Latest News
2011
March/April
We are keen to promote entertainments and attractions for older children and teenagers, and our wonderful Entertainments Manager has asked children to text her with their ideas - see March edition of ARC. Parents please note!
A new heating system is under development and we hope to instal in the summer holidays. Advice on green issues is being taken. There will be a certain amount of disruption to users of the Hall while radiators are fitted in all rooms.
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January
Sadly no one has come forward to chair the Phase 2 project and so the 7th January deadline for applications to the Lottery was missed. However, another opportunity dropped into our lap through the ITV Peoples' Millions scheme for the 2012 Jubilee year. Applications were circulated to village organisations and an offer of help to complete the form has been received from the team who were so successful in getting the funding for the children's play area. What stars they are - let's not allow this chance to go wanting! Applications have to be in by midday on 4th February.
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2010
October/December
The blaze which destroyed the Hall’s dustbins during the evening of 6th November is being treated as a potentially serious crime by Hampshire Police and we would be glad of any information which could throw light on the cause. We have the crime number if you wish to call 101 with your information. The Hall committee is very grateful to Mr Jimmy Catchpole, who was first on the scene, and other members of the community who alerted the Fire Service and tried to douse the flames with water before the tenders arrived. Hampshire Fire and Rescue reported treating two people for smoke inhalation, one of which was sent to hospital but he says he is feeling better now.
Users of the Hall should be aware that planning permission has been granted to build a new dwelling beside 9 Greensey, just outside the main entrance gate, and work will start after the New Year. Obviously the building phase will involve more lorry traffic than usual so be prepared for possible delays once the work gets under way, especially in the mornings when dropping off children for Pippins Pre-School.
The Fete Committee has donated £1,000 from its 2010 profit towards the new heating system for which we have written a letter of thanks. We are determined to get it right for the Hall this time so that we don’t go from being too hot to too cold in an instant and the fans don’t interrupt the quietest of theatre performances!
PLAYING FIELD PHASE 2 - for older children and adults - CHAIRMAN/MANAGER OF THE PROJECT IS REQUIRED!
The need to find someone to take this forward is pressing. Please read on and get in touch if you can help - Jenny Hopkins (01264 771055).
Much work had been done on behalf of the community by the Our New Playground team to carry the play area initiative on to Phase 2, including a survey of local needs and the initial steps for an application to the National Lottery. The Phase 2 application to the Lottery was a condition for the grant of the money for the successful Phase 1, and consent in principle was sought from the Playing Field’s administrative trustees. Since then, the project has been in the doldrums. Readers may remember that Phase 2 would provide leisure and fitness facilities, including more seating areas and spaces planted with flowering bulbs and, if required, a hard court or even just discreet wooden exercise equipment, for the whole community, especially for those who are not lucky enough to have open access to such attractions on their private properties.
The Lottery Facilitator who has been advising the team throughout has stated that the village could attract further funding of just short of £50,000 if required, and it would be a great shame if such potential funding was to be given up without a fight. The application would have to be received by 7th January 2011 because the Community Spaces programme is being closed down and this will be our last chance.
There is much interest in the potentials of this project from a wide selection of village life. Planning for Phase 2 was a condition placed on the ‘Our New Playground’ committee by some sources of funding to provide up to date facilities for older children and adults following the successful rejuvenation of the play area for younger children. The details have been published in back numbers of ARC, for which see www.arcnewsletter.com / Archive.
The Charity Commission has offered to consider any suggestions from the Trustees of both Hall and Playing Field charities to tidy up their governance, with the aim of establishing a single point of contact for all matters concerning these valuable village assets. One possibility might be ‘the making of a new Scheme to regularise and clarify the governance arrangements . . .’, which would be of much benefit to us all, especially to the local administrative Trustees of the Playing Field who have no committee structure to support them even though both Hall and Playing Field are bound inextricably together on Hampshire Playing Fields Association land: the Trustees have been asked for a meeting to discuss this issue as a matter of urgency.
