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Have you followed our Long Barn blog over the last few years? That one is closed now but we’ve started a new blog here http://maryandmartha.wordpress.com/.
Please do pay a visit and click the “follow” button to receive Sheldon news and updates. The new blog will include works on the Community Green House and other Sheldon news. Look forward to seeing you there!
We’re absolutely delighted to be able to announce the completion of the Long Barn appeal. We had been getting close at the end of 2012 and when we did the end of year accounts we were able to find enough to finish it off. A huge thank you to everyone who has journeyed with us over the past 5 years or so. Marathons and mountains, digging deep and topping out. Prayers, anxieties, hard work and celebrations along the way. Bookings are flowing in steadily as guests appreciate and benefit from the new facilities. So, 25 years of Mary and Martha ministry under our belts, and making a start on the next 25 years …
A big thank you to all our supporters over the past year, and indeed throughout the years of the Long Barn project. Sheldon is quiet for a few days over Christmas then we will be a full house again over the New Year.
We’d spent months staring at a stubborn “left to raise” total of just under £80,000 and were beginning to see it stretching away into the mid-term horizon. And then the amazingly wonderful news of a £50,000 grant from the Henry Smith Charity. And in the same week a few other gifts from Friends and £3,000 from the Hedley Foundation. A few extra expenses too, but absolutely delighted to announce a “left to raise” total now down under £30,000. Not quite there yet, but a very, very large bite taken out of the remaining balance.
A very big thank you to the Clare Milne Trust for another £10,000 gift towards the appeal. Wonderful news.
😦
Just turned up a coding error in the accounts.
Don’t have quite as much in the appeal as we thought – £10,000 less in fact.
Just as well the bookings are coming in thick and fast!
Imperial Construction back tomorrow for a few days of “remedials” before we pay the final retention invoice. Not really very much to do – the building is performing really well and still feels very new. Can’t believe it’s a whole year since they left! So I guess we’re celebrating the Long Barn’s first birthday. Party anyone? We’re still chuffed to bits with the building. Big mailshot just gone out so lots of bookings enquiries coming back in. Continuing to chip away very slowly at the residual appeal monies – down to £77,000 …
A nice £100 gift to the appeal from a guest “This donation is for the Long Barn appeal. Have just enjoyed a wonderful week in the new accommodation. What a change from the old bedrooms. The whole building is a joy to live in. Inspirational!”
We’re so busy using the Long Barn with lots and lots of summer guests that we haven’t had a moment to post blogs or do fundraising. But thankfully there are a few people out there still on our case and chipping away at the appeal total. This weekend is 21 years since we took the keys of Sheldon. And the charity is 25 years old. And the Long Barn is coming up for its first birthday!
We received another wonderful gift of £10,000 from the Bernard Sunley Foundation taking the appeal total almost to £1m. What we’re really focused on now is the “left to go” total and that is now under £100,000. Thank you so much to everyone who is keeping on plugging away for and alongside us as we work on this final stage. The Long Barn is doing great service for many people. Today we have a staff training group from Christian Aid arrive for a couple of days. Before they got here we used it for our own team training session lifting the lid on a new bookings system we hope to have in place by the end of the year.
The Sheldon Long Barn Project 