July 2010.

A very smart toilet is now in place; accessible to the disabled, it has a baby changing facilty & hot water.  Most would say that it is long overdue!

The next step is to make the vestry interior more user friendly for hospitality, sunday school & meetings. The session welcomes suggestions from members about this improvement. Also on the list is the painting of the exterior.

KIRK IMPROVEMENTS   December 09.

It is very satisfying at last to be able to report real progress with Kirk improvements. Scott Collins has done a great job to its interior and has also painted the outside porch and vestry doors. Work is now well advanced on the toilet. At the time of writing only the fitting and finishing of the inside remain to be done. We will be asking for volunteers to make a wheelchair friendly path from the vestry round to the toilet to if anyone has the tools and time to help with this task please contact Rob Young or myself. Doing it this way will keep the cost down and make the Kirk’s money stretch a lot further in enhancing and repairing its exterior. We have recently put protective glass over the south facing windows for a lot less than we feared it might have cost so now the north aisle windows can be considered for similar treatment. Everyone would like the rest of the building to look as sparkling white as the west gable but Session will have to consider very carefully how it can be done. Do we take a loan or can we get a grant and, if so, where? Your views are very important to us so don’t be afraid to make them known. The job would be best done all at once but what will it cost? We must budget carefully before we act but we will keep you up-to-date with our decisions. It all sounds a bit daunting but we are confident of your support if we act sensibly. Oxnam Kirk is surely worth the effort. Your Kirk’s new toilet’s nearly done, with generous help from 1-2-1. Comfort for all at Church or maybe, Young mothers can go and change their baby.

January 2009.

It was agreed by kirk session that the communion table top should be renovated, as it is badly stained.   Estimates have been received, &approved, the cost will be around £300, which will include a glass top to protect it in future. This will come out of church funds, unless anyone wishes to specifically donate.

November 2008

Plans have been drawn up and submitted to the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. We are hopeful that, along with our own fundraising, the Trustees may give us a grant to help with the cost of the toilet. Estimated costs stand at £17,000.

January 2007

John Mallen, a Hawick Fire Officer, visited Oxnam Kirk to undertake a fire risk assessment of the Kirk. Mr Mallen was satisfied with the precautions presently taken and confirmed that the fire risk within the church was very low. Although a fire blanket was present in the Kirk Mr Mallen recommended that a water extinguisher and a CO2 extingusher were purchased. Chubb Fire Security have sinced installed the extingusihers and will continue to service them once a  year.A First Aid Box has also been installed in the Vestry.Under the recommendation of Presbytery of Jedburgh a valuation has been carried out of the Kirk for insurance purposes. It was established that the Kirk was considerably underinsured and the cover has since been increased.The whitewash peeling away from the church walls within the church are being looked into by the Kirk Session and the opinion of a painter and decorator is being obtained.All work required outside the Kirk will be dealt with by the Oxnam Environmental Group and will form part of the bid for funding which of course includes the building of a toilet.