Another Land Mark
Another landmark in progress towards completion of the All Saints Community Development Project was reached on the 15th July.

Cannon John Wilkinson, Vicar of All Saints, unveiled the Dedication Stone for Phase 1 of the project, which is now about halfway to completion.

15th July was Dedication Sunday at All Saints – the day when we remember the original dedication of the church building in 1860.  It was a great celebration for everyone at All Saints, and their many partners, who have helped to bring this project about.

To view the pictures of the celebration click here.

Burial for 'memories'
CONGREGATION members made sure a piece of the past was preserved for the future in Kings Heath.
Members ui All Saints Qiurcli, in Vicarage Road, joined build­ers lo bury a time capsule in the grounds of a new development.
The ceremony was used to mark the first phase of the works which will see a multi-million pound medical centre and com­munity centre being built.

Chairman of the All Saints Community Development Project David Ritchie said "We did this because in years to come, if someone ever investigates this site, we want them to see the things we were excited about in 2007. "The building works on site are the perfect time to do this and since this is only the first phase of a much bigger project it is still important to mark such events." The time capsule included items along me themes of Church, Nation and Community. Items included a statement of values for All Saints Church, church booklets, UK coins and stamps, a local magazine for Kings Heath and medical equipment from a Kings Heath GP. Mr Ritchie said phase one of the project will cost £1.9 million and will include a medical centre. It is due to be completed by November. He said phase two will cost £2.3 million and will include a cafe, community hall and meeting rooms.

Members of the church are still working to raise the additional cash to fund the second phase of the development. So far they have attracted £200,000 of funding from the Big Lottery Fund's Reaching Communities programme and a number of loans to help cover the costs.Members of the church are still working to raise the additional cash to fund the second phase of the development.
So far they have attracted £200,000 of funding from the Big Lottery Fund's Reaching Communities programme and a number of loans to help cover the costs.

Dated 10th April 2007

Latest message to All Saints Congregation about the Project
A report from David Ritchie,
Chair of the All Saints Community Development Project - dated 18.2.07

Everyone will be well aware of the progress which our Development Project is making, at long last!

It has been an exciting few weeks.  First came ‘Farewell to the Vicarage’, when we thanked God for the past and prayed about the future.  There was an exhibition of photographs of the first and second Vicarages from 1870 to the present, put together by Margaret Shepherd and John Wilkinson. 

Contracts signed
The contracts were signed in church on Epiphany Sunday, followed by the start of works on site.  Then on January 26th we held the Press Launch which was attended by Carl Chinn, the Bishop of Birmingham and numerous other guests including children from the congregation, the All Saints Playgroup and Colmore Junior School.  Now the real work has begun.

Stradform, our contractors, have been working very closely with us to explain how the construction programme is going to unfold, and how they will try to minimise its impact on everybody.  Some of you attended one of the two meetings at which they explained how everything would work.   Stradform’s site supervisor, Dave Barnicoat, has been liaising closely with John Wilkinson, with Margaret Rigby and with Janet Wilkes to make sure everything is running as smoothly as possible.

Bare, but not for long
Inevitably, the start of the building project sees a lot of clearance which can come as a bit of a shock. Of course, you knew that the Vicarage would disappear as it now has, and that fencing, shrubbery and a few trees would have to be removed, and that has also happened.  The site nevertheless seems larger and rather barer than we might have imagined.  Partly this is caused not by the Project itself but by the damage done by the tornado of 2005 being more obvious.  But it won’t look bare for long.  Soon we shall see the actual building work getting underway and that will be the exciting part!

For your Project team, it has been a great relief to be talking about practical, day to day issues to do with the building, rather than the less tangible, and much more frustrating, legal and financial debates which have dominated our lives for what seems like an eternity.  At this early stage, Phase One is well on track; completion of this Phase, which includes work inside the West end of the church, is scheduled for the end of November this year.
 
Lottery Success
Meanwhile, it is excellent news that we had been awarded almost £200,000 under the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Programme.  Most of this will enable the Youth Project to develop and expand its services, whilst £50,000 will be available for some additional works at the West End of the church which are necessary for the development of the project.

We are continuing our efforts with Big Lottery (the Community Building Scheme) and other sources of finance to raise over £1M for Phase 2.  As you know, we have already been awarded £1.1M by Futurebuilders for Phase 2, so we are already about half way there.

Next month (probably Friday the 30th March) we will be putting a time capsule into the foundations of the Phase 1 building.  Pat Rowland has been collecting ideas, and materials, to go into the time capsule.  It is quite a challenge to think of things we would like future generations to remember us for!

There will be more news soon, we expect, on how to take forward the re-ordering of the church – so watch this space.

David Ritchie
Chair of the All Saints Community Development Project - dated 18.2.07

Community Centre Plan to Regenerate Kings Heath 
Click image for full size

David Ritchie, chairman of The All Saints Community Development Project and local businessman Stanley Hems celebrating the go-ahead of the project.

The following is based on an article which appeared in the Birmingham Post, 9 January 2007.

The square will be located in the grounds of historic All Saints Church at the Vicar­age Road junction with the High Street and include a cafe, outdoor seating, village hall and medical centre.

A charitable company, called the All Saints Community Development Com­pany consisting of local traders and church repre­sentatives, was set up eight years ago to raise funds for the £4.5 million drive.

Over the weekend the organisation signed a con­tract with a developer to begin construction work at the end of this month.

David Ritchie, chairman of the development compa­ny, said: "We see it as a major event in the life of Kings Heath.”We are in an area that is very mixed socially but nev­ertheless there is a great deal of poverty here.
"It is a shopping centre that needs to be revitalised. We think what we are doing will help that process.” When we have finished the scheme there will be a village square linking the new development and the church into the High Street.

It will be much more open." The project represents an attempt to recreate a village feel to a busy urban envi­ronment with the church regaining its medieval posi­tion at the centre of the community. It is intended that events such as an existing monthly Kings Heath Farmers Market will take place in the square.

Stan Hems, chairman of the Kings Heath Business Association who owns
Johnstans Butchers on the High Street, said: "The church 600 years ago was used for eve­rything. It was the law courts, it was where you met the doctor, it was the focal point for the whole community. We are trying to put healthy living and spir­itual welfare at the heart of the community. We are putting a centre into Kings Heath where we can hold village functions and improve the quality of life."
Mr. Hems claimed the scheme would increase the desirability of the area and boost house prices by between £20,000 and £30,000.

Lynda Williams, of estate agents Robert Oulsnam on the High Street, said: "In the long-term I think that is absolutely realistic. The word about this will spread in schools and make people want to stay in the area and move within the area to larger homes. Because of that I think it will put the prices up."
Funding for the pro­gramme has come from loans, the church, donations and other sponsors includ­ing the city council.

The first phase, which involves the relocation of a doctors' surgery and the setting up of a health centre, pharmacy, dentist and opti­cians in the church grounds, should be complete by the end of the year.
The second phase includes the development of the square and cafe while the
third will involve creation of a village hall, youth centre, day facility elderly and meeting rooms for which funding is currently being sought.
Patrons of the scheme include leader of Birmingham Labour party former leader of the City Council Sir Albert Bore, historian Carl Chinn, Chief Constable of West Police Paul Scott-Lee, local MPs and the former Bishop of Birmingham John Sentamu.