Thank you! We are grateful for the incredibly generous response of so many parishioners to the Parish Appeal – over £90,000 was raised by parish events alone --backed by generous help and support from the Jesuits. We have now reached our first goal of providing a meeting space for young people as well as disabled access to all the halls and to the presbytery. You can read a report of what was done here
Church Floor Appeal
Now we need your continued support to help towards a major building project, the renovation of the church floor. We need this work done urgently because it affects the daily use of the Church. And it must be done before we undertake the restoration of our historic organ
Over the past 100 years, the floor, which is separate from the main structure, has sunk significantly towards the centre. Several benches lie at an awkward angle and rock on the uneven surface and many of the oak blocks on the surface have also been affected.
Apart from the floor, the present system of church heating needs attention. It is very energy inefficient since much of the heat gets lost in the upper parts of the church. We want to install more efficient and environmentally friendly underfloor heating to provide low level heat where it is most needed. Of course all this work is expensive. We need to raise £550,000 to provide a fully rebuilt floor finished with new oak blocks and fully-integrated under-floor heating. But most of the funding has to be in place before we can start work, we hope in the Spring of 2010. (A full report on the proposal is provided here).
Once again, thanks to the huge generosity of our parishioners, our fund raising has been highly successful --we have raised £423,156 by 24 February 2010.
But if we are to meet our demanding target we need continuing support. The Sacred Heart church is here today because of the vision, dedication and generosity of past generations, please help us to follow their example for the lasting benefit of future generations.
Here's a video update showing the removal of the organ back in April and some of the initial work on the instrument at the workshop of Mander Organs in London.
Work in the church, which started immediately after Easter, is proceeding well.
Firstly the benches were removed and taken away for refurbishment.
I have taken a few pictures and hope you enjoy them. The inside of the church is definitely different from when we processed out on Easter Monday, the last mass in the church. The progress is going well. The only significant complication was that five of the 36 pilings could not
The recently advertised post of Education Outreach Co-ordinator for the organ appeal has been filled by Tom Bell, a young organist with considerable experience of promoting the instrument to both children and adults. He is beginning work immediately.
THE INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR on 18 April raised £2072.19. Many thanks to all the stallholders and those who supported the event.
The Parish is looking urgently for a Co-ordinator to act as the central contact point for the Education outreach project in connection with the Restoration of the Organ. This will be free-lance paid work, up to about 1 day per week, for about two years - and starting as soon as possible.
NEWS RELEASE
30 March 2010
Wimbledon’s Sacred Heart Church wins Heritage Lottery Fund grant to restore historic organ
Sunday Masses:
6:30 pm Saturday Vigil, 8:00, 8:50 (new family orientated mass), 10:00 (normal family orientated mass), 11:30 (Latin Sung mass), 1:00, 5:00, 8:00,
8:30 am mass at Sacred Heart School (confessions from 8.15 am)
THE CHURCH ORGAN: Thanks to the dedicated work of the Organ Appeal Group the Heritage Lottery Fund have awarded us a grant of £237,000 towards the total cost of around £360,000 to restore the organ. Work will commence in April when the organ will be dismantled.
Parish Announcement regarding fund raising and move to Upper Hall
13-14 March 2010 (Updated 21 March 2010)
As we prepare for Easter in three weeks time, we are also preparing for the dramatic restoration of our Church floor and organ. In four weeks time we will be having all parish services in our Upper Hall...
From Sunday 11 April, times of Masses will change to the following:
6.30 pm (Saturday Vigil)
Sunday: 8.00 am, 8.50 am, 10.00 am, 11.30 am, 1.00 pm
5.00 pm & 8.00 pm
(at Sacred Heart School) 8.30 am
1. Total Pledged to the Appeal as at 24th February 2010 is £1,313,297.
2. Of which for the Church Floor and Heating Phase: £423,156
At the end of January the tender letters went out to the contractors chosen to submit a tender. It is hoped that by the end of this month a contractor can be chosen. The decision needs to be made soon so that all can go forward immediately after Easter in the first week of April.
Arrangements for replacing the sunken church floor are well advanced.
A warmest of thanks and appreciation to the Edge Hill Players for their production of 'Paul'. I have had numerous people commend me for the quality and profundity of the production. The only shame I sense is that there were only two productions.
SALE OF UNWANTED CHRISTMAS GIFTS. £540.50 was raised towards the Capital Appeal.
FR KEVIN DONOVAN, S.J. We are hoping to dedicate a part of the new church floor to Fr Kevin, near the baptistry. We welcome donations of £75 or more to the floor in his name. In return we will give you a quality print of a painting by Moya Hogarth of Fr Kevin.
At the recital on Saturday, 18th July, Bob Rathbone showed a video presentation about the organ, the current problems with it, and the work needed to restore it to a condition where it will last fo
The generous response of parishioners to the Parish Appeal backed by invaluable help and support from the British Province of the Society of Jesus have ensured that we have achieved our first goal