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Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday 22nd. August, 2001
1. Present were Marion Anderson, Jimmy Kelly, Fred Moore, Donald
Nicolson, Jimmy Paterson, Graeme Small and Dane Sherrard. Apologies
were received from Eric Davidson who was assisting with the Songs of
Praise evening in the Church. The Chairman welcomed Graeme
Small (representing the Presbytery of Dumbarton) who was with us for
the first time.
2. The Minutes of the meeting of Wednesday 2nd. May, 2001 were approved.
3. Items which arose at the last meeting were discussed as follows:
It was reported that letters of invitation to join the Trust had been
sent to Dr. Peter Fettes and Miss Susan Lawson.
It was reported that a letter of thanks had been sent to Norman
Hickson, the architect who drew up plans for the refurbishment of the Church.
4. Treasurer’s Report:
Marion Anderson reported that funds had been sufficient to pay for
all of the work undertaken over the summer months. In all she had
paid out £13,029 .55 and would prefer not to pay out any more
money until more could be brought in. At present she held a little
more than £2,000 in the Trust account but hoped that more money
would be brought into the account through fund raising events in the
near future.
It was noted that the Trust was committed to pay for the work which
had been commissioned on the Church windows—a contract had been
entered into with the Stained-Glass Partnership for the restoration
of all stained-glass windows in the Church by the end of this year.
It was further noted that the Congregational Board was making
application to the Church of Scotland to draw down £10,000 of
funds held by the General Trustees to ensure that funds were
available to cover the costs of the window restoration programme.
This was necessary because much of the £5,000 remaining in the
Church accounts from the original £10,000 gifted by the
Valentine Trust through the General Trustees had been spent on the
installation of protective grills to cover the windows so far restored.
Marion asked the Trust to allow her to set up a small Fund-raising sub-committee
to which she would co-opt Nancy Smith and Mary Haggarty. This was
readily agreed and it was felt that Marion should be free to co-opt
whoever she wished without requiring approval from the Trust itself.
The Trust was grateful to Marion for her work and to all who were
anxious to assist in fund raising for the on-going work of restoration.
5. Report on the progress of Church Restoration:
Jimmy Kelly reported on the massive programme of work which has been
undertaken over the summer months. The main roof has been completely
refurbished—slates have been removed; all timbers repaired at
gables and wall-heads; the roof has been felted; all lead flashings
and lead ridge had been renewed; the roof has been re-slated; two
small roofs completely renewed; new lowered ceiling has been fitted
in the vestry, complete with hatch for storage; panelling in the
vestry, entrance and inside the Church has been completed; the sound
control deck has been permanently installed and all the cables have
been hidden from view; a walkway has been constructed in the loft
area of the Church for maintenance use.
All the above works have been completed at a cost of £13,029 .55
inclusive of V.A.T and, as was reported by the Treasurer, have been
paid from existing funds. (Detailed receipts are held in the records
of the Trust.)
The two stained-glass windows which are away for repair at the
present time will be re-installed during the week commencing 2nd.
September, complete with new hardwood centre mullions. The mullions
will cost £425 .00 each excluding V.A.T.
Thanks were expressed to all who had taken part in the work
programme—to Donald Nicolson, Ian MacLean, and Barry
Kelly; and to those who had worked voluntarily on the Church roof and
in the building during the programme of work—Bill Craig, Norrie
Campbell, Ali Campbell, Davie Smith, Jimmy Roy, John Duncan and all
of the tradesmen who worked for a considerably reduced rate. The
Trust particularly thanked Jimmy Kelly for co-ordinating and leading
the programme.
It was reported that John Gray has invited the Church and the Trust
to accept a new window to replace the half-window opposite the
‘donkey window.’ This window will be in memory of his
mother and will reflect the theme of Loch Sloy and the local Clan
McFarlane associations. The plan was that it would be designed by
Paul Luckie of Stained Glass Design Studios, paid for by John Gray,
and would be installed in about a year. Approval for this window has
been granted by the Artistic Matter Committee of the Church of
Scotland. It is proposed that the existing half window be installed
within the front of the Church tower so that the colours are seen
clearly through the window at the back wall of the Church. At a
future date, it will be proposed that the internal window be fitted
with an engraved glass panel to mark the completion of the
restoration programme and the debt of the congregation and the
community to those who have completed the work.
Jimmy Kelly reported that he hoped that the new light-holders would
be fitted out and installed in the near future.
6. Other Business:
Trust members discussed the work which still had to be done to
complete the Church restoration programme. The main work remaining
was the completion of the programme to refurbish the windows of the
Church. An educated guess suggested that there was about £22,000
of work remaining in this area, including themselves, safety
screens and the fabrication of new mullions. To hand was the
£2,000 in the Trust account at present, £10,000 which would
be drawn down from the General Trustees and the remainder of the
money from the Valentine Bequest (somewhere between £2,000 and
£3,000). However, already £4,500 had been paid in V.A.T.
charges and it was the understanding of Trust members that this money
could be reclaimed. Fred Moore and Jimmy Paterson undertook to look
into this and Graeme Small offered to help to see what he could
discover if they ran into problems.
The next phase of the work—and really the final phase of major
construction work—was the stripping off of the existing harling
and then the replacement of this harling. While some of this work
would be done as volunteers were available, it was felt that this
would be the main thrust of the programme for next summer. A fund
raising appeal will be launched for this part of the project and
details will be brought to the next meeting.
It was reported that the use of the Church and Hall continues to
develop and expand and that Retta Deerin has been appointed by the
minister to oversee the making available of our facilities to all the
groups within the Church and the community and to control the diary
of bookings.
7. The dates of future meetings agreed were:
Wednesday 7th. November, 2001 (Now 14th. November.)
Wednesday 6th. February, 2002
Wednesday 1st. May, 2002
Wednesday 7th. August, 2002
The meeting closed at 8.45 p.m.
Arrochar Parish Church Community Trust
The three monthly meeting will be held on
Wednesday 14th. November, 2001 at 7.30 p.m.
in Arrochar Parish Church Hall.
Agenda
Apologies for Absence.
The Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday 22nd. August, 2001.
Matters arising from the Minutes.
Treasurer’s Report.
Report on the progress of Church Restoration.
Report on the use of the Church facilities.
Any Other Business.
Dates of future meetings.
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