St Andrew's Vision Project 

Consultation on how St Andrew’s Church can fulfil its potential for Stapleford

St Andrew’s Church is the only church in our growing village. It’s a beautiful building in a lovely setting. We want to look after it and develop it to satisfy the village’s changing needs. The church will continue to be a focus for Christian worship and celebration. More than that we want it be accessible and inclusive, suitable for events already organised by the church for the community eg: our growing groups for toddlers (Little Fishes), seniors (JOY), and to encourage participation from people across the village eg: for music and other community events. We also want to transform the sustainability of the building and to ensure that the it fulfils its potential for Stapleford in decades to come.

The PCC (church council) has been thinking about how to adapt the building to enable it to fulfil its potential. We would like to share our preliminary plans with you and to get your feedback. Please come to open evenings at 7.30 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 and 9 September to see the plans and tell us what you think.

The preliminary plans

• Replastering the ceiling in the nave to prevent further plaster falls.
• A new heating system, based on chandelier infrared heaters, to provide comfort, controllability and reliability, and to substantially reduce carbon emissions.
• Better lighting to show off the historic beauty of the building and make it easier for people to see and participate. It will be more sustainable, increase flexibility and simplify maintenance.
• Segmenting the space within the church to suit to smaller meetings.
• Chairs, instead of pews, in the nave (main space in the church) to give greater comfort, safety and flexibility. 
• Retaining the beautiful and comfortable pews in the chancel (east end of the church) to make connections to the history of the building.
• New facilities to provide refreshments to make people feel welcome. 
• A level-access floor throughout to make it much easier for people in wheelchairs, or people who are unsteady on their feet, to gain access to all parts of the building.
• A fully-accessible toilet in the vestry to make the building more pleasant and accessible.
• Moving the font to near the main door of the church to make it easier for the families and friends of people being baptised to participate in the service.
• Glass doors to open the view into the church and make it easier and safer to enter the building.Our aim is that future generations will look back at the changes we make now and be glad that they were done well.

Letting us know your views

We are keen to hear your views as members of Stapleford community, and would be glad to see you at one of the open evenings.

You can download here the brochure describing the changes, or take a paper copy from the church porch.

You can download the draft Statement of Significance that we have prepared here. This is the current draft of a document we would need to submit when we apply for permission to do some or all of these works, describing the church and the proposed changes in detail. 

We would be glad to hear your feedback through the Google form you can access here. You can find the same form at the back of the brochure, or if it is easier just email your comments to admin@standrewstapleford.org.

Simon Taylor (Vicar) & Alastair MacGregor (Churchwarden)