Help secure the future of St James for Toxteth…

A new group has been formed to secure the future of St James Church and we need your views! Plans are to reuse the church as an innovative interfaith community centre, where people from all cultural backgrounds can come together to share experience; enjoy culture and an exciting programme of workshops, cultural and education sessions.  St James will be a peaceful centre for contemplation in a busy world, in a beautiful and inspiring environment.
Come and see us-Fun for all the family!
We’re holding a series of family fun days on 29th August- 1 September (11am-1pm; 2pm-3pm) at St James church yard, Upper Parliament St. /St James Place- it’s free! Come along and see our history exhibition and find out about the great characters associated with St James, what life was like in old Toxteth and meet the last man to die from fighting a duel! See our plans for the future and give us your thoughts. Tell us what you’d like to see happen, the things you enjoy and the services you need. The Churches Conservation Trust is working hard to turn St James into a much-loved community building.
Get Involved!
We want local people to come forward and join our Friends group, influencing the future of St James. We’d love as many people to join- it’s free and you’d get a newsletter and invites to see the church and voice your opinions.  Just fill in the form, hand it in on the day or post it back to us.

Background
St James is a wonderful, listed Grade 2* building that has sadly stood empty for nearly 30 years. It has been cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust who recently got together with Novas group and Liverpool Community Spirit to breathe new life into a well-loved landmark. St James Church was built in 1774-5 and is a really special building, featuring the earliest use of cast iron columns in Liverpool, used to support the galleries. Many fascinating people from all over the world have ties with the church and the records tell wonderful tales of times past.

News from St James
The Churches Conservation Trust is seeking to deliver a full programme of exciting community events, activities and learning opportunities. We’ve formed a ‘Friends’ group to make sure the community is fully involved in our plans. We want local people to get involved in St James, and shape what happens in the church. We welcome any ideas and will work together to make St James a true community space. If you would like to talk to us about getting involved, please see over.  

Details of project
Local residents, visitors and the general public will enjoy a varied programme of community, cultural and faith-based activities and explore the heritage of the building and its connections with the maritime, commercial and slave trade in the city.

Here is a very small sample of what’s on offer:

• An accessible website and publications in community languages and large print
• Conservation tours to view the restoration works and talk with the team. A programme of heritage and faith walks is planned (see above)
• Heritage exhibitions exploring people and places of Toxteth
• Fun workshops for young people
• Meetings, events and projects exploring faith, culture and identity
• Drama projects and performance
• A café and community meeting space.

So far, we’ve worked very hard on a plan for exhibitions and workshops on the heritage of St James and the surrounding areas and communities. We’ve also worked on learning and community activities and fun cultural celebrations. We hope to offer a wide range of activities and we hope you’ll get involved and tell us what you’d like to see happen. 

Meet the team:
Helen Swift, Community Development Worker, the Churches Conservation Trust.
Helen has been working for the Trust for 15 months now. She is an archaeologist specialist in church monuments and their historical records. Helen has put together an exhibition, events and workshops programme for St James and is spending most of her time researching the history of St James to provide materials for education session for schools and publications. You can reach Helen by telephone and email on 07879 414512, helen.tcct@blueyonder.co.uk. She is keen to hear your ideas for activities and services at St James so give her a call… 

Gabriella Misuriello, Conservation Manager, The Churches Conservation Trust
Gabriella has worked for the Trust for 3 years. She is responsible for ensuring St James is weather tight, safe and looks as good as possible. Gabriella ensures that the church is in tip-top structural condition and that any alterations to it fit in and do not damage the fabric of the building. 

The Founding Friends
Over the last two years, the Trust has met many interesting and enthusiastic people, committed to the heritage of St James. These people have come together and founded the Friends of St James Church, with the aims of finding a viable new use for the building, raising funds to pay for conservation works and raising the profile of St James on the local heritage scene. The founders are:

Robin Riley, Chair Friends of St James Garden
Lawrence Westgaph, local historian
Canon Anthony Hawley, dean Liverpool Cathedral
Peter De Figueiredo, Historic Buildings Inspector, English Heritage
Eileen Wilshaw, Culture Company
Rev Mark Stanford, Toxteth Team Ministry
Colin Dyas, Liverpool Vision
Helen Swift, The Churches Conservation Trust.

You!
To make St James a successful community resource, we need you to come forward and join us. We need the views of local people to ensure our plans for community events, education and leisure are as successful and enjoyed as possible. We need local people to come forward and reclaim St James as their building, at the heart of this community for over two hundred years-work with us to put it back where it belongs, in the heart of Toxteth.

Voices from the Past
Helen has begun trawling through the church records to uncover stories of people and past lives that form the very reason why St James was built. People were baptised in the church came from all over the world-a fascinating record of Britain’s first multi-cultural community.

Do You Know Ben?
The search for Ben Greetham has begun. His name is carved on a stone by the base of the tower. His name features in the baptismal register, as living in St James Street, at the baptism of his 3^rd and 4^th child. Apparently, he was a merchant and ship chandler and had a burial vault under the church. As far as we know, it was never used. He was married to Bridgot, who died aged 21- he later married Margaret Tyldesley in the Isle of Man. If you know who Ben Greetham was, get in touch with Helen. We’d really like to hear from anyone who might know more about him and his family. We’ve had people coming forward with all sorts of information and artefacts connected to the church, so if you know an interesting snippet-pass it on!

We also want YOUR memories-tell us what you remember about St James’ and the community living around it. We’re collecting together all your memories and building a memory bank. You can contribute yours by contacting Helen or visiting one of our events.

What do you think?
We’re very keen that St James should be enjoyable and accessible to all. Please take a moment to fill in our simple questionnaire or visit our exhibition and have a chat.  We also want to hear from anyone who has memories of the church and the community-all the memories and experiences of the people of Toxteth are the very lifeblood of the project and are the reason why St James is with us today. Your memories can help us to interpret the church and build our Memory Bank, an archived resource for the community that is precious and unique. All your memories and ideas are so helpful for our exhibition and interpretation programme and will be very gratefully received.

How to get involved You can contact Helen on 07879 414512 or email her on helen.tcct@blueyonder.co.uk if you would like to talk about the project, add your ideas or simply find out more.

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