The Hallraisers
St Michael’s Church Hall Upgrade Project
Melanie Edge, in her role as Churchwarden of St Michael’s Church in Amberley, set up the Hallraisers in 2023, to raise money to fund the refurbishment of the Church Hall. The core group consists of Mel, with Michael Donovan, Sheena Skinner and Susan Watson, who are all Amberley residents, with many friends and supporters.
We work together collaboratively but have assigned broad leads to each of the main areas of work:
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Decision making and liaising with the PCC – Mel Edge
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Design and project managing the work – Michael Donovan
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Fundraising events – Sheena Skinner
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Community survey, grant applications and communications – Susan Watson
Our ambition is:
To create a modern, welcoming and comfortable Hall that is financially sustainable and sits at the heart of the community.
St Michael’s Church Hall provides an important community meeting place in Amberley village. It was built in the 1960s and whilst it has been well maintained over the years, it now needs significant capital work to ensure it continues to be welcoming and accessible to all villagers.
The first part of 2023 was taken up with benchmarking visits – we visited Bury, Coldwaltham, Pulborough, Rackham, Storrington and West Chiltington Village Halls to see their facilities and learn how they maintained and replaced them.
Next, we ran a survey, to understand the Amberley community’s priorities for the Hall refurbishment – you can see the results of the survey here.
Community feedback identified four priorities and we divided the work into two phases:
Church Hall Upgrade - Phase 1
Unblocking the drains
After several decades, Michael Donovan and the clever people from Coastal Drains solved the mystery of the blocked kitchen drains. They found a hidden pipe buried underground and extracted a calcified sausage of soap and calcium deposits that measured over 12 inches long. It is believed that it took over 30 years to build to its megalithic proportions.
The kitchen sink now flows freely and the issue, now that it has been identified, will be easy to remedy in the future. The work was funded through a grant by Amberley Parish Council and The Hallraisers thank them for their support, which is much appreciated
Upgrading the toilets
Our work to upgrade the toilets was completed in December 2023 – and we held a ‘grand opening’ at the Christmas Village Lunch, where villagers had the opportunity to see the work – and perhaps even use the new toilets themselves.
To fund this work, we won £10,000 in grants from Amberley Parish Council, Horsham District Council and the National Lottery. Our fundraising events, together with donations, raised the remaining £7,000.
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Guided Tree walk (Pam Keeble)
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Wellbeing Fair (Sheena Skinner)
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Michael Blencoe nature talk (Mel Edge)
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Roving Supper (Dave & Lynne Curry and Mandy Fay)
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Scent Soiree (Michael Donovan)
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Eurochristmas Open Doors (Susan Watson and Drewitt’s Farm)
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Christmas in the Square (Mel Edge)
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Knock! Knock! Christmas Theatre Production (Suzie Coates and Chalkpath Theatre Group
See the buttons at the top of the screen to see photos and information of many of these events
If you would like to support the team or donate to a Hallraiser's event, please contact us:
Mel Edge - amberleystmichael@gmail.com
Michael Donovan - michael_c_donovan@btinternet.com
Sheena Skinner - sheenaskinner@btinternet.com
Susan Watson - susan.watson10@gmail.com
Church Hall Upgrade – Phase 2
We are currently fundraising for Phase 2 – the new kitchen.
The design has had input from our kitchen heroes Sandie Conlon, Adrienne Greenwood, Pam Keeble and Sarah Wheeler and we look forward to transforming the Church Hall kitchen into a modern, commercial kitchen where meals and snacks can be prepared for Church Hall events. Currently, the kitchen is unusable and meals have to be cooked in neighbours’ kitchens then rushed to the waiting guests – most famously, roast potatoes were once delivered in a wheelbarrow! So there is no doubt that this essential work needs to be completed as soon as possible.
August 2024 update: we have raised almost £20,000 towards the kitchen refurbishment, thanks to grants from ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) and the Bernard Sunley Foundation, together with funds raised through our community events:
- Sound Bath (Sheena Skinner)
- Burns Supper & Ceilidh (Susan Watson and Claire Bruce)
- Wellness talk by Gemma Ogston (Sheena Skinner)
- Scent Soirée II - The Darling Buds of May (Michael Donovan)
- A Midsummer Celebration (Don Gallagher, Jeff Feakins, Sarah Wheeler and Susan Watson)
- Bastille Day Lunch (Catherine Cunningham, Alistair Sherwood, Sarah Wheeler, Susan Watson and Michael Donovan)
- The Sound of Painting (Michael Joseph)
Next Events
Christmas Grotto 10am - 4.30 pm on 30th November, Amberley Church Hall
Start your countdown to Christmas by soaking up the festive atmosphere and stocking up on your Christmas cards and gifts. Stalls include arts, crafts, cards and homeware along with gourmet food and drink. There will be something to suit every taste!
Drewitt's Farm Christmas Around -the-World (part of Amberley Open Doors) 6pm - 8 pm on 15th December Amberley Church Hall
Why leave Amberley to enjoy some international culinary delights? From the exotic flavours of Asia to typical European specialities to the hokey pokey of New Zealand - join the Drewitt's Farm community of the Church Hall and bring a taste of the world to your plate. Donations in aid of the Church Hall refurbishment.
SAVE THE DATE!
21st June, 2025, Back by popular demand... Amberley's Second Roving Supper
Watch this space for details!
We hope to see you at our next event – so why not note it in your diary today? More details will follow in Wildbrooks and on Gaggle.
Phase 1
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Unblocking the drains permanently, so that waste water no longer needs to be poured away outside.
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Replacing the toilets, including fitting an accessible toilet, so that everyone can confidently use the hall.
Phase 2
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Creating a modern, commercial kitchen that enables us to prepare food for up to 70 people on site.
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Replacing the wobbly and rusty access ramp with a new, concreteramp with handrail, to enable safe access for all.
We aim to raise 75% of the money through grants and the remaining 25% through local fundraising events and donations.
We have now completed Phase 1