Temple Project
Overview
CHF has received an offer of land to build a Hindu community centre and temple in Cambridge and is in the process of formalising the agreement. CHF seeks all available help and support by way of funds, expertise and support with running events to promote the project to the wider community.
The main deity in the temple will be Lord Shiva and shrines for other deities will be established as per community wishes. The project scope is currently being defined along with a plan for development. The findings so far on costs, type of structure and the preparatory work needed are all listed below. In summary, initial estimates made in mid-2023 show that between £250,000 to £350,000 is needed to establish an initial structure and start spiritual and cultural activities.
Ongoing operational costs are expected to be around £5000/month, based on budgets of similar sized temples in the UK. To ensure uninterrupted operation, a sum of £100,000 is needed to support operations in the initial days after opening.
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Including potential impact of inflation, approximately £600,000 needs to be budgeted overall for initial construction and operational activities.
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So far, CHF has received verbal pledges for around £35,000 from CHF Trustees, volunteers and other donors. CHF's corpus fund currently stands at £28,000 and is increasing at the rate of £200/month through regular donations and varying amounts from pooja/event surpluses. To gather pledges for the remaining amount, we seek support and contributions from the local community.
Project outline
The various works that need to be performed and their corresponding estimated costs are listed below.
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Cost of land:
None (The agreement with donors is to be finalised).
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Initial construction:
To accommodate 75 worshippers with prasad preparation area and having porch, entrance lobby leading to toilets. (Worship Area 215 SQ.MT. (12MT x 18MT) and Ancillary Area 50 SQ.MT).
Topographical survey: £675 (Completed in 2022/23 and paid for by CHF)
Site access and enablement: c. £2200 spent in Nov 2023 + c. £2800 committed for gate
Planning application: around £25,000 to be raised (commitments in place)
Enabling works (site access, utilities, car park etc.): between £75,000 and £100,000 to be raised
Building a place of worship and community use (short term): £150,000 to £200,000 to be raised
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Total amount needed is between £250,000 and £350,000 and including the effects of inflation in the coming years, a budget of around £500,000 would be needed.
Ongoing operations:
Current estimate based on other similar temples is that around £5,000/month is needed to run the operations with a full-time priest (6 hours per day) over 7 days of the week, with longer opening hours over the weekend.
Festivals, activities £1500
Salaries and PAYE £1500
Groceries £250
Utilities £300
Other expenses £1200
This funding needs to come from a combination of one-off donations and monthly direct debits from the community on top of revenues from temple operations such as fees charged for special poojas. At present, CHF receives around £200/month in direct debits to support its current activities and to build a corpus, but obviously this is only a small proportion of what will eventually be needed.
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We aim to collect at least £100,000 before temple operations commence, so that there is enough funding to run the temple and community centre while regular payments and patronage are being built up.
How can you help?
CHF's approach is to tackle the fundraising challenge by focusing on a series of smaller fundraising targets to complete individual pieces of work at the site. Initial site enablement work is currently underway and the budget for this is around £5000. Some of the initial costs have already been paid for using CHF's existing corpus, but more is needed to reach this initial milestone. If you are interested in donating towards this, please access our Donation Page to pay by card or to do a bank transfer. Please use "Site enable" in the payment reference so we can keep track of the payments made to support this activity.
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Next Steps ...
We are also setting up a series of meetings in the coming months to discuss the project plans and seek inputs from the community.
If you are interested in contributing to this important initiative that aims to realise a long pending dream of the local community, please register your interest here.