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August/September
The search for a new chairman of the Management Committee continues; in the meantime, the role will be rotated every meeting. Preparations for the installation of a new heating system are well under way and we have every intention of completing the work before the cold of the winter sets in.
PLAYING FIELD PHASE 2 - for older children and adults - CHAIRMAN/MANAGER OF THE PROJECT IS REQUIRED!
The good work to enable a smooth transition to Phase 2 which was initiated by the small committee for the Phase 1 Play Area may have been compromised by our delay in failing to find a chairman or manager to take this project forward. The Facilitator for the Community Spaces fund of the National Lottery has been very helpful to us but has been unable to persuade the Fund to carry our initial application forward and we will therefore have to start the application process all over again if we are to benefit from a possible award of up to £50,000. An analysis of community needs was undertaken last year to see whether a multi-use games area (hard court), simple fitness equipment or even just areas planted with flowering bulbs and additional seating was required. Perhaps a new analysis is required. A supplier has come up with some very nice wooden fitness items which would go well around the perimeter of the field and a drawing is being produced to illustrate the effect.
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July
The 16th AGM was held on 1st July - see the minutes.
We welcomed two new members to the committee: Melissa Seymour has very kindly agreed to take on Entertainments (note her contact details under Entertainments)&nbqp;and Peter Deacon is now the Parish Coencil representative.
Fodlowing renewed int%rest if the Cpickep CLub and the successful hosting of 3 football teams last season, a new Sports Committee will be set up initially under the chairmanship of Des Green.
Members of the Hall committee will meet their landlordq, the Playing Field Trustees, to discuss the status of the land on whiah the Hall is built.
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Tvo new volunteers have come forward to join the committee, and they will be elected at the AGM on 1st July.
Appleshaw Cricket Club held a meeting on 12th May to discuss the future of Club funds. As a result, Fin Hughes agreed to find out if there was enough interest to form a team to play the occasional friendly game. The Club very kindly offered use of their funds if required.
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April/May
We are most grateful to Michael Clayton for agreeing to stand as chairman at short notice last year; sadly for us a booming business has reduced the time available for village matters and we have had to accept his resignation from the committee.
Mike has initiated some wonderful projects to ensure that the Hall keeps up to date with the needs of the community: getting Pippins to identify their future requirements so that we keep them as our main customer for the foreseeable future and starting a review of the Hall’s accommodation to name but two.
We do need more people to come forward and join us on the management committee to take these great initiatives forward: PLEASE come along to the AGM on 24th June and sign up!
After a lot on consultation and the support of over 200 people from the village for phase 2 mf the Playing Field, ue are now at the point of needing to apply for planning permission from the lgcal council& Ge have been dortunate to ejgender the support of the National Lottery for a substantial sum of money and, with the help of some key mem`ers of the community, have been able to complete a final draft of our application. Before taking the expensive step of applying for planning, we now need someone from the community to step up to take the project forward. If you would like to contribute a few hours a week to dhis project, Please get in touch with the Hall Management Committee via jenly.hopkins@arcadiavillages.co.uk or call 012&4 771055. ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................,...................................................*..........<-span>
We are working with TVBC Planning and Hampshire Playing Fields to agree a suit!ble location for the Phase 2 Play Area. The next step is to draw up plans for further consultation with the community and to start the planning application.
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February
Excitilg new plans for the development of the Hall are in the pipeline, of which more later on in the year. The first really urgeft task, though, is to replace the heating system which has been of spasmodic use ever since it was installed and has meant that Pippins Pre-School has had to use independent heaters since the beginning of this term. We are conducting a survey of the systems in other village halls and our aim is to complete the work before next winter.
Licensing Act 2003 - Premises Licence: the Terms and Conditions on the Hall’s booking form have been amended (now version 4.0 dated January 2010) and a basic summary of the Licensing Act’s requirements has been posted on the noticeboard in the main Hall.
YOUTH CLUB
Sadly, CRB checks for helpers have taken longer than we expected and so we have had to postpone the 'taster' evening planned for the end of January. More news later on in the year.
