The Chapel Gym - the last push !

Aim

Please help us raise the funds to get the gym up and running - equipment and heating. This is the final push before The Chapel Gym is born!

The story so far

We have come such a long way.  Work on repairing and restoring the 1876 church building, to convert it into our not-for-profit community gym and fitness centre, is now all but complete.  Just a few pieces of internal work remain to be done.  And this autumn we were able to open the building to a local art and craft market, which was also a fundraiser for the gym, and show people inside for the first time.

We are now launching our fundraising campaign to buy gym equipment and beginning the detailed planning of the day-to-day running of the gym, marketing and the timetable for opening as early in in 2022 as we can manage.  That is partly dependent on the success of this Crowdfunder campaign.  So can you help us?  We have created lots of different rewards to thank you for your continued support...please review these and select one, if they appeal to you.

Building restoration

This is a truly unique setting for a community gym. We have been careful throughout to keep the basic layout of the church, its iconic woodwork and its stained-glass windows.    Early in the restoration we employed specialists to advise on energy conservation. Work to the ceiling was carried out by Between Time, a conservation building company, specialising in the authentic conservation of old buildings, including churches.

The building had been unused since 2012. The first volunteer working parties began in April 2020, despite the constraints of the pandemic, clearing the old fixtures and fittings from inside the church and lots of overgrown shrubs and plants from outside.  The front door was fully restored and repainted.

We are extremely grateful to Jarvis Homes Harpenden who completely rewired the building for us at no cost which enabled us to reconnect the electricity supply. Neil Mathieson and Andy Driver have been amazingly supportive...and Neil has even encouraged his son Darren Mathieson from DNM Electrical to support the project...Neil keeps in touch regularly and is always looking for ways in which he can support the project.  This is such a morale boost for us all.

Two major pieces of work were repairing and insulating the roof and ceiling and damp proofing the walls, especially around the outside of the church.  This included digging French drains around the outside of the walls and alongside the neighbour's car port and garage.  A Saint Construction certainly lived up to their name with the painstaking and thoughtful work.  And it is wonderful to see the building has now dried out.

A raised area of flooring towards the East end had to be completely dismantled and a large hole filled in to level the floor.  This makes access so much easier - and open to all.

We also had to remove the floorboards around the edges and install new steel girders to strengthen the floor for its new use.  Jarvis Contracting organised for their suppliers to provide the steel girders for free.  How fabulous to have so many parts of the Jarvis company with their on-going support.  

A further layer of insulating plyboard is now needed which will be topped by rubber gym matting.  

The old vestry has now been completely transformed into a small kitchen area and a large disabled toilet.

We have retained all of the stained-glass windows.   Two needed repairing.  A further new window was designed and made locally to commemorate local worshipper Hugh L’Estrange who died in 2020 and this was installed last month. This was paid for by the family and separate fundraising.

We still need to fund and install infra-red heating panels.

The Action Group held weekly volunteer working parties over the summer and in October this year to clean and paint the interior walls and ceiling and to coat the wooden paneling with intumescent varnish for fire protection.  

And to finish many small but time-consuming, less-skilled tasks, including to the outside areas and car park.  We are extremely grateful to the many residents who turned out to lend a hand.  

Work has continued to repair two garages (for storage), resolve problems with boundary walls and fences, erect trellises and plants and tidy the car park.  We will be installing bicycle stands and providing a degree of outside lighting for users.

Planning Permission

We were granted planning permission for change of use to a community gym this summer.

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

We are thrilled to be able to update this page and advise that we have just received our charitable status.  Our charity number is 1196844.  Now we have this in place we can finalise the lease with Wheathampstead United Church (initially 20 years) which will allow the gym to open.  We can, however, commence running exercise classes in the building under the current arrangements and we will hopefully do this early in 2022.

Eight trustees have been appointed, four from the Church and four from the community.  The CIO will manage both The Chapel Gym and the separate hall on the site, now renamed The Chapel Halls, which we are also now restoring for community use.  

Fundraising 

To date we have raised a total of £98,000.

We ran three Crowdfunder campaigns which raised a total of £41,000.  This included match funding from Sport England, M&S Energy and Hertfordshire County Council Innovation Fund. We have received grants from:

John Apthorp Charity , Rank Organisation, Ecclesiastical Movement for Good , Hertfordshire County Council Community Grant and Wheathampstead Patient Participation Group.  We have just heard about a successful application to London Luton Airport Community Trust Fund for £9,900 towards equipment.

The remainder of the funds have been from local fundraising and donations. We have been sustained throughout by an enormous amount of local support, not least from businesses and professionals providing their work/labour or expertise and often materials for free or at cost.  This has saved a very large sum of money from the true cost of the project.  

Expenditure

Our final costs for Phase 1 (reconnecting the electricity and roof repairs) came to £12,392 

Total budget for Phase 2 (infrastructure work) currently stands at £85,087

Additional money needed to get the gym up and running: £40,000.

This project successfully funded on 24th January 2022