SPRING

     

NEWSLETTER

 

2008

 

Dear Friends,

 

We are now well and truly launched into 2008, with Christmas rapidly receding behind us as the New Year unfolds.  Just to mention Christmas 2007, we had a very good Houseparty, with approximately seventy guests.  On the first night we had “Carols by Candlelight” in the Baronial Hall which was a beautiful setting to start our Christmas celebration.  John Manning was our speaker and held our attention with his superb talks on “Why Jesus?”  I suppose the highlight must have been the Chef’s Celebration Buffet on Boxing Day.  Our new Head Chef, Carl Chumbley, did a spectacular and scrumptious buffet; the photos don’t really do it justice.  The feedback was that this was probably the best Christmas Houseparty we have ever had!  No pressure for the next Christmas Houseparty then! 

STOP PRESS: Steve Piggott has agreed to speak and do the music for our 2008 Christmas Houseparty.

 

Our new and very expensive (£37,000) wireless  fire alarm system is now fully operational, but not without  a few teething problems that manifested themselves during the Bargain Break in January this year.  Although this huge investment will not be apparent to our visitors, at least we can all be assured that the very latest technology is there for the protection of all our guests and live-in staff.

 

We now have some good middle management staff in place at Pilgrim Hall in whom Maggie and I have full confidence.  This does take some of the stress of every day running of Pilgrim Hall from our shoulders.  We are therefore looking forward much more to the forthcoming year with all its challenges.

 

A word about our governance, something that we do not mention very much in our Newsletters.  Over the years Pilgrim Hall has been blessed with a dedicated team of Trustees who give of their time and skills freely and with good grace.  They are wonderfully supportive of Maggie and I and we do give thanks to God that we all work so well together. 

I am very much aware of just how difficult the role of trustee can be these days with all the mass of legislation and the delicate path that trustees have to tread between governance and the executive.

 

Within this Newsletter you will see that we are going ahead with refurbishing the first floor extension and I have shared with you some of the long term improvements that we would like to make at Pilgrim Hall.  These would consist of a three phase programme:

 

Phase One.  Build a new Accommodation Block consisting of two floors with twin en-suite bedrooms and a third ground floor as another Conference Hall with all amenities.

 

Phase Two. Improve the current 1970’s extension by fitting a tiled roof and brick cladding to the exterior.  We would also make some internal improvements to this area.

 

Phase Three. Demolish the current Conference Hall and rebuild, on a slightly larger footprint, with brick and a tiled roof to match the main house.  We would also add first floor accommodation.

 

The above plan would improve our accommodation and Conference Halls and give us the flexibility of having two or three groups in house at the same time without being too big.  I do believe that part of the attraction of Pilgrim Hall is that it has that Country House welcoming atmosphere that we never want to lose.

 

 

 

None of the above will be possible without a huge investment.  Phase One, just on its own, could cost well over two millions pounds.  Financing such a project will not be easy although finding a donor is not totally beyond the realms of possibility; we need your prayer support that such a donation/s will come our way and for people to be aware of what we need to do at Pilgrim Hall for it to be here for future generations.

 

Maggie and I look forward to welcoming you to Pilgrim Hall.

Michael and Maggie Lee

All of the photographs featured in this Newsletter were taken by Michael D. Lee.

 

PILGRIM HALL

 

SPRING

      

NEWSLETTER

 

2008