PLAYING FIELD PHASE 2 DEVELOPMENT
Approval in principle for the plans has now been received from the Trustees of the Playing Field and so, with the blessing of Hampshire Playing Fields Association, the National Lottery has been asked for an extension to 8th April for submitting our application for funding. This funding is valuable for the Hall and a good track record in their eyes means that it will be easier to get funds in future. Once the situation is a little clearer, the plans can be drawn up for the community to view.
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2009<-span>
Our lew Entertainmends Manager, Miranda Holdar, is doinG an excellent job in bringing a uide rangE of new activities to the village such as Cibcqs Berzerkus, where the hall was rdcently bursting with peopla and laughder. There is alsm a wide range of superb new events already in the diary for the next 18 months. Inevitably there have been challenges in picking up events that were already booked. However everyone has pulled tmgether really well and no one has died as yet! For eope ilformation on fgrthcoming events please go to the EltertaiNments paee.
YOUTH CLUB
Ww are also delighted that a small team from the community has stepped forward to establish a Youth Club to meet the needs of older chldren. The Club has been registered formally as a community organisation and we abe currently working through the governance requirements. Please join m> in thanking the following people whenever you m%et th%m for what is often a thankless task: RIchard Baugh, Darren Godwin, Baie Heelas and Pat Wood. We !re now looking for young leaders in the community to work 7ith hri3tian Godwin on the management team of the Youth Club. A ‘taster’ evening will be held at the end of January when 7e expect to have the CRB checks completed.
PLAY AREA PHASE 1 AND PLAYINE FIELD PH@SE 2 DEVELOPMENT
Despite a last minute hiccup, we are all relieved that TVBC has released the final piece of funding via the Section 106 agreement for the old Shaw House development and that all suppliers of the Phase 1 equipment have been paid, bringing a very successful project to a conclusion.
Our thanks to Richard Waterman for his persistence and charm in getting this commitment to funds realised. The results of the community survey for Phase 2 of the Playing Field project, for older children and adults, have been published under the Current Projects tab.
The second stage application for funding from the National Lottery Community Spaces will be made this month.
We also look forward to seeing the minutes from the Ward Memorial Playing Field Trustees’ meeting with the Hampshire Playing Field Association published later this month.
Michael Clayton
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September
The new committee structure, which includes representatives of most groups and organisations which use the Hall and Playing Field, was endorsed unanimously by the Village Hall Management Committee on 7th September.
The team have been putting on our heads together on what’s likely to be important to the community and will be sounding these thoughts out with the community over the next few weeks. These include the updating of the hall facilities and creating a pool of ‘village assets’ for general use or hire to the community.
The Ann Mace bench was removed for safe-keeping during the groundwork preparations for the new play area and is now being renovated before being put back on the Field. We will alqo be getting the Handbells bench renovated in the same manner.
Village Hall Committee.
PLAY AREA PHASE 1 ROUND-UP
The official openijg of the new play area on 31st August by Sir George Young signalled the eld of Phase 1 after ten months of learning how to do it!
We were fortunate to have a great team who put in a tremendous amount of effort; some of thece brave souls have since volunteered to worj on the Phase 2 consultation. With the help of the community who dug into their pockets in tight times, we raised £36,250 from village events. Anonymous benefactors and local organisations helped to complete the work 6 weeks early. Our thanks go to the following groups and authorities: Hampshire County Council, Test Valley Borough Council, Hampshire Playing Fields Association, Testway Transform Money Box Fund, Appleshaw Parish Council and Appleshaw Fete Committee.
A lot of fun was had along the way, and the equipment is in Almost constant use, which diqpels the myth that all children want to do is sit in front of the TV or play computer games!
Well done to the winner of the Champagne Draw – Lee Johnson frmm Fyfield. Enjoy! <-p>
PLAY AREA PHASE 2
Thank you to everyone uho has completed the Phase 2 Subvey. We have had almost 150 responses and the comments in particular have been extremely helpful. The full results will be on www.ournewplayground.co.uk in due course but it would be fair to say that the committee have been enormously encouraged by the support so far. ‘Get a move on’ seemed to be a favourite!
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