Minutes of Parish Council Meeting 15/07/24

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting 15^th July 2025

Present  

Fr Colm, John Thompson, Tom Hoban, Alejandro Gonzalez, Cynthia Dunn, Graham Donnachie, Maria Melia, Kathleen Murray, Emma Turnbull, Joanna Pallister, Jonathan Stones (observer)

1.     Fr Colm opened the meeting with a prayer.

2.     Apologies – Tom Harrison, Mike McNally, Tony Power.

3.     Minutes of the meeting 24^th February 2025 had previously been circulated.

4.     Parish Update – Fr Colm commented on the progress within Parish, he was pleased with the recent Baptism and Confirmation programmes noting that 22 candidates had received the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Parish was continuing to move forward in a positive way, the Memory café and lunch club remain very popular across the community, however, there is still a shortage of volunteers. The schools within the Parish of the Durham Martyrs continue to take part in Parish activities.

The maintenance of Parish buildings continue to place a financial demand on the Parish, with outstanding repairs and improvement to the current facilities including an upgrade to the Jubilee room. The replacement of the windows in St Josephs’ will commence soon and an upgrade and replacement to access the tower at St Godric’s has been highlighted as essential work. Fr Colm suggested that the use of St Godrics as a multi purpose centre, which, already hosts musical events, Lumierre and heritage weekend.

5.     Finance feedback – A written report was submitted by Tom Harrison and has been circulated to the Parish Council. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the Parish finances and refers to the ongoing expenditure needed to continue the high level of maintenance of Parish buildings, grounds, amenities and facilities. The fourth option of giving is now available in both churches, and the report provides an update of the use of this facility, just to reiterate it is not a replacement to the preferred option of Giving by Standing Order or by envelopes and plate collection. There is a demand on Parish Finances particularly in relation to maintenance of parish buildings.

6.     Building Committee feedback – A written report was provided and circulated to members of the Parish Council. St Joseph’s church; work has been carried out including the installation of CCTV internally and externally around the church, hall and presbytery, improving the safety and security of the area and of Fr Colm. Replacement door and frontage to the presbytery is complete and adds further security to the buildings. The report highlights the ongoing work required across the Parish including buildings and groundwork maintenance. Church windows at St Joseph’s will be replaced soon, the installation of a disabled ramp for access to the church is under consideration. Continued maintenance at St Godric’s includes work on access to the tower, the current means of access is not safe and needs replacement for safe access. The electricity distribution board has been replaced following a recent Regulation Electrical Inspection. Leaking roof repairs are ongoing in the confessional box and Lady alter.

St Bede’s Cemetery requires maintenance regarding the Lych Gate, the Diocese are leading on this aspect of maintenance.

Johnathan Stones was invited to the Parish Council meeting to provide some advice regarding the possible upgrade of the facilities and layout of the Jubilee room. The room needs an upgrade in several areas, which, were referred to by Jonathan. Jonathan provided advice about the refurbishment in relation to the actual structure of the building and offered a detailed account of what would be needed to carry out the work. It was agreed that a survey of the current structure and potential was required before a decision can be made to proceed with a refurbishment. This led to a lengthy discussion and considered how an upgrade would enhance the use of the facilities for the wider community. Cost of redevelopment was discussed and it was suggested that application for grants should be considered.

7.     Parish Council communication included a discussion as to how greater cohesion could be achieved across the Parish particularly through social gatherings. It was agreed that one collective meeting place would improve the interaction across the Parish. Reference was made to the importance of a friendly welcome to people attending services at both churches. It was agreed that the presence of individuals in the Narthex as welcomers enhanced the experience for attendees. It was agreed that the Parish should be more engaged with the use of social media to promote the work and activities, which, take place across the Parish

8.     Future meetings 21^st October 2025 6.30pm St Joseph’s, 27^th January 2026 6.30pm

9.     AONB

o    Graham Donachie informed the meeting that Bishop Stephen was keen to refresh the Partnership initiative and Parish Councils. A trial in the Finchale Partnership has been suggested and will be mission driven with the focus on liturgical ministry, formation/catechesis families /schools and social outreach. Fr Andrew Downie in his role as Dean and Lead priest for the Finchale Partnership is working with Graham Donachie (chair) to establish the trial. To facilitate this a synodal type meeting meeting will be arranged sometime in September 2025, and Parish Councils are asked to encourage Parish participation as we will need parishioners to support the trial both as Core Group members but also to provide knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm to drive forward the “mission” in the focus areas described above.

o   Several members of the Parish have served their three-year term of office, a request by the chair was made to consider the following positions, Chair, VC and secretary.                                             

The next PPC meeting will be 21^st October2025 6.30pm St Joseph’s.

JTpc July 2025

AGM Meeting

The Parish Council would like to invite all parishioners to an open AGM Meeting on Tuesday 11th June at 7pm in the Jubilee Room, St Joseph's Church. This will be an informal meeting with a display of reports reviewing the past year and an open forum for discussion. All are welcome.

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting 16/04/24

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting 16th April 2024

Present

Fr Colm, John Thompson, Tom Hoban, Tony Power, Leanne Heseltine, Mike McNally, Alejandro Gonzalez, Cynthia Dunn, Graham Donnachie, Emma Turnbull, Kathleen Murray.

