce heat loss by up to 20%, contributing to a warmer, more comfortable environment. This, coupled with the wall-mounted radiators that were delivered this week, will make a noticeable difference to the building’s warmth during the colder months.

You can view videos of both the cabling and underfloor heating installation, as well as the limecrete application, in the video section of the website.

In other areas of the church, brickwork has been laid in the kitchen and at the back of the church, where new furniture will be placed. The kitchen has also had cracks in the walls repaired, and a smooth plaster finish has been applied. Excavation work has now begun for the installation of the new LPG tank, which will be located in the churchyard behind Rose Cottage. Trenches for pipework will be dug in the coming weeks.

On the community side of The Way Forward project, Esther, our Volunteer and Training Coordinator, alongside Caroline, our Historian, and Richard, our Ecologist, have been actively engaging with Stebbing Primary School. Throughout the school’s community month, they delivered a variety of workshops that brought the project to life for the students.  Activities ranged from creating bug hotels and treasure hunts in the churchyard to photo walks along Stebbing High Street and even making stained glass cookies!  Every class has had the opportunity to participate in these hands-on experiences, and the school were really grateful for all the team’s efforts.

Looking ahead, the project team is also excited to be planning a Springtime Spectacular, which will take place on the first bank holiday in May, Saturday, May 3rd. More details are available on The Way Forward website under the "What's On" section. This is an opportunity to get to know neighbours and have an enjoyable afternoon with family and friends. A range of activities and food and drink will be available. There’s even a bake-off competition for those who love to bake! We encourage you to sign up here.

It’s an exciting time for the project, though it has not been without challenges. The recent cut to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has left the project short by £138k, with only two months' notice. You may have noticed James Cleverley, MP, highlighted this on his social media account when he visited the church recently.

Thankfully, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has agreed to increase its grant by £100k, and we have applied for funding from several other sources. Please keep us in your prayers, particularly as we approach May when significant project expenses are due.

As we step into 2025, it's heartening to reflect on the remarkable progress of The Way Forward Project throughout 2024. This initiative, dedicated to the renovation and revitalisation of St. Mary's Church in Stebbing, has seen significant milestones this past year.

Permission to Start Phase

Having secured funding to the tune of £1.57m in December 2023, we then navigated the crucial "Permission to Start" phase mandated by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This step was essential to transition from planning to action, ensuring all prerequisites were met for the project's commencement.

June 2024: Securing Final Funding and Entering the Delivery Phase

By mid June, after a period of nervous anticipation, we received the necessary “match” funding, allowing us to officially enter the "Delivery Phase." Our grateful thanks to all those who gave financially towards this, both from the St Mary’s congregation, members of the community and the three grants from Friends of Essex Churches, The Beatrice Laing Family Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation.  This phase marked the beginning of tangible actions, including the recruitment of key roles vital for the success of our Activity Programme. Positions such as Project Administrator and Evaluation Consultant were filled, with plans to onboard a Heritage Engagement Officer and Volunteer & Training Coordinator, followed by a Historian in Residence and Ecologist in Residence by December. Additionally, preparations were made to temporarily relocate church services to the Friends Meeting House on Stebbing High Street, starting 1st September, to facilitate the upcoming renovation work.

September-October 2024: Key Transitions

In September, having packed up all the contents and with the church building closing temporarily for restoration, the congregation adjusted beautifully to the new arrangements for worship in the village. Meanwhile, inside the church, work began in earnest. Cliveden Conservation inspected the walls and discovered some interesting wall art, evidence of a more decorated church in previous centuries. Following on from that, archaeological explorations uncovered intriguing elements of the building’s history. Our Volunteer & Training Coordinator position in the project team was filled as we welcomed Sandi Merifield. A well-known figure in Stebbing village, Sandi brings invaluable experience and enthusiasm to the project.

December 2024: Team Growth and Renovation Progress

By December, three new team members joined the project: Esther Skidmore (Heritage Engagement Officer), Richard Wren (Ecologist), and Caroline Wren (Historian), bringing valuable expertise to our three year Activity Plan. Renovation work progressed significantly and over 20 attendees enjoying our first “Take A Look” tour, Uncovering the Past - Excavations & Archaeology. Visitors explored the excavation process and viewed discovered artefacts like old tobacco pipes, rood screen fragments, and ancient stained glass. Just before Christmas, the builders laid the first layer of limecrete creating a smooth surface for the first time.

