Men’s Shed puts the ‘ark’ in St Mark’s

Salisbury’s ‘Men’s Shed’ group are proud to be making parts for the St Mark’s ‘Ark’ Project.

The St Mark’s Ark Project aims to involve schools and community groups to build an ark that symbolises the St. Mark’s & St. Andrew’s Parish Church as a ‘place of safety’.

Morris Munns from Men’s Shed tells Salisbury Radio, “Like the ‘Secret Spitfire’ teams in war-time Salisbury, many local people are working on parts of the Ark to be assembled in the garden on St. Mark’s roundabout.”

The idea was born at the start of the first lockdown when rainbow ‘arcs’ began popping up as signs of hope during the pandemic.

Morris says, “The project aims to involve schools and other community groups to build an Ark that symbolises St. Mark’s as a place of welcome and safety for all.”

St. Mark’s & St. Andrew’s is a ‘two congregation Anglican (Church of England) parish’ in the Diocese of Salisbury. Its official name is ‘Salisbury St. Mark & Laverstock St. Andrew’.

‘Men’s Shed’ volunteers are now working on the animals for this interactive art structure.

The group is based at the Alabare Centre on Churchfields.

Partners working on the project are Rod Gottard, Peter Cavilla, Dave Spicer, Francis Bray, Denis Casey and John Page.

Morris adds, “The project needs some permissions, but the target date for ‘Launching the Ark’ is autumn 2021”.

Find out more about the church and the Ark Project on their Facebook page here.