Building work to St Barnabas Church, Darby Green Blackwater

Descriptions

St Barnabas Church ("Client") is already used by the wider community as a "hub", a place for groups to meet and residents access community services. This building work is funded by a grant from Hart District Council as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The building work will a)Improve accessibility to the building - By building a new entrance ramp and front entrance and improving emergency exits we will provide a more easily accessible building for those in wheelchairs, with pushchairs, and those with mobility limitations. b)Extend and refit the kitchen- By removing internal walls, increasing the size of serving hatches and refitting the kitchen we will provide a space for a wider range of community activities to take place. This will include serving hot food on the days Hart Foodbank and Community Larder operates, acting as a warm hub in the winter, holding healthy food classes and providing food as a community café. c)Improve the entrance area and café space - The use of the existing café space is limited by its size, and the existing lobby area is small with no reception area to welcome visitors. By replacing the existing room divide between the café and lobby with fold-back doors, and opening-up the existing office space there will be a more flexible community space. This will enable a larger café area or allow an area to be shut off for smaller meetings, and a more open welcoming space when entering the building. Opening this space up will also make the building more appropriate for the planned youth activities. d)Soundproof the main hall area - Improving the current room divide with a more effective soundproofing system will effectively double the amount of large hall space available for community group use during the week. The funding for the building work is being provided by Hart District Council as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).The funding requires all work to be completed by 31st December 2024. An additional consideration for the timetable of work is that the building is already used by a variety of groups throughout the week. This includes a pre-school that meets Monday to Friday during term time. As such we are keen that the actual building work takes place between Thursday 25th July 2024 and Friday 30th August. Any building work that is undertaken outside of these dates would need to be able to accommodate the pre-school operating on part of the site. The quote should include the cost of all materials, labour, equipment hire, contractors, project management, professional advice relating to the construction and any other factor that is needed to be taken into account to successfully complete the building project. The quote should include the cost of all fixtures and fittings including new kitchen units.