November 2017 Newsletter
Property Purchase Update
The process of buying the property in Chadderton Close has been continuing over recent weeks. Last week the survey was carried out, which went fine. There are always some minor items that are highlighted as needing attention, but overall the surveyor was very complimentary about the property, and was happy to value it at the price that we had agreed with the vendor, which is good news. The next stage is for our mortgage provider to finalise the loan documents for us to sign, and in the meantime the solicitor is working on the legal aspect of things.
We have also heard that the current tenants of the property are planning to leave at the end of November. This is also good news, as this could have held things up quite a bit. We don't yet have any dates for exchanging contracts or completing the sale, but it would obviously be very nice if it could all go through before the Christmas and New Year break. This may be too tight a time-frame, but hopefully we might be able to move during either December or January if things continue to go smoothly.
The downstairs front room of the new property would make a good common room
We have recently received two lump sum donations to the building fund, totalling £1,875 including Gift Aid. We are very grateful for these, and they bring the total in the Building Fund to just over £29,300.
We have also received a very kind loan of £25,000 from Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey, which doesn't need to be repaid until after the mortgage has been paid off. This is a very kind loan from the trustees and the community at Throssel, and makes a big difference to our finances. We are now hoping that we will be able to reduce the mortgage that we will need from £200,000 to £180,000, and also have some funds remaining in order to carry out alterations to the property.
The garden is a similar size to the current property
How you can help
Although we are just about able to purchase the property with our current funds, any additional support would be most welcome, as that would allow us to reduce the amount of the mortgage that we would need, which would in turn reduce our monthly repayments. Additional support would also help with the costs of moving and of equipping the new property.
If you feel able to offer any financial assistance to help with this, that would be greatly appreciated. There are a number of ways in which you could help, such as through a donation or by offering a long-term loan to the temple. Full details are on the Building Fund page of the temple website. We are very grateful for all your support.
Forthcoming Events:
Festival of Founders Day
This coming Saturday, the 4th of November, we will be celebrating the Festival of Founders Day. This day is an opportunity to offer our gratitude for the life and practice of all those who have practised Buddhism, from the far distant past to the present day. In particular we celebrate those in our own lineage who have passed on the teaching from generation to generation for over 2500 years, and are the founders of this temple. I hope you will be able to join us for this joyful day of celebration.
Dōgen and Keizan with Shakyamuni Buddha
The day will start at 10am with a meditation period, followed by the ceremony. After the ceremony there will be a Dharma talk, and at about 1pm there will be a bring-and-share vegetarian lunch. In the afternoon there will be two periods of meditation from 2pm, followed by a Dharma discussion and tea. You are welcome to come for any part of the day.
For other events in November, please see the events calendar.
Day Retreat in Nottingham
Last Saturday, the 28th of October, we had a day retreat at the Tiger Boe Centre in Nottingham. It was nice to welcome Sangha members from Nottingham, Loughborough and Leicester, and thank you to all those who helped to make the day such a success.
The large room at Tiger Boe works well as a meditation hall, and the building was nice and quiet throughout the day, despite being so close to the city centre.
Sharing an informal lunch at the Nottingham Day Retreat
Update on Recent Steering Morning
We had a steering morning at the temple on the 14th of October, and the following is a summary of what we discussed.
Finances
We started off with a review of the finances. The temple's income for August was very good, especially considering that the temple was closed for the first week of the month, and it remained strong in September as well. Both months were significantly higher than for the same period last year. This was partly due to more people coming along to the temple, and partly due to the increase in standing orders earlier this year.
The graph below shows our overall net income month by month, and includes all income and expenditure except for the Building Fund. The net income is the amount which would be available to put towards mortgage repayments, for example (in addition to our current rent payments of £625 per month).
Net General Fund Income up to the end of September 2017
The average net income over the last six months is now over £350 per month, and the average over the last year is approaching that, giving £975 per month towards the mortgage. The monthly mortgage repayments are expected to be between £1,000 and £1,100 per month.
There is much more information, including more graphs, on the finances page of the temple website.
Property News
There was an update on where we are with the property purchase, which is described above.
Next Steering Morning
This is scheduled for Saturday the 9th of December. Please do get in touch if you have any questions or comments about any of this, or anything else related to the temple.
Alms Bowl Requests
Thank you to all those who have donated items to the temple. We are very grateful for donations of any household or other items that the temple might be able to use. Please contact Rev. Aiden if you have an item to offer but are not sure whether it would be useful.
Donations of Food
Offering food is a traditional way to support a monk, and all donations of vegetarian food are most welcome. In particular:
- fresh fruit and vegetables (except garlic or peppers)
- fresh or dried herbs
- porridge oats
- yoghurt and eggs
- peanuts or other nuts
- brown rice and pasta
Any other suitable items would also be appreciated.
Donations
The temple is dependent on donations for its continued existence, and any financial support you are able to offer is greatly appreciated. Details of how to offer support can be found on the Donations page of the website.