St Michael's celebrates completion of complex project

The inauguration of the oven marked the end (or nearly the end) of a remarkable sequence of events.

More than 40 members enjoyed lunch cooked as a result of a project which has cost nearly 9.800. and involved a fund-raising appeal which has brought responses from many organisations, including the club itself.

It was in October last year that the large commercial gas cooker in the larger church hall was condemned as unsafe.

It seemed to be a simple but expensive operation to replace old with new.

But when the church investigated a replacement they found themselves caught in a web of health and safety regulations.

These required that the replacement be fitted with a large extractor hood, linked electronically to the oven and to a separate wall-mounted fan to bring fresh air into the room.

The existing kitchen was too small to accommodate the new arrangement so the church has had to sacrifice the small meeting room at the rear of the hall.

Adaptations included the need to brick up one window, replace another with one shallow enough to allow kitchen units to be built in underneath and replace the floor covering.

Now a further scheme could involve knocking through the wall between the old kitchen and the new and transforming the old into a washing-up area.

After investigating the church's operations with the Vicar, the Rev David King, district church warden Mick Gregory launched a cooker appeal in March.

Parishioners were aghast to find that the appeal target was 10,000. But with organisations like the luncheon club and day centre heavily dependent on the availability of hot food they rallied behind the appeal.

The breakthrough gave when, in response to one of the many appeal letters Mick sent to organisations, waste operator Biffa responded with a 5,000 grant - half then and half on completion - from out of landfill tax credits.

Old Town Preservation Society gave 3,000. The former Rother Theatre Company - which presented its first productions from the hall - gave 1,000 from the dispersal of its funds.

The All Churches Trust gave 500.

Hall user-groups responded with 100 from the Keep Fit Group, donations from the Luncheon Club, the Toddler Group and the 3rd Bexhill Scout Group and anonymous donations of as much as 250.

Pupils at Pebsham Community Primary School, which has a close connection with St Michael's, sold ice cream at the school and raised 100.

The 840 profits of the recent East Meets West Concert at St Michael's were given to the fund and another 1,500 has been pledged by donors.

Church members with trade skills helped.

Peter Anderson bricked-up the windows; Mike Harris did the electrical wiring.

South East Catering installed the cooker and hood with local firm Priddy's piping the gas supply.

Expressing his thanks, the Rev King said on Tuesday: "Mick Gregory has been the driving force behind all this.

"We are so glad to have an oven back in use after a year.

"The Luncheon Club were thrilled to be back in this hall rather than in the smaller hall."