January 2025: Future Plans and Progress

With Bakers of Danbury back on site after the festive break, work has begun on creating timber frames. These will make sure the spots stay clear of limecrete so that the ledger stones can eventually be laid back down. They will also guide where the underfloor heating and cables will be placed. Old pipes have been removed from the kitchen ceiling and floor plans are guiding where the new ones will go under the nave and chancel floors. In the porch, the team has dug and added the same protective and insulating layers of glapor and geotextile that were laid in the nave and chancel.

Thank you for your ongoing support, which has been instrumental in making all of this possible. We are filled with gratitude and excitement as we move forward into 2025!

We are thrilled to share that three new members are joining the project team. Esther Skidmore will serve as the Heritage Engagement Officer, Richard Wren will come on board as the Ecologist, and Caroline Wren will explore the past in her role as the Historian. We eagerly anticipate introducing them to you in the upcoming weeks. With the refurbishment well under way, these three new recruits, along with Sandi Merifield, will work together to implement the three-year Activity Plan, and it will be exciting to witness this vision come to life. You can find information of the types of activities planned on the website: www.wayforwardstebbing.org

Over 20 people enjoyed our first “Take A Look” tour this month. Entitled "Uncovering the Past - Excavations & Archaeology", visitors were able to come and find out what has been going on inside the church during three separate sessions.

 Adrian, from Bakers of Danbury the contractor in charge of the renovation work, gave a short talk on what they have been doing so far. Excavating down to a depth of half a metre, the team had to first remove all the bricks and parquet flooring, with the re-usable bricks being stored off site. They sometimes had to drill through concrete and remove old pipes; lorries have been taking the rubble away daily.

 Adrian then explained how the floor will be built back up again and what materials will be used. We learnt about "glapor", which is a foamed recycled glass aggregate (some samples were passed around). With an appearance like coal, it was surprisingly light in weight. It will be crushed down and form a breathable insulating layer at the bottom of the new floor.

We also learnt about limecrete, which is a type of concrete but without cement, which will also form a layer on the new floor.

Megan from Colchester Archaeological Trust put on a fascinating display of artefacts such as old tobacco pipes, parts of the old rood screen and pieces of very old stained glass. Together with some interesting photos, she gave a short talk on her findings, which included a bricked over tomb and evidence of ancient church foundations.

 Visitors were then invited from the vestry into the chancel, stepping down into the excavated area, with Megan and Adrian pointing out areas of interest. It was a highly enjoyable and informative day.

 We look forward to the next Take a Look tour in February next year.

The pdf newsletter shows several photos showcasing the work being done inside the church. At the moment, the Glapor layer is being applied. This process involves two layers, and it is quite time-consuming. The material must be brought in using industrial-sized bags, emptied, raked, and then tamped down to precise measurements!

Don’t forget that Sunday meetings now take place at The Friends Meeting House on Stebbing High Street and all are welcome.

We are thrilled to welcome Sandi Merifield to The Way Forward project team! Sandi is a well known figure in Stebbing village and will be taking on the role of the Volunteer & Training Co-Ordinator. Our volunteers are essential and valued individuals, and the Activity Programme aspect of the project will be carried out by these amazing people. We are still on the look out for someone to fill the role of Heritage Engagement Officer so please do get in touch if you know anyone who may be interested.

This month has been quite eventful. We dedicated a day to pack up the church, and we’re so thankful for our wonderful volunteers! The bangers on the barbecue were a welcome lunch halfway through and added to the fun and camaraderie. We were astonished at how much was accomplished in one go and are very grateful to all those who lent a hand.

A bright sunny day a week or so later, the helpful chaps from Bakers of Danbury came and loaded all the boxes and furniture onto a truck to take to our storage facility. There was one nervous moment when it looked like the extra long pew from the chancel was not going to fit and the sound desk wobbled a little whilst it was lifting but all went well. All items are now safely stowed away. On the same day, scaffolding was put up ready for Cliveden Conservation to inspect the walls. Some interesting wall art was discovered, evidence of a more decorated church in previous centuries. We will have to make a decision about whether to uncover these paintings further (more money!) or leave a glimpse into the past.

With pews and other furniture left to clear out, September has also seen people visiting to have a look and to make offers. The pews have now gone to new homes and their owners are very happy to have a little piece of history. The blue covered wooden chairs have also found a new home at a church in Fyfield, a wonderful coincidence after a couple from Dunmow visited to look at a pew. They saw the chairs and put us in touch with the church warden at St Nicholas who was delighted to have them to replace their old worn out chairs!

