32 YEARBOOK 2023 rot drama affecting the mission hall’s timber floors and matchboard-lined walls. And a sustainable heating solution was found with the help of Inspired Efficiency after the infrared heating initially given consent for, proved ineffective, and had given way to fearsome, noisy LPG heaters as an interim solution. The rare church building expertise of Inspired Efficiency produced a report which established that an air to air system was the most appropriate and efficient for the building’s needs. In future phases the consultants hope to hook up the air source heat pumps to their own solar array and batteries to reduce grid use. The resilience that the charity hopes to inspire in those they work with is well matched by their approach to building development: some circus skills are difficult and risky and most take repeated failure before eventual success. Team members encourage, saying ‘I can’t do it yet’ rather than ‘I can’t do it’ but crucially, that’s in a supportive context. In their accidental heritage project, members of Circus Eruption’s in-house team have been the learners. They have benefited from the help and support of the building’s conservation and development team, which has been constant and committed, with generosity and flexibility. The Architectural Heritage Fund provided indispensable development and capital grants, and Adam Hitchings, its development manager in Wales, has been a crucial adviser and advocate. Cadw has provided essential repair funds. Eruption’s growth into its new building has gone hand in hand with developing the staff team and board of trustees, including two with heritage building expertise. A strong link has been forged with the Heritage Trust Network. There’s always progress, though not always straightforward, and we have not (yet) secured funding for the air to air source heating system. FUTURE GENERATIONS Behind all this, literally, is the charity’s second space. The old mission hall remains boarded-up at the back of the site. Adjoining it, on its end wall above a high retaining wall, is a memorial garden but the two are separated today by the blocked up rendered wall. The community meaning is deep here. This second high roofed space is apt for bolder adaptation to the charity’s needs. Its capacity to accommodate a mezzanine floor beside the garden, in the area of a removed rot-addled stage, points towards a still more literal reopening of the former St Luke’s to its locale. Plans are developing to make the conversion of Mission Hall a training project, partnering with the local social enterprise, Down to Earth, to draw on their expertise in participatory sustainable construction. The project is ambitious, not least when work on the main church is still incomplete and the organisation is a modest inclusion charity. But to paraphrase Dillwyn-Llewelyn’s remarks on St Luke’s foundation in 1890, ‘the work is going on satisfactorily and it gives us much encouragement.’ The building and charity have secured one another’s futures and their particular needs and characteristics create unique opportunities. The full social and environmental virtue of choosing to repair and retrofit a vacant community resource like the former St Luke’s wasn’t foremost in the decision to buy, but it has infused the charity’s mission with additional energy. The commitment to sustainability finds fertile ground in Wales following the radical 2015 Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, which legislates for interconnected social, economic and environmental sustainability. It’s a perfect fit for Circus Eruption in the former St Luke’s. Bringing it all together is, ultimately, a matter of integration. Karen Chalk is the Director of Circus Eruption (contact@circuseruption.co.uk) and had had no engagement with heritage buildings prior to this project. She became a Trustee of the Heritage Trust Network in December 2022. Alfie Stroud was born in Swansea and was a young person member of Circus Eruption for several years from the late 1990s. He has worked in heritage and planning for 10 years and is currently with Historic England as an inspector of historic buildings and areas in London. He has been a full member of the IHBC since 2018 and a trustee of Circus Eruption since 2022. The old mission hall remains boarded-up at the back of the site (Photo: Alfie Stroud)
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