Are You Sitting Comfortably Part 3

[clematised]

Hello Scouse_mouse

I appreciate the offer to have it turned like this and had considered it myself as family are in the area too and I am only in Southport but what we considered was the health and safety issues and what the church may have thought if we barged in and took it upon ourselves to do it without permission.

This is why we are doing it with the church of St Peters on side and also if anyone was injured by it being turned who would be liable for compensation to the injured party.

As you live in the area perhaps you could offer us advice as to fundraising and getting people of the area interested in the restoration of the grave as Graham the Verger of St Peters has already told us that the church are doing their own fundraising for repairs to the church.

We cannot gauge how many of rootschatters would send how much so it is impossible to arrive at a figure of what we could raise to correct the stone officially.

We are awaiting a message from Graham Paisley to see if the treasurer of St Peters will accept donations as it has to be done properly so if you can help in anyway as you may know of committees or societies within the area that would like to get involved with the fundraising.

Any offers of help are good and already people have offered to fundraise on rootschat by doing  restorations ect on the restorations board but none of us know what the final figure would be, also do you yourself know of any other stonemasons in the area that could be willing to offer an alternative price for the work.

I know all the contributers to this thread that Annie got us enthralled in will be only too keen to offer what we can and would all love to see Roberts stone standing proud as it once stood after all the hard work that has been done on here.

Over to you all fellow rootschatters what do you think

Edna

[Gatacre]

Over to you all fellow rootschatters what do you think


I think that the issue is the responsibility of the Church Council.  They will have to give a decision on this matter.

Gatacre

[Keziahemm]

Hello Edna

Agree wholeheartedly with everything you've said, ultimately this is up to the Church.

Count me in for a donation, great the stone is to be turned and the inscription will be there for all to see.   Perhaps the local radio/papers will now get involved.  

As for the resting place of the tag I believe Michel should have the final say.

Regards

Susan  

[MissM]

Hello everyone,

With regards to lifting the gravestone, I have only contacted Welsby's because they are the nearest to St Peter's and the others were not really near the Church at all.  I think their quote is reasonable to be honest having worked in my own Church for many years as this is a big stone compared to the smaller, current stones that people choose which are still quite heavy.


The reason it costs so much to stand it upright is that, again because of the size a lifting mechanism would have to be used to lift it off the ground (as well as the men involved to manouver it) and to hold it there while it was fixed in place.  (I think it is probably to old to have iron rods put in but I don't know that for sure.)

Obviously it would be great if someone could get a cheaper quote to stand it upright - that would be wonderful news!

So the price quoted from Welsby's to turn the stone was £94.00 and £587.50 to stand it up - can we do a quick recap on who has offered a donation so far? I hope no one minds.  I thought it might just give us an idea where we're going.  If you want to remain anonymous, that's okay too! 

Please add your name to this list if I have missed you out and take yourself off if you'd rather not be on the list. Don't worry about how much you can donate.

Michel
Edna
Annie
Keziahemm
Scouse_mouse_2000k
SusieSmith37
PollDoll
MissM
Nanie Jan
Mair
PaulaToo
Gateacre
Addition:
DianaM

Thanks everyone.

Lynne

[Mair]

Re the cost of actually having the stone vertical - it was in the hundreds of £££ to have a vertical stone placed at a family grave about 12 months ago.

I personally think the stone just be laid flat with inscription upward of course - well it fell over years ago, so that would seem Nature's way of telling the world what is the right position. 

If the stone went vertical the rigours that have to be applied to fixing the rods - dont forget that we are dealing with a memorial stone that is about 90 years old and the weathering it's already had.  At the end of the day the question lies with liability and we too must therefore consider the duty of care for those who wish to pay their respects to Robert and others laid to rest in the graveyard.

I think the costs quoted by the mason are totally reasonable considering the potential consequences that may arise if this were not done professionally.

Mair

PS  My name can stay on the list

[DianaM]

Firstly, I'd be happy to make a donation.
Secondly, how about asking the Royal British Legion to donate/publicise the cause?

DianaM

[clematised]

Diana

I have already done that through the main people at British Legion Headquarters and they referred me on to The War Graves Commission who in turn said no as he didnt die during the war.

Thanks for the offer of the contribution as soon as we hear from Graham we will let you know where to send it

Edna

[vergergraham]

Hello again.
Sorry about the delay in the reply! Had a word with our Treasurer and he is not happy to accept donations for the purpose of lifting the stone to be placed in the general church account.
The difficulty from the church point of view is that  all donations will be sent to the church and there will be only our own records about how much we have received. This is not ideal and may well lead to a misunderstanding about how much has been received. I personally would be happy to collect funds but there has to be an independent audit of how much is received and it would ideally need a separate bank account set up somewhere for this purpose.
However I am quite happy to speak with Welsbys (or a chosen stonemason) on your behalf and I confirm that the church has no objection to the stone being either turned over or erected safely in accordance with current NAMM standards. I believe the quote given to you by Welsbys are most competitive and i would have envisaged a higher price for actually replacing the stone upright.
I trust you understand the church position and I repeat I will continue to support your efforts to lift the stone but because of  financial accountability it would be inappropriate to accept funds for a stonemason in the church account.
Graham

[liverpool annie]

Hi Graham !

Thank you so much for getting back to us .... I personally understand the position of the church very well !

What ever help and advice you are prepared to give us however - will be gratefully received !! 

And thanks again for all your time and effort !!

Annie