April 2026
We were delighted to hear that the 10 year visitor’s visas for Luang Por Sopano and
Than Thirasak have been approved, and we are now making arrangements for their visits. The plan is that Than Thirasak will arrive in early June to oversee the arrangements for Luang Por’s visit which will coincide with our Anniversary on Sunday 28th June. On this auspicious occasion we will hold the first ceremony in the new Ubosot Hall, and we hope very much that you can join us for this special occasion.
Luang Por turned 70 on 6 April and on behalf of all supporters of Wat Phra Singh UK we sent our sincerest best wishes for his continuing good health. Than Thirasak arranged for celebration calendars and posters to be made to mark this wonderful occasion, and we funded these at his request.
Than Thirasak has also arranged for the ceremonial items that we will need for the Sima stone enshrinement ceremony that is likely to take place next year. This is when the Ubosot Hall is formally consecrated, and we are anticipating a very special ceremony to mark this occasion. More on this as we work through the details.
The construction of the hall is practically complete, we just have some flooring and painting works to complete, and a couple of punchlist items to address. We will shortly commence the construction of the two plinths marking the vehicular entrance to the temple car park. Once these are complete we will mount the two Yakh statues, standing as ceremonial protectors of the temple. These will be yet another unique feature for Runcorn Old Town. These works will be completed in time for Luang Por’s visit in late June.
Then, after the anniversary, we will commence the works to the Ceremonial Gateway with access ramp and integrated storeroom. We’re afraid that this will be a bit more disruption to the temple for a short while, but it will significantly improve future access for everyone. We aim to get this work completed before Kathina. We will then resurface the whole of the temple car park including all access around the Ubosot Hall, and form the eight chambers where the remaining Sima stones will be enshrined. The aim is to have all this work completed by the end of the year, whilst still maintaining the key events in the monastic calendar.
We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the FCC Communities Action Fund who very kindly funded the bulk of the Mechanical and Electrical works to the Ubosot Hall. The temple was required to pay the invoices out of our reserves, and then claim the grant. We are delighted to report that our claim was approved and we have now received full reimbursement.
We have also been granted some additional government funding managed through HBC to cover the costs of the additional works: the Gateposts, the Ceremonial Gateway and storeroom, and the final resurfacing works, and we have now received the first of our applications to cover these works. We offer our sincere thanks to the UK government and to HBC for facilitating this additional funding.
We have now started to receive enquiries from groups who are interested in using the Ubosot Hall on a regular basis, and have now produced a User Policy and Application form which can be made available by contacting the temple at metta@watphrasinghuk.org
Thanks to everyone for all your support. As always, please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions,
With Metta (loving kindness)
