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On this page you will find the latest approved minutes from the Parish
Advisory Committee and Finance and Fabric Committee meetings (click here
to go straight to latest FFC minutes) and the most recent AGM (click here
to go straight to the 2008 AGM minutes).
PAC meeting
MINUTES OF PAC MEETING – 1.10.08
Present:
Mo Tsentides ( Chair), Ruth
Driver, Kate Farrington,Raf Esteban,Julie Beaton,Peter Ede,Claudia
Russell,Jenny Lawson,Peter Lawson
1.Opening Prayer
PE
2.Apologies for Absence
Marie Pomianowski, Helen
Eades
3.Minutes of last Meeting
There was a problem with getting
the PAC Minutes on to the Parish website, the group agreed to go back to
the old format, but to highlight any actions in bold
4.Site Development
More details and information
regarding this would be available after Finance Committee meeting on 15 October
regarding what can be done. It
was suggested the old church could become the hall, with space made for a
disabled toilet, and the sacristy becoming a kitchen. The bungalow could be demolished for
less than £5,000 and the space made would make more parking
available. Any plans would be
put forward at a meeting with the Parish. Money is already available for
the work.
5.Justice & Peace
Nothing to report
6.Future Events
Bazaar
To be held
on Saturday, 15 November between 2 – 4. Admission would be
50p. Colin Ball organising
raffle tickets. Various ideas
suggested: Hamper, small
hamper, book stall, Cakes & Produce, Toiletries, Mouse game, toys,
tombola/bottle tombola.
Refreshments will be available.
Julie, Mo
& Ruth to co-ordinate.
Quiz
Arrangements
all in place. Only a few
tickets left.
Over 60s Christmas lunch
To
be held on Saturday, 6 December.
Cost will be slightly increased from last year, but the Bazaar
should generate some cash for that.
To be announced in the Bulletin.
Children’s Party
To
be held on Sunday, 14 December between 12.30 – 2.30. Nick is organising Mr Rainbow. Parents to be asked to bring
contributions for Bring & Share lunch, and we will provide the
drinks. To be announced in the
Bulletin.
50th Anniversary
& merger with OLEM
The
50th anniversary of OLOL had been in July of this year, and some
felt the opportunity for celebrating had passed. Raf suggested celebrating the merger
at Candlemas on 2 February 2009 with Mass at 7.30
p.m
followed by Bring & Share supper in the Hall.
Items from last Meeting
Hymn books
100
additional copies had arrived and were available in church.
Piano
Wait
for Nick to feed back at next meeting
Garden
Julie
has a team
Catechists
Claudia
reported that an Appeal for more catechists would be put in Bulletin and
that she would send a letter of thanks to Fiona. Raf mentioned there was a
course available at the Margaret Beaufort Institute for Catechists. Classes for next year’s First
Communicants would begin on Thursday, 9 October.
Choir
Helen
was not present to give an update, but the Choir would sing at the Feast of
Christ the King on Sunday, 23 November.
Parish House
For
security reasons the number of keys had to be limited but more keys would
be available if people need them.
Keys will be kept in the Sacristy so people could gain access to the
house at the end of Mass for coffee-making.
Any Other Business
Julie
suggested a recorded message should be available when phone calls were made
to the Parish House.
Mo
advised that the next Council of Laity meeting is on 9 November in Norwich with Bishop Michael.
Brief
discussion about the next topic which would be “ prayer and
spirituality – currently no prayer groups exist here at Sawston,
there was talk of a rosary group.
Mo will report back on any ideas that come out of the meeting on the
9th of November
We
also need to think about next year’s diocesan theme “ Caring
for God’s gift of creation”
The next meeting would be held
on Wednesday, 5 November at 7.30 p.m.
FFC meeting
Notes of Finance & Fabric Group Meeting – 22nd October 2008 @ 7.30
pm
Present - Norman
Beaton (NB) – Chairman
Raf Esteban
(RE)
Colin Ball (CB)
Bernard Flood (BF)
Richard Hunt (RJH)
Bob
Brookes (BB)
John Tudor (JT) (Jointly
taking Notes)
1.
Introduction
NB / JT agreed to take the
notes.
Apologies – David
Evans, Colette Sharrock, Martin Mehan, Paddy Keane,
Mo Tsentides
2.
Agreement of Notes
Notes of the previous meeting
had been circulated to Members for agreement and subsequently NB posted
them on the notice board and sent them to Charlanne for inclusion on the
website.
3.
Finance
RJH presented a statement of
current finances dated 30/09/08. Our Parish Account currently stands
at £25,750. The value of
our investments with the Diocese has reduced, in the light of the recent
downturn in stocks and shares, and stand at between £21,500 and
£27,719. The total in our
ONC account has not been updated and stands at £166,453. RJH made the following observation:
·
The recorded funds do not include the money
received from OLEM by way of contributions to the cost of the new chairs or
indeed the money raised for the same from the Parish.
