Update 2 | Building for the future

Institute Update Issue 2 - May 2002

COVER STORY: Building for the future

By Colin Hart

In May 2002, just a year before our lease expires, we have run out of room. Staff work in cramped conditions. Paper supplies are stored under tables. Shelving has gone up as high as the ceiling. Piles of briefing papers are stored throughout the building. There is no room for more filing cabinets and our library has run out of space. Already we are having to rent extra storage from a nearby self-storage depot.

It is time we were moving, not only because we have to, since the property is to be re-developed, but also because we need to. We are looking for at least 5,000 square feet for our new office. More than double what we have now.

We would never have thought in 1998 when we moved in to our present office that within four years it would become far too small. Yet this is what has happened.
Back in the early days in 1991 the Institute was run from only one room, with myself as the only member of staff. The sum total of equipment was a desk, computer, photocopier and a couple of filing cabinets.

By 1993 we needed two rooms as I worked with a part time member of staff and a volunteer. In 1996, in addition to all our education work and lectures, the Institute was involved in campaigning against John Major’s no-fault divorce reforms. By October of that year we had four full time staff and an extra room needed to be rented in a nearby building.

By 1997 major national campaigns were being fought on several fronts at once: protecting Churches from the Human Rights Bill, arguing against the legalisation of cannabis and opposing EU law making powers which could harm religious freedom. As the work grew so did the staff and the need for larger offices.

In 1998 we moved to our present building with 2,000 square feet of office space. Because of the pressure of the work it did not take long before we had to employ 12 full time staff - each needing a desk, computer, telephone and space for filing. Since we moved in we have acquired a large printer which enables us to print a letter to every supporter within a single day. A variety of other printers, old and new, are scattered throughout the building along with a couple of photocopiers, a mailing machine and all the paraphernalia of a modern computer network.

Almost every wall in the building is adorned with shelving and filing cabinets to accommodate the enormous amount of filing we have, both for research and the administration of the charity. A great deal of storage space is also taken up with copies of our publications, ready to send out to our supporters.

Our building has seen good service. It has become a veritable factory for promoting Christian truth. Around 20 publications a year are churned out having been completely designed in-house. Hundreds of media interviews have been conducted over the office’s telephones. Numerous camera crews, journalists and photographers have visited the building to interview staff. Teams of volunteers regularly take over our library to prepare mailings.

The Christian Institute is in its tenth year as a charity. During that time we have seen the demands for our work grow very substantially. There are now so many issues where a clear sensible Christian point of view needs to be put.

Though expenditure has risen in leaps and bounds, God has provided for all our needs through the generosity of our supporters. We will be sad to leave 26 Jesmond Road. We pray that the Lord will provide us with a new home as good as the one in which we have spent four very happy and fruitful years.

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