At the time of writing, there are still several items looking for new homes. The brown sofas at the back of church (3 two seaters, 2 three seaters), 15 cast iron radiators and the wooden parquet flooring plus some long and short pieces of pine wood! Again, all offers gratefully received; we do need these gone.

The interior of the church building is looking rather empty now. Monday 7th October is the day that the Heras fencing will go up and Bakers of Danbury will move their equipment on site. On Sunday 6th in the afternoon, 12:30-15:00, we’re inviting folk to visit the church one final time before the capital work begins. It’s been a very long time coming, with several set backs on the journey. But we are filled with excitement as the first stage gets underway for The Way Forward project. Finally this much loved building will be getting the significant care and attention it deserves, to prepare it for the future and many generations to come.

What does the Delivery Phase entail?

It's all about action!

To kick off, we'll be recruiting for roles essential for the Activity Programme's success. Currently, the Project Administrator and Evaluation Consultant positions are filled. By September, we aim to fill the Heritage Engagement Officer and the Volunteer & Training Coordinator roles. By December, we plan to have the Historian in Residence and the Ecologist in Residence on board. For more information on these remaining roles, visit the Way Forward website at www.wayforwardstebbing.org/get involved. We welcome applications from any interested parties; these can also be found on the website.

Different project team members and the PCC will be occupied with interviews in the upcoming months. The positions are being promoted on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, and we have a dedicated individual helping us with this task. Your prayers for suitable candidates to apply, and for wisdom in our selection process would be valued.

During July and August we’ll be packing up the church. Every single moveable item will need to be stored away. On 18th August we will hold our final Sunday service in the building. At some point during August/September, the conservators will do an examination of the walls to determine ways of preserving the wall painting and any other hidden paintings that may be on the walls. The building will officially close by mid September.

Regular church services will take place at the Friends Meeting House on Stebbing High Street. The first meeting will be at 11am on Sunday 1st September. Other activities will take place at Stebbing village hall or at Priors Hall Barn. The churchyard will remain open and burials can still take place.

In September, the project team will hold a meeting, known as a “start up” with the building contractor, Bakers of Danbury, to kick off the capital works. Discussions will cover timelines, payment terms, scheduled hard hat tours, and other relevant details. By October, Bakers of Danbury will commence the renovation work after moving in. The pews will be taken out and put up for sale. If you are interested in acquiring one, kindly inform Rhoda Herbert at smvwayforward@gmail.com.

We look forward to introducing you to our new project team members in our September issue.

The “permission to start” is a relatively small but crucial part of the process required by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.  This stage comes in between securing the "second round bid" of funding and starting the "delivery phase" of the project.  We rightly congratulated ourselves on being awarded the £1.57m towards The Way Forward project; this was what the second round bid was for and comprises 80% of the funding needed for The Way Forward.

"Permission to Start" Meeting

We had the permission to start meeting with our Heritage Fund investors at the end of February. Since we had been unable to raise our own funding towards the cost of the project, the Heritage Fund could not give us  their permission to start the work.   The remaining 20% of the project cost comprises different elements of funding, 6% of which St Mary's is responsible for raising - which totals a minimum of £120,000.

Raising the Funds

Other organisations had been applied to for funding. 26 applications totalling £137k went in last autumn; only one expressed an interest. Our Heritage Fund colleagues told us that we are not alone in this situation. The difficulty with these applications is that you only get contacted if the funder wants to donate or meet up prior to a funding decision. So we were left wondering if any of the money would come in, hopeful that some would come forward during January and February, but none did.

Applications continue to be made to charitable trusts and other grant funding bodies; we now have 6 trusts who have made contact who may choose to give over the next few months. We’re delighted that one of these has confirmed a donation of £15k. We await contact (or not) from a further 20 organisations.

What happens next?