Progress with regard to
the a mandate for release of ONC Funds
As yet, we have not written
to the Diocese setting down our proposals for dealing with any refund of
ONC donations to those who asked that their contributions be refunded.
The meeting felt that through
all the work undertaken in the last eight years and by converting the old
Hall to a new Church, the original purpose of the ONC fund, which
Parishioners had agreed by ‘pledge’ to support financially, had
been fulfilled. However, a
handful of Parishioners may think otherwise and it has been stated that in
this event a proportion of their contributions to the ONC fund will be
refunded to them. Such refunds
are considered to be ex-gratia payment and are to be made as a sign of good
will.
It was agreed that Raf would
write to the Diocese setting down our thinking and seeking their authority
to progress with the proposed refunds or ask for their definitive advice on
the matter. When we have a
decision from the Diocese on the matter it was agreed that we would publish
the same so that all in the Parish knows what is happening. (Action RE)
4.
Building Work required on site
The following items have been
completed
·
Second coat of bitumen paint to Church
plinth.
·
Re-polish Presidents Chair
·
Smoke detectors fitted in the Parish house
·
The boiler in the Parish house has been
serviced and the two downstairs gas fires blanked off, but it was noted
that the existing room thermostat does not work and this will be replaced.
·
Carbon monoxide detectors had not been
fitted at this point, but could be installed if it were thought desirable.
The
following items have yet to be completed
·
Notice board in Church entrance lobby. RJH has donated a notice board that
NB will fix the same (Action NB)
·
Move gas cylinder enclosure to bungalow
garden (Action CB)
·
It was thought that those Parishioners who
wanted any of the timber in second garage have removed the same. Kevin McMullen, who volunteered to
remove the timber to the tip, will be asked to take the unwanted timber to
the tip. (Action ?)
·
Obtain quote for clearing out drains (Action
CB)
·
It was decided that plans for an external
security grille to the double doors of the kitchen be abandoned if favour
of an internal security grille that will not require planning permission (Action
NB)
·
Investigate fitting self closing devices to
the outermost doors to the toilets in the new Church (Action ?)
5.
Future
Site Development
Since the last meeting on 10th September 08, Raf had
briefed the contractor Omega on the extent of the work that will comprise
the next phase of site development and asked Omega for budget costs for
this work.
To ensure that everything we will recommend to the Parish as the next
phase of site development was included, a special meeting was held on
15.10.08 to discuss the same and the following was agreed:
The
budget costs for the next recommended phase of site development to include
the following:
·
Re-roofing the Church and proposed Hall,
including guttering etc.
·
Re-cladding the gable ends of the Church and
proposed Hall
·
Insulating the roof space of the proposed
Hall
·
New windows and doors for proposed new Hall,
similar to those of the new Church.
·
Demolish the existing bungalow and
re-landscape the area incorporating a roundabout / shrine.
·
Build a canopy over the entrance to the
Church.
·
Build a canopy over the double door entrance
to the Parish house.
·
Include costs of them obtaining planning
permission for all of the above work.
Subsequently, Omega has now
given us their budget costs for this work. However, NB queried the need to
replace steel purlins and said that he would talk to Omega regarding this
matter (Action NB)
The proposed conversion of
the old Church to a Hall will also included recommendations to:
·
Convert the old toilet / servers room to a
toilet for the disabled
·
Convert the old Sacristy to a Kitchenette
·
Create a toilet within and to the right of
the existing porch
·
Install new gas fired hot water heating
system
·
Upgrade of lighting and if need be power
provisions
Budget costs have not as yet
been obtained for the above, but are thought to be around £30K to
£40K
NB advised that at this stage
we should add a 20% contingency to all budget costs.
Based on the budget costs
from Omega and our own estimates we conclude that all the work to be
recommended to the Parish is affordable within the anticipated ONC funds
available.
In addition, we ourselves
will seek planning permission to remove the two sycamores to the south side
of the exit to the site (Action ?)
6.
Plan of
Action for Future Site Development
We need to have a meeting of the Parish to present our proposals and
hopefully get their agreement to the same, before seeking Diocesan
approval. It was agreed that
the matter of the refund of ONC donations to individuals should be resolved
before the meeting takes place.
We also need some idea of the likely programme for the work. Ideally this meeting should take
place as soon as possible in mid November, early December 2008.
An outline programme for procurement may be as follows:
·
Parish
Meeting
o early Dec 08
·
Obtain
Tenders (could start now) (Action?)
o three quotes required for whole package
(like Omega) or individual packages.
