St Barnabas
Registered Charity No. 205220
Category Archives: News
26 Jun |
Extra facility for respite care now available |
The College is especially well placed to provide short- or medium-term respite care.
We also welcome carers who wish to stay at the College along with patients, and those who may prefer to take “time out” in a prayerful atmosphere while their loved one receives alternative care at home.It is a place of quietness and spiritual peace which provides the ideal setting for care during convalescence after illness or surgery.
The College has single rooms available for this purpose, all offering en suite facilities.
Visitors are always welcome, subject to clinical needs.
If you would like to explore this possibility further, please telephone or click here to email the Warden to discuss your needs.
Published Date: 26th June 2012
Category: News, Respite Care
11 Jun |
The Bishop, the Dean, the Puppets and the Rats |
The Bishop, the Dean, the Puppets and the Rats
The Bishop of Southwark
Distinguished guests encouraged hundreds of visitors to attend the College Festival centred around St Barnabas’s Day.
The Bishop of Southwark preached at the Festival Evensong on Thursday 9th June, which was followed by the annual Garden Party. The marquee came to the rescue in unpredictable weather enabling the Bishop to continue mingling with residents, families and friends over tea.
The Dean of St Paul’s
On Friday 10th June over a hundred diners joined residents of the College for Pimms on the lawns before sitting down to a five course banquet. Between courses of the meal, College Patron Mr Peter Ainsworth took centre stage as an auctioneer, inspiring generous guests to pay over £1000 for the lots on offer. After dinner, the Dean of St Paul’s, Bishop Graham Knowles, kept his audience laughing with anecdotes of his experiences in ministry. He also applauded the work of the College and encouraged his listeners to continue supporting it generously.
Upbeat Puppets
The Festival Week ended with an Open Afternoon on St Barnabas’s Day itself, 11th June, when more visitors than ever came from miles around for tours of the College. Peter and Diane Hellyer of Upbeat Puppets gave two performances with a huge range of characters ‘singing’ Christian songs. To complete the day, live jazz was provided throughout the afternoon by the ‘Rats’ – the highly popular Royal Ascot Trio.
The “RATs”The “RATs”
The Rats will be back playing again at next year’s Open Afternoon, Saturday 9th June 2012.
The guest speaker at the Festival Dinner on Friday 8th June 2012 will be writer and humorist, Adrian Plass. To email your reservation for tickets to the Dinner, click here.
Published Date: 11th June 2011
Category: News
20 May |
MP Opens Refurbished Rooms |
MP Opens Refurbished Rooms
Meeting Residents Over Coffee
MP for East Surrey, Sam Gyimah, visited the College on 20th May to open formally the refurbished care rooms.
After coffee, Mr Gyimah formally opened the newly appointed rooms, cutting a ceremonial ribbon at the entrance to this part of the College.Mr Gyimah enjoyed lunch and spent time meeting Residents over coffee. He was clearly impressed by the wide diversity of ministries with which Residents have been involved. “The College is full of fascinating people who have accomplished remarkable things,” he said.
Cutting the ribbon with (l-r) the Warden, the Matron and the Chairman
“The work has been beautifully done,” he enthused, “and the refurbished rooms are wonderfully light and airy.”
He went on to unveil a commemorative plaque and toured the College, learning more about its history, seeing and the restoration work in the historic chapel.
The renovation of the four residential care rooms formed part of Phase 1 of the Development
Unveiling The Plaque
Project which was completed earlier this year (to read more, click here).
13 May |
College Successes Shown at CRE – 13 May 2011 |
College Successes Shown at CRE
The College Stand at the Christian Resources Exhibition was alive with the successes of the past year.
Crowds arriving at sandown park
The main exhibition
Warden awarding prize.
Hundreds of visitors were inspired by the news about Dame Judi Dench’s photography (see more here) and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s support for the Development Project (to read more of this story, click here).
Even better news was the completion of Phase 1 ‘On Time and On Budget‘ and also that work is now under way to save the stonework of the great Kempe window in the Chapel and to restore the reredos and panels of the altar (click here for more information).
One visitor, Mr Chapman of Camberley, had special cause to celebrate when Mandy Briars, the Event and Operations Manager of the Exhibition, drew his name as the winner of a bottle of champagne and a box of handmade chocolates!
The Warden and his team will again exhibit the work of the College at the 2012 Christian Resources Exhibition. To register a request with the College for complimentary tickets, click here. We look forward to seeing you.
Published Date: 13th May 2011
Category: News
03 May |
Chapel Restoration Under Way |
With the first Phase of the development project successfully completed, work has begun on the restoration of the Chapel, thanks to the success of last summer’s appeal.
 The sanctuary before restoration |
.. | Work began when the reredos was removed from the chapel to the studios of the conservators where it can be restored while the other work continues on site.
The beautiful Pre-Raphaelite paintings in the front of the altar (see right) were also de-mounted and they, too, will undergo painstaking cleaning before they are replaced when the sanctuary is restored.
With the fine art safely removed, it was then necessary to protect the remaining panelling and the altar itself, so a temporary inner wooden wall was constructed. Scaffolding could then be erected inside as well as out.
