Alterations
to Mattishall Methodist Church to comply with the
disability discrimination act
In
October 2003 the church council decided to look at
the feasibility of complying with the above act. The
building built in 1900 had narrow doors and a step
into most rooms. It appeared a daunting task for the
10 members with the cost expected to be between 10
and 15 thousand pounds. An architect was contacted
and his estimate was between 16 and 20 thousand. Drawings
were commissioned and applications made to several
organisations for grant aid. This was a slow process;
some grant committees only meet twice a year. The
Biffaward application form consisted of 13 pages with
difficult questions e.g. what is the area of your
nearest landfill site. After much work and waiting
Biffaward were very generous and funded 90% of the
project as it was at the time the application was
made to them.
Breckland District Council visited to see what was
being proposed and were very helpful but pointed out
the 1977 kitchen, which was not in the scheme, was
not up to current standards. It was decided to add
the kitchen to the project if funds could be raised,
otherwise it would be done at a later date. As the
months past the cost continued to rise but also offers
of help were received in addition to Biffaward grants
were received from The Paul Bassham Trust, Breckland
District Council, The Garfield Weston Foundation,
The Hunter Rowe Trust, The Beatrice Laing Trust, Lloyds
TSB Foundation, The Norwood and Newton Settlement.
The members had some funds in hand; Dereham and Swaffham
Circuit provided a grant, as did The Trustees for
Methodist Church Purposes from Manchester. By the
spring of 2005 the funds were in hand. Approvals and
quotations were obtained and in July 2005 local builder
P.J & L.J Matthews started the building work and
finished by the end of October.
The church now has four new white powder coated aluminium
doors one metre wide. The car park and the complete
inside of the church are on just two levels with a
ramp between them. The toilet is wheel chair accessible
with colour contrast fittings. The kitchen is completely
refitted with cooker, fridge, cabinets and two sinks.
The internal ramp, toilet and kitchen have non-slip
flooring, the external lighting has been improved
and a certificate to BS 7671 issued for the complete
building.
The project took two years to complete but people
and organisations were very helpful and much improvement
has been achieved. People like to tell us we miss
out by not having raffles and tombolas but true to
the Methodist tradition no lottery money was used
and not a single ticket sold to meet the final bill
of £33,004.57p.
Fred Garner.
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