Omega will be required to formally give us a quote as opposed to
budget costs.
o there could be four individual packages
§
Re-roofing
of Church and proposed Hall including gable ends, new guttering etc. and
insulating roof space of proposed Hall
§
New
windows and doors to proposed Hall
§
Demolition of the existing bungalow and
re-landscape the area incorporating a roundabout / shrine.
§
Build a canopy over the entrance to the
Church and a canopy over the double door entrance to the Parish house.
o Obtaining tenders could take 6 to 8 weeks
(possibly back early Jan 09)
·
Diocesan
Approval
o This will take 6 to 8 weeks (possibly
received early Mar 09)
·
Place
Contract (possibly early Mar 09)
·
Planning
Permission
o This may take 12 to 16 weeks (possibly
early June 09)
·
Start
Work (possibly early June 09)
·
Complete
Work
o 8 weeks (possibly early Sep 09)
·
Complete
internal work to Hall (some by Contractors the rest by ourselves)
o
16
weeks (possibly started early July 09, completed Oct 09)
7. Building Maintenance
·
The loose roof and ridge tiles of the Parish
house need to be fixed. The
gutters also need to be cleared and the moss on the roof removed. BF agreed to obtain a quote for this
work. (Action BF)
·
Parishioners have signed up for work
teams. NB will circulate the
list of names (Action NB).
·
Review of proposed Internal Maintenance
Schedules still to be completed (Action?)
8. AOB
·
We still have a standing order with Shelford
Oil for the supply of oil. The
tank is half full and are using very little. Raf will contact Shelford Oil and
discuss the matter with them (Action RE)
·
NB said he had written to Raf, giving
reasons as to why be will be standing down from the Finance and Fabric
Committee at the end of Dec 08, not the least of which is that after eight
years of chairing the Committee it is time for change.
9. Date
of Next Meeting – Monday 1st December 2008
at 7.30pm
AGM
Minutes of Our Lady of Lourdes, Sawston AGM 2008
22nd April 2008 7.30pm
Chaired by Mo Tsentides (PAC Chairman)
The chairman welcomed and thanked everyone for attending the
AGM
Mo reported that she had a written a report and that this was
circulated around the room, that further copies would be available and that
the report would be put on the website (click here
to go to chairman’s report).
Mo outlined the Agenda for the meeting.
- Parish
Financial Report including ONC
Richard Hunt gave a brief summary of the current
status of the parish finances, which are attached to these minutes.
The Parish Fund at year-end, 31st
Dec 2007, stands at £58,000. We also have DIT’S (Diocesan
Investment Bonds) valued at £33,000, paying good interest. Total
Parish fund at year-end stands at £91,000. All of the expenditure
associated with the conversion of the hall to our New Church has occurred after 31st Dec 2007 and will be taken out of these funds. Expenditure on the conversion is
well under budget and all accounts should be settled soon.
The total Our New Church fund collected to end of
2007 amounted to £234,950 and, after expenditure associated with the
project, now stands at £162,057.
This residual figure includes a large donation; by way of someone
not claiming incurred expenditure.
It was confirmed that all expenses associated with ONC had now been
paid and that no expenditure had incurred since April 2007 and that no
further expenses will be incurred on this account. It was confirmed that the ONC fund
has since then been ring-fenced.
Following discussion concerning the planned
merger of OLOL with OLEM it was confirmed that all the ring-fenced ONC
funds would be allocated for the benefit of the Sawston community.
Bro. Raf said that after further consideration
the merger of the Parishes, in terms of administration and finances would
now take place on 01.01.2009.
- New Church
Bro. Raf thanked those who helped in the
conversion of Our New Church and said he was delighted with the result and
warm atmosphere it created.
There was general acclaim from the meeting at the end result. Bro. Raf said that such activity
cemented the community together and based on these efforts he was confident
we had the skills and capacity to do similar work in the future.
- 2nd
Phase of Site Development
Bro. Raf stated no decisions would be taken this
evening on the detail of any possibilities outlined and that in any event
we would need Diocesan agreement before undertaking any development.
To progress matters, a questionnaire would be
produced in two weeks time asking Parishioners to views on the following.
a)
Formally
giving up the idea of building a new church off site.
b)
Recognising
the conversion of Hall as our New Church.
c)
The release
of ONC Fund for further development on current site.
d)
Offer to
those who contributed to the now abandoned ONC project the refund of their
contributions (minus the proportion of expenses incurred by the ONC fund)
and asking those wanting to do so, to transfer their standing orders to the
general Parish fund.
e)
Delegate to
F&F Committee future development, including the possibilities outlined
in newsletter dated 20th April 2008.
Any action on the result of the questionnaire
would require a substantial majority of the Parish to support the same
otherwise the matter would be revisited until there was consensus.
Bro. Raf said that a ‘social space’
is required to foster the community because in the New Church religious and social activities can not exist at the same time.
- Question
from the Floor
a.