1. Fr Colm opened the meeting with a prayer.

2. Apologies – Joanna Pallister, Joe Hughes Maria Melia, Mary Harrison, Tom Harrison,

3. Minutes of the meeting 23rd January 2024 accepted.

4. Parish Update – Fr offered his comments regarding the current position of the Parish. Parish numbers remained steady with a slow return following the Covid pandemic, it was agreed that the Easter services were successful and well attended. The Parish finances remain stable, a full written report was provided and circulated to council. Fr provided an update regarding maintenance to the Parish buildings; he expressed his concern regarding the state of the kitchen and several of the rooms at St Joseph’s Church indicating there needs to be a focus on redevelopment of the rooms particularly the Kitchen area to meet the needs of the various groups who meet regularly. The issue of health and safety in the context of food hygiene was considered and it was agreed that organisers of events involving food preparation and distribution were following appropriate guidelines. The progress on developments relating to St Bede’s Presbytery and the surrounding land, is ongoing and several issues including those relevant to covenants had been resolved, Fr thanked those involved in progressing this matter. The various groups in the Parish continue to provide services and support and it was noted that regular reports would be provided by each group to the Parish Council. A summary was provided regarding several of the parish groups including safeguarding, support fund and links with the Parish schools. Fr referred to developing further the links with the community in which the Durham Martyrs is part of.

The Parish continues to provide a broad range of activities and it was agreed that many of these activities extended outwards to the wider Durham community. This was considered a positive step forward in raising the profile of the Parish of the Durham Martyrs and potentially lead to stronger links being formed. He thanked the work of parishioners who help with these activities but suggested more volunteers were needed. Fr referred to a recent meeting held to consider how the Parish can develop and move forward, an update is included in a separate item under AONB presented by John Reilly O’Donnell. Fr informed the Council that there would be an increase in the occasions of the international meal held at St Joseph’s.

5. Finance feedback – A comprehensive update of the current financial status was provided within the written report submitted by the finance team. The fourth way of giving is ongoing updates to be provided by the Finance team (TH). Expenditure both committed and anticipated has included/will include new lighting, roof repairs (ongoing) and a new carpet in the body of the St Godrics Church. Additional security cameras (a result of unsociable behaviour occurring on St Joseph’s land decorating interior St Joseph’s Church, entrance to

St joseph’s pavement and path cleaning and replacement windows for St Joseph’s church. St Bede’s presbytery site is under negotiation to let and eventually to be sold for social housing development. The report also included reference to the issue of insurance cover. It was noted that the Durham Martyrs stance must be that the Person(s) authorising and/or organising and/or involved in an activity must take responsibility to complete a Risk Assessment and to make sure that the Law and Health & Safety and Safeguarding Policies are complied with and to ensure that the insurance is not invalid.

6. Building Committee feedback – the committee reported that the replacement of the stolen copper roofing is completed. Groundwork including entrance pavement to St Joseph’s needs maintenance and two trees in the grounds are required to be felled. St Godric’s continues to experience issues with a leaking roof, the treatment and removal of knotweed is required and the carpet in the body of the church will be replaced. A bulletin note on 3rd March from Fr Colm drew Parishioners attention to the importance of Safeguarding and to promote this through meetings. This applies to the Parish ensuring safe buildings, and the safe provision of services by observing relevant legislation, and where the Buildings Committee are concerned, this refers to observing the Health and Safety legislation and Food Safety regulations and following the guidance from the Diocesan Health and Safety officer. Recently Fr Colm reported to the Committee about the discarding of drug paraphernalia at the rear of St Joseph’s and the increase in the use of that area for this practice. The council responded very quickly to the reporting and cleared the area. Anyone finding discarded syringes and needles must not clear it away themselves but contact the council direct.

7. Dates of Parish Council meetings

9th July 2024 7pm St Joseph’s.

15th October 2024 7pm St Joseph’s.

14th January 2025 7pm St Joseph’s.

The date of the AGM tbc

8. AONB

o Parish Development update – Cynthia Dunn. As a follow up to the previous Parish Development open meeting chaired by Fr John O’Brien a core group was formed and met to discuss how the development of the Parish of the Durham Martyrs can be moved forward to enhance networks within the Parish and surrounding communities. The ideas generated were presented to the Parish Council by Council member Cynthia Dunn. The work to date offers an insight into several ways in which the Parish can begin to develop and build on its presence within the surrounding communities. The proposal put forward offers a two directional approach with the establishing of two groups: an Alpha group which would address the spiritual element and a community group to explore ways in which to develop and foster networks across the community. The group has considered several factors to identify where the parish currently stands; for example, in youth engagement, ministries, reaching out to potential parishioners and engaging with community agencies already established. Cynthia impressed upon the group that the initial ideas needed to be small to start, with a gradual scaling up of developments. The core group will be seeking to approach individuals who have the skills and experience to help progress developments. Council was reminded that the initial focus is on several short-term objectives. The discussion regarding the development of the Parish considered the proposals suggested and Council agreed to provide appropriate support where required. Regular updates to be provided by (CD).

o Car parking – this has created a problem for Parishioners specifically attending mass at St Godric’s Church. Objections were submitted by individuals including parishioners of The Durham Martyrs and several community groups, as the introduced parking restrictions on a Sunday impact on a number of the community activities that take place throughout the day. It was agreed that the Parish Council would submit their concerns in a written letter to Durham County Council. (JT/MM)

o Fr Colm informed Council that Bishop Stephen would be visiting Durham Martyrs over the weekend of the 8th and 9th June 2024. This will be an opportunity for the Parish to meet Bishop Stephen and give him the warm welcome that Durham Martyrs are renowned for. It is hoped that there will be an opportunity hold a shared meal (AG) following the 10.30 am mass on the Sunday reflecting the diversity of the Parish.

o The date of the AGM is to be confirmed.

The next PPC meeting will be on 9th July 2024 7pm St Joseph’s.