What We Want to Do. We have a beautiful church in the middle of Tavistock, which is very well used both for religious services and public events. At the moment though, there are no available toilets for public use, and we have to send people across the town square to the nearest public ones. Additionally, we only have a water boiler and sink to support any catering we want to lay on after services and concerts. Despite being a large building, we have no dedicated storage, and storage currently takes place in niches around the church, causing a lot of clutter and obscuring the beauty of the interior.
A lot of work has gone into planning what we need, and we have selected and priced a great design, which will fit neatly into the corner of the church.
We already have nearly 70% of the funds that we need to install this unit, leaving £57,500 to find. We will be appealing to heritage funding charities for a lot of this, but will need to raise at least a further £20,000 from our own fundraising as well.
About Our Church. The church is open 365 days a year for visitors to come and see the inside of this historic building, and the monuments and other contents within. The Abbey of Tavistock used to sit alongside the church, before its dissolution under Henry VIII, but the bones of the Abbey Founder Ordulf still lie within the church.
Contents include an 1876 stained glass window by William Morris, a 15th century font, elaborate monuments to 17th century local dignitaries and much more.
How We Use the Church. With our position right at the centre of the town, we aim to be a welcoming and inclusive place of worship and a venue for community events, and to be able to provide the hospitality to support all these uses of the building. We hold 68 public services a month not including many weddings, baptisms and funerals, and
dedicated services for local schools. There is at least one concert per month in the church, in addition to heavy use supporting the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival in April, the Exon Singers 6 day Festival in July, and the hugely popular 11 day Christmas Tree Festival in December which attracts over 13,000 visitors.
Please Help. If we can be well on the way to reaching our funding target by March 2022, then we will be able to go ahead and place the contract for the construction of this kitchen, storage and toilet unit, and be finished in time for the 2022 Christmas Tree Festival. This will be a fantastic improvement for the church and all of the Tavistock and surrounding community who use it. Please give generously to help us meet our target, and thank you for your support.