Report Jan10

Report on St Mary’s Parish Council Meeting 11^th January 2010

 This is the first “Monthly” Report since the Autumn – we didn’t publish a report in November as we had just had the Annual Parish meeting, and our December Council meeting was cancelled as the arranged date clashed with the School Play – but we managed to meet this week despite the snow and ice, so here we go again!

A reminder of who the Parish Council members are:

Chairman:         Jim Hill

Vice-chairman:  Paul Sleightholme

Secretary:         Tom Parker

Members:         Jean Bolton

Mary Earnshaw

                        Gill Egan

                        Gerard Fishwick (Deacon) – ex-officio member

                        Ann Holt

Peter Kitching

                        Bren Rafferty

                        Rosemary Russell

                        Berny Watmough

                        Nick Fish (Finance) – ex-officio member

Parish Priest:    Fr Gerry McCusker – ex-officio member

The meeting, under the Chairmanship of Jim Hill, opened with a prayer from Fr McCusker.

Worship and Pastoral

Following appeals made over the last couple of months, we now have 3 new volunteer Eucharistic Ministers - these require CRB clearance to enable them to make home visits, although they are able to perform their duties in church services. Thanks are expressed to these volunteers – other volunteers are always welcome: particularly for Lay Readers and Eucharistic Ministers…  please speak to Fr Gerry if you are interested.

In reviewing the Christmas Services & Events it was felt that all Services were well attended and well received – it was particularly noted that the Vigil Mass was well received and it is intended to continue to celebrate this in future years. The Children’s Christmas Party was well attended and enjoyed by all – including the many parents who joined in the fun! The “Little Church volunteers” will continue to hold similar “family-oriented” children’s events in the future.

There is an increasing requirement for pastoral and religious support in Buckshaw Village – particularly at the “retirement complex” and Fr Gerry is extending his duties there accordingly. It is, perhaps, worth noting that, whilst the whole of Buckshaw Village lies within our Parish boundaries from a religious and pastoral  viewpoint, the Catholic school catchment areas are such that Buckshaw Village is actually served by 3 Catholic Schools. Questions relating to school admission are best discussed with the Head Teacher.

Christian Unity Week is upon us and services will be held in the various Euxton churches, as detailed in separate announcements. Please speak to Gerry Fishwick if you need any information about “Churches Together in Euxton”.

Buildings & Cemetery

You may well have noticed that we have not completed the plasterwork repairs to the Church Gable Wall following the roof repairs last year – this is because we found further damp in the wall following the recent very heavy rains, and we are awaiting the Archdiocesan experts to visit and inspect the problem. It’s obviously disappointing that the extensive work carried out on the roof hasn’t completely fixed the problem, but this exemplifies the issue that we have in maintaining church buildings of this type and age.

Whilst the gable wall remains unfinished, we have completed the re-painting of the side walls of the Nave and the area above the radiator at the side of the Altar. We have “measured-up” for new radiator shelves to protect the paintwork from future damage and hope to get these fitted in the near future.

Thanks are expressed to the group of volunteers who maintain the Cemetery – whilst most of their work is done outside of the winter period, the Parish Council want to acknowledge the efforts of the volunteers who have cleared the pathways of snow and ice to enable burials to take place in safety during the current bad weather.

Please be aware that our Cemetery Fees had been increased with effect from Jan 1^st, bringing us into line with charges levied in the Chorley Deanery. Details of the charges are published on the parish website, or may be obtained by asking Tom Parker.

Parish Centre

You will all be aware of the position re the Parish Centre refurbishment, and the Parish Council wishes to express it’s thanks to the people who volunteered to help in the refurbishment following the appeals at Sunday Mass a few weeks ago. Once the weather improves we will be completing the replacement / refurbishment of windows and fascias and the building will than look a bit more appealing from the outside! Inside the building we intend to focus our initial efforts on the (former) bar and lounge – removing the former bar/club fittings which, along with some remodelling and a complete redecoration will make it a much more comfortable meeting centre.

Don’t worry if you’ve volunteered to help and you haven’t been asked yet…..  we will soon be in touch!

Just in case you weren’t aware – the Parish Centre is open and available for events and is used by a couple of local groups for their meetings, so don’t think that it’s closed/unusable during the renovation activity!

If you are interested in hiring the Parish Centre for a function please talk to Michael Thompson or Fr Gerry. 

Upcoming Social Events in the Parish Centre

The annual Senior Citizens Party will be held on Saturday February 6^th (4pm for 5!). Further details including ticketing arrangements will be announced shortly.

We are planning to hold a “St Patrick’s Social Evening” on Saturday March 13^th, including a Ceilidh Band and a hot pot supper. Adult tickets will be priced at £5 per head, with accompanied under-16s free of charge. Given that the Parish Centre is now unlicensed there will be no sale of alcoholic drinks, although we will be selling crisps and soft drinks (etc). Please bring your own alcoholic drinks (only if you want to do, of course, it’s not compulsory!!) and take the empties away afterwards! Further details including ticketing arrangements will be announced shortly. The Parish Council decided to organise this as a purely social event (as opposed to a fund-raiser) to encourage the use of the Parish Centre for social events, although you may find the odd raffle ticket on sale on the night! If it’s a success we will be organising more events in the future.

Finance

We are in the process of producing our 2010 Budget Plan, which will enable us to project the amount of money we will have available to prioritise and undertake our planned work programme (including the Parish Centre refurbishment). Alongside this financial plan we are considering the options for increasing our fund-raising within the Parish – watch this space!

This may be a re-iteration of an appeal made in the weekly newsletter, but….

Additional volunteers are being sought to join the rota of those who help with the counting of the Sunday Collection after 10:30 Mass. It doesn’t take that much time, and you won’t be asked to do it every week. If you are able to help, please speak to Nick Fish or to Fr Gerry.

The meeting closed with a prayer from Fr McCusker.