There was a
request to have a copy of the Parish accounts. Richard Hunt said that he had the
accounts with him and that after the meeting these could be viewed.
b.
Bearing in
mind the possible housing development just to the south of the village and
the Bishop’s comment that we may need to accommodate 1000
parishioners, was this a throw away comment or one that needs
consideration? It was agreed that our current consideration would not
include such numbers, but if they happened we would embrace the situation.
c.
For any
future development what accountability and controls will we have in place
to avoid wasting money on future development, as we have done on ONC? It was pointed out that at previous
AGM’s full accountability on costs and progress had been given. The F& F Committee will be very
carefully monitoring and controlling such expenditure and processes.
d.
Who is the
Finance and Fabric Committee? Norman gave the names of those involved as said that
the names of the committee would be published in the Newsletter to aid
lobbying of ideas / comments.
e.
Will the
Stations of the Cross be transferred from the old Church? The existing Crucifix gives us the
Stations of the Cross and more so to transfer them would be
duplication. However they will
not be forgotten and will be given pride of place elsewhere.
f.
Can we have
white lines in the car park? Norman advised against this, as his experience was that
fewer cars will be accommodated on site and it was better if everyone was
considerate and flexible.
g.
Discussion
of parking difficulties followed with the suggestions that we may need
stewards and that demolition of the bungalow may ease matters
considerably. Norman said that we would need planning permission to
demolish the bungalow, but that his informal conversation with SCDC some
time ago led him to believe that this would be granted.
h.
Will we be
inviting Fr O’Toole and Fr David back to the Parish to see our New Church? Bro. Raf said that had
been discussed, as well as having an” open morning” one
Saturday, to invite our neighbours, and members of the other Churches in
Sawston, to see what we have done,.
Bro. Raf said that he had received a positive response from those neighbours
that he had met and responded to his initiatives.
- PAC
Membership
Several people had volunteered to come on the PAC
Committee, including David Ma, Peter Lawson, Peter Ede, Kate Farrington,
Julie Beaton and possibly Nick Ash.
6.
AOB
a.
Bro. Raf was
asked if he would still be our Administrator after 31st
Dec 2008? Both Bro. Raf and Mgr. Tony Rogers
said that in that regard nothing would change.
b.
Mo thanked
members of the PAC, FFG and everyone for all their help through the year.
Further she said that as we prepare for the merge that the two communities
of OLOL and OLEM should now continue to have reciprocal events and support
each other.
c.
Bro. Raf
said he had enjoyed his first year, including our building project and said
that he had seen the Parish growing together and becoming a strong
community. He thanked everyone.
Chairman’s Report
I would like to start by saying thank you to you
all for taking the time to come and attend our parish AGM.
Just under a year ago on 25th June 2007 we had our
last AGM, we had already said good-bye to Fr David and Bro Raf had taken
over here as our parish administrator. With him came a fresh pair of eyes
and we embraced the ideas that he brought and moved on. We decided that it was possible to
refurbish our existing hall and make that our new church, so we organised
and re grouped. The Finance and Fabric Group set about specifically dealing
with the refurbishing of the hall.
Over the following months a number of meetings took place with
decisions being taken at various stages of the project. After all the
preliminary works had been done, PAC and FFG jointly agreed to set up teams
of people from our parish community to undertake the various tasks of
decorating, painting, carpentry, joinery, plumbing, tea making etc. The
list is non exhaustive.
Bro Raf was keen for us to be in our new church
by Christmas, but due to contractor delays and other constraints it was not
possible to achieve his wishes. He had to push the goal posts; after
consultation with the FFG and PAC he accepted that we should perhaps
consider the move into the hall for Easter. Again not being a yesterday
man, he set the challenge that we go for Maundy Thursday. Over the
following months work progressed, with a lot of people from our parish community
putting in a lot of their time and effort. On Maundy Thursday we had moved in.
The story does not end here, there is a lot that we can achieve and I hope
that as we listen to the discussion around possibilities of the next stage
of the site development, that will do this in the knowledge and belief that
we are a committed community and together there is not much we cannot do.
We also need to be aware that the merger between
OLOL and OLEM is due to take place by the end of this year. It is important
again that we are all part of this process. I am appealing to you all to follow
the discussions around this merger and again get involved as much as you
can in the new community. I would also like to encourage reciprocal
participations in the events held here and OLEM.
Thank you for all the people that helped with the
activities of the year, such as the over 60s Christmas lunch and the
Christmas Bazaar. Both these activities have proved to be a success in past
years and again this is because of the effort always put in by a number of
people. In relation to the Christmas lunch, we had this at the Owl
Café, and a good meal and good company was had by all. This year we
would like to bring back the family BBQ and any such family events. The quiz is yet to take place over
the next coming months. I would
also like to hear about other event ideas, | 
