AMBERLEY SOCIETY
Conserving and Improving Amberley West Sussex

St Michael’s Church Hall Upgrade Project

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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. 

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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

• Design and project managing the work – Michael Donovan

• Fundraising events – Sheena Skinner

• 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.

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Community feedback identified four priorities and we divided the work into two phases:

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Church Hall Upgrade - Phase 1

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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.

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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

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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.

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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)

• Wellbeing Fair (Sheena Skinner)

• Michael Blencoe nature talk (Mel Edge)

• Roving Supper (Dave & Lynne Curry and Mandy Fay)

• Scent Soiree (Michael Donovan)

• Eurochristmas Open Doors (Susan Watson and Drewitt’s Farm)

• Christmas in the Square (Mel Edge)

• 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

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If you would like to support the team or donate to a Hallraiser's event, please contact us:

Mel Edge - amberleystmichael@gmail.com

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Church Hall Upgrade – Phase 2

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We are currently fundraising for Phase 2 – the new kitchen.

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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! 

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November 2024 update: we have now raised £24,000​ towards the kitchen refurbishment, thanks to donations of £834 and £6,200 grants from our community events and grants totalling £17,000 from ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England), The Benefact Trust, the Bernard Sunley Foundation, and Horsham District Council.

 

Our community fundraising 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 and Michael Donovan)

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We have plans to raise the remaining funds for the kitchen renovation work through our next events and the grants we have in the pipeline...and we are thrilled to report that the work to renovate the kitchen is booked to begin at the start of February 2025.  We should be cutting the ribbon on a sparkling new kitchen in early March! The kitchen plans are on display in the Hall - so please take a look and let us have your feedback.

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Next Events

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St Michael's Church,  Hallraiser Christmas Fair, 30th November 2024, 9.30-1pm, 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!​

Stella sews for the Hallraisers 6th December 2024 10.30am - 5pm  

As part of Amberley's Advent Calendar Stella Kemp will be holding an Open House where you can buy some gorgeous tops that Stella has made to support the Chirch Hall refurbishment. There will be wine!

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 at the Church Hall and bring a taste of the world to your plate. Donations in aid of the Church Hall refurbishment.​

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​SAVE THE DATE! 

21st June, 2025, Back by popular demand... Amberley's Second Roving Supper

Watch this space for details!

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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.

 

 

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