In the works

A significant proportion of our annual expenditure is spent on our buildings. Here Abby Leggatt updates us on the current fabric renovations of our buildings.

OLoS Church

There has been quite a lot of work and expenditure at Our Lady of Sorrows over the last few months.

We have had challenges to ensure the church is Covid secure and meets the government guidelines. Using designated prayer spaces, hand sanitiser, limited numbers and appropriate face coverings, this has been successful. In addition, we have purchased a machine which sanitises the church thoroughly each day.

A scaffold has been erected, and the lining of the roof has been replaced; this took some co-ordination between our builders at Sussex React and their scaffolder. This was inevitably delayed by Covid but the work has been completed by the team now.

Unfortunately, wind in the wrong direction has not been as helpful: we lost some vent covers in the high winds recently. Our builders using a ladder and some creative thinking immediately replaced two. Unluckily the third cover was smashed when it hit the floor and required a scaffold. This was covered by our insurance policy, so only the excess will be paid by the parish.

PAT testing is now being carried out by a professional PAT tester on advice from the Health & Safety team at Bishops House. We are using a company called Mr. PAT and he will also be testing St. Anthony’s, St Richards; the Parish Centre; OLoS; Priory and Haltwhistle cottages.

Emergency boiler repairs were carried out on two of the boilers – good work by Arundel Group, who attended and fixed the problem on the same day. A smart meter has been installed in the church, which provides accurate readings and monitors our usage to enable us to see the immediate cost and where we can potentially make savings.

Upcoming expenses

There is some damaged brick on the walkway between the parish centre and church. It will be replaced once an appropriate replacement has been sourced. This will involve a scaffold and will temporarily close access between the car park and the parish centre/ back door to the church. This should only take one day.

One of the emergency lights needs some repair – which came to light when our smart meter was installed. Peter Buckland will complete this as soon as possible.

We have some damage to a stone lintel; currently, we are getting quotes from several stonemasons.

St Anthony’s

We have suffered some theft of lead from the roof at St Anthony’s. It appears the thief was caught in the act as they abandoned a pair of gloves and some lead. An eagle-eyed parishioner alerted us to the theft very quickly. This was lucky as the theft exposed the roof to potential rain damage. Initially, an emergency tarpaulin was put in place pending insurance approval.

The work has now been completed, with the lead being replaced by cladding to match the lower part of the building.

We have had some electrical problems at St Anthony’s: the wiring for the outside light was damaged. This caused “nuisance tripping” inside as well as the light not working outside. The light has now been rewired and is working properly.

Abby Leggatt is our parish’s new Parish Administrator at Bognor Regis & Slindon Catholic parish. She succeeded Anthony Jenkins, who retired in December 2020. The Parish Administrator is a paid, part-time role, giving support to the Parish Priest, managing building maintenance, security, health and safety, and overseeing the management of the parish office.