1) We work towards obtaining Permission to Start by 14th June by raising £120k: if funding does not come in, we lose the £1.57m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund
2) We continue to apply for funding from charitable trusts and meet with interested parties
3) We develop a funding strategy
4) We move the start date for the capital work from April to later in the year to allow time for funding to come in; work will start in the autumn if we raise £120k by the June deadline

How the funding is split

 13% comes from a government scheme called the Listed Places of Worship VAT Reclaim Scheme and equates to £260k.
5% comes from charitable trusts and other grant funding bodies. It equates to £101,318
2% is an amount attributed to “volunteer time”. This is calculated based on the amount of hours worked by the project team and PCC and others whilst putting together the second round bid. It equates to £35,250
1% is the £20k that St Mary’s has to raise from its own charitable giving, from gifts from the congregation, to fundraising projects, to potential donations from local businesses and philanthropists

In summary, we need to raise a minimum of £120k+ as soon as we can in order to get our permission to start. Then we can begin moving things from the church into storage, employ people to assist with the project and really get going with The Way Forward project. The money from the Heritage Fund does not sit in our bank account; over the course of the project, the money we spend on the project has to be retrospectively claimed back from the grant we have been given by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

What happens if we fail to secure £120,000?

1) The National Lottery Heritage Fund withdraw the £1.57m and we start the application process all over again.
2) We ask if we can do a “phased start” to the project. This is problematic as the capital works would need splitting up into mini projects and would be a start/stop approach, difficult to manage, particularly for the contractor. We would need to know exactly how much each mini project would cost and see if we have the appropriate funds available.
3) We spend the next few years fundraising a significant amount of money simply to replace the heating system in the church, foregoing new furniture, renovated kitchen, new electrics, lighting, AV and the activity programme
4) We stop work on the project and continue in church as we are; the building would continue to deteriorate and would eventually have to close.

 Can you help?

We are looking to put together a team of volunteer fundraisers.
We need several people who can generate fundraising ideas and bring these to reality. How much time this will take will depend on the ideas and the planning and execution of events. Interested? Contact Rhoda Herbert via email: smvwayforward@gmail.com

Could you donate?

Head to our giving page or contact our church treasurer: smvtreasury@gmail.com

We are thrilled to announce that our bid for funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund was successful. The project team would like to express their thanks to National Lottery players and all those, past and present, who have helped us to get this far. It has been over ten years since the initial planning began, with several setbacks along the way. An enormous amount of work has gone into getting The Way Forward project to where it is now; to have been awarded this sum of money is a fantastic achievement.

What happens next?

1. We now enter a period of time known as the “permission to start” phase.

This is an eight week period which involves (you guessed it), more documentation. These documents have to be submitted to the lottery in order to obtain the permission to start and include evidence of partnership funding (the money from the lottery is 79% of the full amount required - more on this later), evidence of planning permission, procurement plans, a very detailed delivery timeline, cash flow and the like.

2. We begin recruiting for the roles needed to deliver the project.

There will be 6 paid posts, all of which have start dates next year. These are: Project Administrator, Heritage Engagement Officer, Volunteer & Training Co-ordinator, Evaluation Consultant, Historian and Ecologist. Details on these roles and salaries can be found on the church website, www.stebbingchurch.org/roles-available/ If you know anyone who might be interested in these roles, please get in touch via email: smvwayforward@gmail.com

3. We publicise the project.

Press releases about the award of funding have been sent to various publications and news channels. Up to date news will be posted on social media, there will be more videos to come as well. Many of our readers are following us on Facebook but we would love there to be more of you! Search for “The Way Forward Project at St Mary’s Church, Stebbing” and click “Follow”. If a post comes up in your feed, please click “like” and “share” to get the message to more people. Or post a comment!

4. We clear the church.

This won’t happen until after the final service in the church on 25th February. Very detailed lists of every single item are being prepared in order to ascertain what will be needed while the services continue in the new temporary location, what can be boxed up until we move back in and what can be recycled/sold/given away or binned.

5. In March, the church building will be closed to the general public (the churchyard will remain open).

A specialist company will begin the work of conserving the wall painting and investigating whether there are other covered up paintings on the walls. The contractor will start to bring equipment for the capital work to begin in earnest in April.

On the subject of funding

We mentioned earlier that the Heritage Fund contributes 79% of the total project cost. We have someone who is applying for varying sums of money from other grant making bodies and trusts. We also welcome donations from anyone who wants to support the project; these can be made via the secure payment formats found in the church or expressed in writing to smvwayforward@gmail.com.

In the next few weeks, we will be launching a dedicated Way Forward website. There will be a lot to communicate and this will be a website aimed at the general public. It will be the place to find out what’s going on, what events are happening and how people can get involved. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on social media.

And finally... get in touch

Get in touch if you, or anyone you know, might be interested in the roles we are recruiting for. Applications for the Project Administrator close mid January 2024 and the closing date for applications for the Heritage Engagement Officer and Evaluation Consultant close late January. The other roles will be starting a little later in the  year.