The Situation: The church was reorganised, following the severe outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the area in 2001. The pews which were fixed to the wall were made free standing to create a flexible space and some were removed. A series of changing temporary exhibitions about the local community, its history and topography, were set up to encourage visitors. The church is opposite the village shop. When the sub-Post Office service in the shop closed in early 2007, negotiations began to provide an outreach service from the Holmrook (6 miles away) in the back of the church, 2 mornings a week. The Post Office equipment is kept in a secure cupboard, built to match the existing exhibition display.

Vision/Goals: The church has a tradition of serving the community. When no other space became available the Parochial Church Council decided to enter into discussions with the Post Office offering the space at the back of the church as a suitable place.

What was the funding strategy? There was no initial cost to the church, so no funding had to be sought for the Post Office to move in. However, the decision of the sub-postmaster to provide the service, depended on the PCC not charging rent for the space. The Post Office paid for all the work although their budget was limited and a local joiner built the cupboard at cost.

What lessons were learnt? Patience and persistence when dealing with bureaucracy

Outcomes? A voice telephone line and secure ISDN line had to be built into the back of the cupboard. A removable Post Office sign was fitted to the entrance to the church. A contract had to be agreed with the sub-Post Master providing the service. The building had to be assigned a Post Code. A faculty had to be obtained from the Diocese for the changes.

Congregation: People come into the church to use the Post Office who do not participate in worship. Relationships between the church and community have always been closely intertwined. Despite the declining rural population the congregations in the parish (which has 2 churches) have approximately doubled compared to those 50 years ago.

Has there been an increase in your income? Is the building now more sustainable? Is there more/sufficient money to pay for upkeep of building? Do you now get more support when fund-raising is required from local wider community? To date it has cost us to heat the building when the Post Office is open. In the first year we offset this cost by coffee mornings with bric-a-brac and book sales when the Post Office is open but the community is too small for volunteers to do this on a regular basis. The costs have been kept down this year by ensuring only off-peak heating was used.

Any future plans for the building? Attempts are under way to seek external funding for a pilot project to provide a coffee shop in the back of the church for 1 year, with a view to further reconfiguring the building to provide some local employment and encouraging visitors into the church. If we can obtain external funding we need to reconfigure the building. Beneath the church was the old village C of E school. For several years this has been used as a village hall. This use has declined considerably such that the cost of the upkeep of the whole building falls increasingly on the PCC. We need to prove a use more suitable to the needs of the community an at the same time provide a small amount of employment and/or residential accommodation.

Has the project achieved what you set out to achieve? So far, yes; but we need to do much more if the church building is to remain viable.

Many other people may be interested in what you have achieved and may like to get in touch to talk to you or arrange to pay a visit. Are you willing to be contacted and if so, can you give details of a contact person? Dr Wedley Dr Browne and j.h.baker@btinternet.com