SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT CANTON UNITING CHURCH 2010/2011

Our mission work is centred on our service to the community through the Treganna Family Centre and the community use of our buildings. Gareth Williams will be speaking about TFC later so I will focus on our buildings. This year has seen the refurbishment of the main hall with a new AA suite and new toilets that meet the standards expected by Care and Social Services Inspectorate of Wales. The refurbished hall and AA suite were handed back to the Church on the 7th November and everybody who has seen the improvements is very impressed. We held a Church lunch to celebrate the refurbished hall on the 30th January 2011 with the food provided on a “bring and share” basis. Renting out our spaces is now a significant part of our income. With regard to the future of these buildings we continue to rely on the professional skills of Siarlys Evans. The number of organisations using our buildings is increasing with the NHS expert patient and carer courses being held here, a third choir, the Canton Community Choir, meeting here on Thursdays, and the Girl Guides plan to re-start on the 20th May. The Leasing arrangement with AA is proceeding at a pleasantly slow pace.

However some parts of our buildings are still in very poor condition, particularly the hall beyond the large folding screen including the Primary room and kitchen, this area we have already agreed to sell but before we can do so we need to provide new facilities for the remaining current users. The spaces leased to TFC are also in poor condition. If we do not act promptly then some activities may not be able to continue in these parts of our buildings. Our heating bills are consuming up to a quarter of our income and this is due to the absence of insulation in those parts of the buildings in poor condition.

The deacons have proposed that the Church carry out a survey of all current users to determine their future needs so that the most cost-effective design could be devised and so we can present an architect with a clear remit. The range of users is such that this will also tell us about the future needs of the community. The Church Meeting on the 2nd March 2011 agreed that a small group be set up to assess in more detail the next steps in our Building programme. The group held its first meeting on the 13th April.

Demolition of the TFC suite and other unused areas would create a space larger than the area we intend to sell. We have £113,000 in our building fund. The current proposals for the space (an additional hall and two stories of meeting rooms/offices) would cost £500,000 to £600,000; the time needed to raise so much money might be too long to protect our income and to prevent those areas in poor repair becoming unusable. We have to find that balance point between what doing what we would like to do and what we have the resources and time to do.

In the meantime we have to maintain the existing buildings. With the help of the URC Mission Development Funds we have installed a projector, there is a new sign facing east down Cowbridge Road and there is a nappy-changing table in the disabled toilet.

We still have an unresolved issue with our common boundary with the Co-op. I have tried several times to contact them by phone, e-mail and letter but without success. The Co-op seems to be an odd mixture of social activist and arrogant retailer.

There continues to be lots of different events and activities by the Church and in the Church. Thanks to Toni Edwards, Barbara Ball and others we continue to be active in the Canton & Riverside Churches Together; we have participated in joint services and helped to organise the Lenten services. In spite of the difficult weather the Silent Comedy Film night in December was well-attended and the donations for TFC in the retiring collection were very generous. Among other events has been our annual Agape supper and service which was also well-attended and the quiz devised by Megan Atherton wasn’t too difficult. We also hosted a Fair Trade event in the Hall on the 9th March supported by the Co-op. Two young Ghanaian ladies told us about their Farmers cooperative and how chocolate is grown, harvested and processed. Bible study continues including three excellent Epiphany talks by Debbie Cheshire, Denise Abraham-Williams and Angie Luther on Work and Faith. The delayed fourth talk by Peter Wilkinson is planned for the 11th May. Peter received the OBE at the New Year.

On the Week-end of 16/17 October we discussed the URC’s Radical Welcome programme led by Kevin Snyman, the URC Wales training officer. Since then the Radical Welcome programme has been re-branded as Zero Intolerance. Concerns have been expressed by the deacons and the Church meeting about some of the proposals in this rebranded programme and the way in which programme is being introduced. After considerable debate it was agreed that we should invite Kevin Snyman to hear and respond to our concerns before we decide whether or not to continue with our participation in this scheme. That is once Kevin has recovered from major surgery.

We also remember those of our fellowship who died in the past twelve months - Len and Kath Griffiths, Daisy Alexander and Joyce Miles. As to membership matters Cindy and Matthew McCabe and Clem Miles were accepted into Church membership but overall our membership fell to 94 with the four deaths and with Paul & Gerrie Ballard being transferred to a church in Peterborough. Alison Walker left for her VSO service in Ghana but she is still very much a member. Attendances at services have also been lower with the exception of the youth services. This is probably a combination of the difficult winter and a higher proportion of the fellowship that is more restricted in their movements and so is not able to attend as often as they would like to.

In summary in the next twelve months we need to decide want we want and can do with our buildings. We need to make ourselves better known in the community so that more people become curious about the Church and its Good News. And we need to decide the extent, if any, that we wish to be involved in the URC’s Zero Intolerance programme.

Peter Wilkinson
Church Secretary