SSEN Transmission community benefit funding made purchase possible.
Wick Development Trust has announced that it has taken ownership of the St Fergus Church in Wick to operate as a community facility.
This historic building, which was formerly known as Wick Old Parish Church, is located on the western edge of Wick’s town centre and has been an integral part of the community for the last 196 years.
The purchase of the church has been funded mainly by community benefit funding from SSEN Transmission’s Shetland HVDC Link Local Fund – which awarded the sum of more than £62,000 (£62,197.38) for the project – with the remaining balance for the £80,000 purchase coming from profits generated by Wick River Campsite.
When it became clear that the church was to close its doors for religious worship, Wick Development Trust was approached by church elders to enquire whether the Trust would be able to take on the building so that it could remain in community hands.
The Trust carried out a conceptual project appraisal of the building and was able to match this with a previously shelved project that had undergone early community consultation for their site at 30 High Street in Wick.
An in-depth business plan was drawn up to identify if the project was viable, and despite needing considerable capital investment to take the proposal through to full fruition, initial indicators were good that the project would have considerable positive community impact.
Members of the St Fergus Church’s former congregation launched a campaign to gather community support for the church to pass into the ownership of the Development Trust and managed to gather over 2,000 signatures on a local petition to that effect.
During a building options appraisal of empty major buildings in the town, and the results from a recent Community Development Plan that the Trust had commissioned for Wick, it became obvious that the St Fergus Church remained a very important asset for the town.
Serious consideration was given within the Trust’s town centre regeneration strategy to the “what ifs” for this building, such as “what if” the building fell into disrepair, or “what if” it was purchased by an absentee landlord and the building remained empty?
It very quickly became clear to the Trust that if such an imposing building become derelict, this would have a massive negative impact on their regeneration plans for the town centre, so after securing funding and carrying out a condition survey of the building, an offer of £80,000 was submitted to the Church of Scotland and was accepted in early August of this year.
The Trust’s plans, following some initial repair work that needs carried out to the church, are to open the newly named “St Fergus Community Centre” up for community use and group hires, with a small hall and larger hall available on the ground floor along with two meeting rooms, kitchen and toilets.
The plans for the larger former “Sanctuary” on the first floor are to use this as an events space for concerts, weddings, funerals, conferencing etc, and Wick Development Trust would like to encourage any organisations that might be interested in the use of any of the available spaces to get in touch by contacting info@wickdt.co.uk or kerry@wickdt.co.uk
These plans are designed to not only get the building back into use, but also to operate as a longer-term proof of concept pilot to gauge if there is real need and desire for such an events space within the community, whilst work is ongoing in the background to further develop the original plans for the former church by turning it into a family recreation centre.
Alistair Jack, Chairman of Wick Development Trust said, “This is a really exciting time for the Development Trust, and we are absolutely delighted that we have managed to acquire this impressive building. I would like to pay special thanks to the former and current Church of Scotland congregation of Wick and members the local community for all their support, BBM Solicitors for taking care of all of the legal aspects, and of course the main funders of this acquisition, SSEN Transmission, without whom we would never have been able to secure this property for the future of our community.”
Mr Jack also said “Whilst this marks a major milestone for the Development Trust, I want to reassure the community that we won’t be abandoning our plans for the redevelopment of the town centre, and it is our intention to continue with these plans as well as operating and developing plans for the St Fergus Community Centre. It is going to be a lot of work to develop and deliver multiple capital projects simultaneously, so if there are any members of the community who would like to get involved to help with any of our projects, then please get in touch with our Development Manager, Kerry kerry@wickdt.co.uk “.
Felix Spittal, Community Fund Manager at SSEN Transmission, said, “We’re delighted that funding from our Shetland HVDC Link Local Fund has helped Wick Development Trust secure St Fergus Church for the community. It’s clear from the level of local support that this historic building means a great deal to people in Wick, and it’s fantastic to see it being given a new future as a community facility. Our community benefit funds are designed to support projects that make a lasting, positive difference in the communities hosting our infrastructure that we’re proud to serve, and we’re very pleased to have played a key part in helping keep this important local asset in community hands.”
Photo Credit: Alan Hendry.