The Law Appeal

Active fund-raising activities have been suspended pending the outcome of discussions and revisions of the designs for the proposed Church Annex, but a major step forward has now been reached.

At their meeting on 13th June, the building subcommittee unanimously agreed the design for a new building, and formal planning approval is now being sought.

The revised design is for a simpler, single-storey Annex and drawings of this are now on display for all to see in the parish church (also on the benefice website: www.harting.org.uk).

Having consulted with the appropriate planning advisory agencies there is now confidence that these plans will be approved, without difficulty. But the procedures will take a further two months, and only then will we be in a position to calculate accurate costs to complete the project.

Meanwhile the trickle of monthly income continues, together with another single donation of £500, to bring the Law Appeal total to £140,000. Further donations, large or small, are welcome at any time, but we expect to re-launch fund-raising Phase 2 in October, aiming to have the necessary funds available to commence construction early in the New Year. This will be a formidable task, but with the generosity for which Harting is well-known in the past we can, and will, achieve this.

Because of the appalling weather for the recent Harting Festivities, the parish church was successfully used for a wide range of events, thus reminding everyone who participated precisely why the church was first built, over 1,000 years ago, to become the centre of village activities.

This experience also graphically demonstrated why we need the additional space and facilities we desperately lack, for all weather conditions. The purpose of this project is to solve this problem, for all age groups, for many years to come. We have therefore set ourselves the target of completing the construction of the Law Memorial Room in May 2009, to be available for use for Harting Festivities next year.

We shall seek maximum support from everyone, to make possible this ambitious target.

Watch this space!

Michael Casement 19 June 2008