Trowell Awsworth & Cossall Churches

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The Trowell Church Hall

The Trowell Church Hall was the village church school from 1843-1967. A new school was completed in that year and the buildings reverted to the control of the church.

Since 1967, the cottage attached to the main building, has been occupied by the hall caretaker. Both the cottage and the main buildings have been changed inside but not outside.

We are now looking at converting the cottage into a public resource. Go down to the Cottage Project description

Trowell Church Hall

The hall is an asset to the village as it is not as large as the Parish Hall and so can accommodate smaller groups and societies. It is extensively used by church groups and many other groups belonging to the village. The main letting is a pre-school playgroup which meets every day except Saturday and Sunday. There are the regulars - senior citizens lunch club, the uniformed groups, The W.I. Choir Keep Fit group, Drama and Music Group, Archery Club and Board Games Club. We let to one off groups - children's parties up to the age of 11, jumble and carpet sales, exhibition and study groups.

The church uses the church hall for regular P.C.C meetings, coffee mornings, a Sunday Youth Group, a Christian once a month club of games and activities for the 5-11s, a Mothers' Union, a Fellowship Group and a Working Party.

There is an equipped kitchen, car park, a fair sized grass area for games. It is easily accessible on the A609 Nottingham to Ilkeston Road. The hiring fees are reasonable but we do not allow late night bookings, alcohol or gambling and we do not have a music licence. If you would like to use the Hall, please contact us as detailed in the contact us page, Church Hall Bookings.

Cottage Project

Aim:
To develop the Cottage attached to the Church Hall as a resource to serve the community of Trowell as enabled by St Helen’s Church.

This is a project that has been prayerfully planned and considered for more than a year:
It springs from the call to walk with Jesus in mission, reaching out to others with the transforming Gospel - The call to serve the community alongside Jesus.
It fits with our plans for a Youth Worker and the development of the church office.

We are looking to raise a total of £45,000 and are approaching charities to help with this. However, there will be a challenge for us all to contribute to this mission project, financially and practically. The community are also being approached as to their involvement.

The Church Hall Cottage

Details:
Through a redeveloped Cottage we could better enable pastoral care, youth work and information sharing in the community. This is an expansion of our existing service to the community through the Church Hall which is used by all ages in the community and beyond - from toddlers to pre-school to youth groups and uniformed organisations, to luncheon clubs, choirs and many more. The Trowell Parish Plan identified a need for a resource to serve as meeting rooms and drop-in centre, with 30% of respondents valuing such a resource. St Helen’s is also seeking to build on the good work of its last paid youth worker and this resource would act as a base for a new worker and their youth work in the parish. The resource would also house the church office that serves the Benefice of Trowell, Cossall and Awsworth.

Work required:
The current layout of the Cottage would be changed to enable the following:
* two rooms downstairs that could be used for youth meetings, committees, drop-in mornings, community cafe etc.
* drinks preparation area with sink and microwave
* a disabled standard WC
* upstairs open office, to seat administrator and youth worker, and provide an information point in the community
* upstairs secure office for church filing, computer and other resources

Project Costs:
The architect quoted a provisional cost of £45,000 including rewiring. We have already raised about £5,000 and hence we are looking for a further £40,000. More detailed quotes for the work will be obtained in due course, with some of the work needing to be carried out sooner than others.

We have applied for a large part of this cost as a grant from the Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN) charity, and Broxtowe Borough council have promised to support us with the £4,000 external funding needed for that.

Challenge:
There will be a number of financial challenges in the coming year. We need to be aware that our regular giving as a church has gone down significantly in this last year, and there is a challenge to support our usual church activities as well as considering what may be given to the Cottage project.

There are also challenges this coming year to find (and support!) another youth worker to carry on Sarah’s great work. Also, as Paul Humphries term as church Administrator has come to an end we need to find another volunteer (or volunteers) to take over this important role in our church life. We also need to recognise that there is a vision for a larger redevelopment of the Church Hall site, to better serve our church and community. This work on the Cottage will hopefully strengthen and not undermine the wider vision.

More details...
A design by architects Martin Tucker Ltd suggests the following work that will need doing:

1. Removing the current kitchen and placing the disabled WC in its place
2. Creating a drinks preparation area in the conservatory, utilising items from the original kitchen
3. Reworking the drainage to enable the above
4. Rewire the house, upgrading the system as suitable for office and community use
5. Level the ground floor between the entrance and main room
6. Damp proof the cottage and replaster
7. Ensure cottage meets current fire regulations
8. Check roofs and repair accordingly
9. Redecorate throughout
10. Review and update the external buildings

Response:
As we set out on this project and begin to gather quotes and explore charities, it is vital that we turn to prayer. Please do:
become freshly aware of God’s grace towards St Helen’s and our community, asking the Holy Spirit to come

* pray for the life of the community
* pray for the mission of St Helen's
* pray for our work with young people, and for the provision of a Youth Worker
* pray for the development of our church office

Also pray for financial provision and for enthusiasm for what the Cottage can be used for. Do contact Richard Denyer or Martin North if you would like to give financially to this project. Let Andy Lord know any ideas as to how we could use the Cottage resource.

Rev Andy Lord is overseeing the project and Sue Elmer is co-ordinating the search for charity funding.
For more details please contact Andy or Sue as detailed in the contact us page.

Trowell Awsworth and Cossall Churches

Sections

For Hand Helds:

The Trowell Church Hall

Cottage Project