This will enable urgently needed repairs to the stonework of the great window by C. E. Kempe (left). Like all his work, it bears his famous ‘signature’ mark of a small wheatsheaf in the corner. If the work had not begun soon, it would have been necessary to remove the window altogether. As it is, the glass will remain in place while the exterior is re-pointed and new steel bars are inserted to support the leadwork. On the inside, layers of flaking paint are being carefully removed from the stone mullions before they are repaired and restored. |
.. |  The sanctuary during restoration |
 The great window by C E Kempe |
 One of the angels from the front of the alta |
Published Date: 3rd May 2011
Category: News, Restoration
14 Feb |
College Patron Dies |
College Patron Dies
It was with great sadness that the College learnt of the death of Lord Pilkington of Oxenford.
 Lord Pilkington |
Canon Peter Pilkington, who had been a Patron of the College since 2007, died on 14 February. He generously agreed to become a Patron as he already knew of our work and wanted to help make it as widely known as possible.
He was particularly attracted by the fact that, from its earliest days, the College has been home to many who have worked in missionary service in Africa and elsewhere. He himself joined the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa before returning to train for ordination at Westcott House.
 Lord Pilkington (second from right) at the 2009 reception |
As well as visiting the College, Lord Pilkington was an enthusiastic presence at a reception held at the House of Commons in 2009. Sadly, after this his health did not permit him to visit us again, although we remained grateful for his continuing prayers.
We extend our deepest sympathy to his family, and our gratitude for his commitment to the College at the end of his life.
X May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
To read more about Lord Pilkington’s last engagement with the College, click here.
Published Date: 14th February 2011
Category: News
01 Feb |
On time On Budget |
On Time and On Budget
Thanks to the generosity of the many donors who were inspired by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s appeal, and the support of trusts and other sources, Phase 1 of the College Development Project is complete.
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| One of the refurbished rooms |
Four Residential Care rooms have been beautifully refurbished and now provide the highest levels of comfort. The contractors were asked to have the project ready to hand over on 1st February and the first Resident moved into one of the rooms of 31st January!
Existing windows have been double glazed, three new windows have been installed and massive amounts of insulation have been incorporated into the ceilings. There is even a facility to draw hot air out of the en suite bathrooms, dry it and deodorise it, and then re-circulate it to keep the corridors warm.
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| The restored exterior |
There has been as much care lavished on the exterior. The oldest part of the Central Block has a new roof which, as well as being sound again, looks as good as it must have done when this part of the College was first built in 1900.
At the same time, the chance was taken to complete the other high level repairs that were needed.
“It’s great to see the scaffolding down and the College looking wonderful again,” commented one resident. “The new rooms are a joy to live in – warm, comfortable, light and spacious.”
Published Date: 1st February 2011
Category: News, Restoration, Rooms
01 Dec |
Archbishop backs Development Project |
Archbishop Backs Development Project
The Archbishop of Canterbury has lent his support to the appeal for Phase I of the College Development Project..
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| Archbishop Rowan Williams |
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| The College under scaffolding |
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| Early stages of refurbishment |
“The Residents of the College are people who have given their lives in the service of Christ. It is now our turn to care for them,” writes Dr Williams. “Please help the College to continue caring for its most frail residents in the best possible environment, within the community that has become their ‘second family’ and their home.”
This phase of the project includes re-roofing the oldest part of the Central Block of the College buildings, but is much more than simply restoration work. The lives of the Residents will be enhanced and the College’s environmental impact will be reduced by the installation of high levels of insulation and double glazed windows.
Four of the residential care rooms are being refurbished, extra windows installed, and bathrooms and corridors made more accessible.
The College has succeeded in raising more than £200,000 to fund the project, and the Archbishop is encouraging the Church to help us close the gap of a shortfall of slightly under £50,000.
The Archbishop is a committed Patron of the College, and we are immensely grateful for his endorsement of the Development Project. Since his letter, donations have poured in, with several individuals having given very large sums.
If you would like to join the hundreds who have responded to the Archbishop’s appeal, please click here to make a donation. Thank you for your support.
Published Date: 1st December 2010
Category: News, Restoration
13 Nov |
Crowds bring in a record total |
More people than ever came to the College on 13th November to enjoy the Friends’ 2010 annual Autumn Fair.
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| Crowds jostling for bargains |
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| An Aladdin’s cave among the bric a brac stalls |
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| “That’s entertainment” |
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| A unique South African sculpture |
No fair would be complete without stalls giving the chance to win bottles and secret prizes, and buy books and homemade cakes. But visitors to the 2010 Autumn Fair were also delighted to find a wide selection of CDs, DVDs, video cassettes (right), jewellry and individually designed greetings cards, along with the hidden treasures of the bric-a-brac stalls (below left).
A unique piece was the South African sculpture (below right) which was the lot of a “blind” auction and on its own raised £25.
Thanks to the generosity of the many donors and helpers, as well as the crowds of visitors, the Fair raised the magnificent total of over £1900 in just two hours!
The Fair is the principal fund-raising occasion for the Friends of the College. Among their recent gifts are the splendid leather armchairs which now furnish the theological library.
To read more about their work, click here.