March 2021 Newsletter
Progress with the Building Work
The building work has continued to progress rapidly during February, and most of the work downstairs is now complete. Below is a photo showing the front of the property before and after the porch was constructed, and you can see that we now have the new front door, with a ramp in front of it to give easy access. The upstairs windows have also been replaced.
The entrance area inside the porch is now complete, and the photo below shows the view from where the old front door used to be. It is a far larger area than we had before, and will hopefully make it much easier for people to put their coats and shoes on at the end of events.
The two white doors you can see in the photo are the WCs, and next to them is a cupboard which has the boiler in. Beyond that is the door through to the converted garage area, which has two rooms in it, plus a shower room and utility room. All of that area is pretty much complete as well, and the shower room was in use just in time for work on the upstairs bathroom to start.
The new stairs have also been installed, and are shown in the photo below.
The new stairs are in the same stairwell as the previous stairs, but go in the opposite direction. This means that they go up from the entrance area, rather than from the back of the meditation hall. This is a big improvement for the meditation hall which now only has one entrance, as the doors to the kitchen have been closed off as well. We will now only be going into the meditation hall for meditation and ceremonies etc., rather than needing to go through it to get to other parts of the property, which will give the hall a much more settled feel.
Work in the common room is almost complete as well. The area where the chimney breast was removed has been plastered, and a new radiator has been installed on the end wall. This will give much needed extra heating capacity to the room, as the existing radiator struggled to heat the room adequately.
The focus of the work has now switched to the upstairs bathroom, which is being divided into two shower rooms. The existing fittings have all been removed, and during the coming week the plumbers are hoping to install the pipework for the new arrangements. After that the room will need some re-tiling before the new showers, basins and toilets are fitted, but hopefully the work will be completed in the next few weeks.
Forthcoming Events:
Festival of the Buddha’s Renunciation
On Saturday the 6th of March we will be celebrating the Festival of the Buddha’s Renunciation. Renunciation, or letting go, lies at the heart of all Buddhist practice, and the story of the Buddha’s Renunciation is a way of conveying the importance of this aspect of training. This festival day will focus on renunciation and letting go, and how we express this within our daily life.
I hope you will be able to join us, and full details will be sent out by email to Lay Sangha members prior to the festival.
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.
All donations are received with gratitude