Newsletter – January 2019

Firstly, if it’s not too late, all of us at ARC would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2019. We hope it’ll be a great year for you and your families.

We are very excited about this year as we get closer to bringing new sports and recreation facilities to Aldbourne. Although this has taken somewhat longer than we would have hoped, we’ve made tremendous progress over the last year and as you’ll read below we are very close to signing a lease for Palmers Field with Aldbourne Parish Council. In the meantime, the team has been working hard on as much as they can in readiness for the next stage. 

It was great to see a New Year tradition continue on the 1st of January with the annual Rugby Netball game on Southward Field. It was a fun day thanks to Rupert Bound and Mike Campbell who did a fantastic job organising another great game with more people participating than ever. 

Funding

Thanks to the efforts of our fundraising team, in 2018 we successfully received funds from Tesco (Bags of Help), Wroughton Solar Farm Project, Marlborough Area Board and most recently Awards for All (part of the Big Lottery Fund). These grants have been awarded to assist us with the cost of architect consultations and community engagement. We’ve also been able to pay for the new gates that were installed in the autumn and we’ll be putting up new noticeboards at the entrance to Palmers Field to keep everyone up to date with our progress. 

The Team

With the workload increasing all the time, we are pleased to say we now have 6 trustees, 16 voting members and nearly a hundred people receiving this newsletter as well as more and more people following us on social media. We’re very grateful to see so many people in the village getting involved and showing interest in the project. 

Architects

We mentioned in last month’s newsletter that after careful consideration we have now chosen an architect’s practice we’d like to work with, and as soon as the lease is signed we’ll formally engage their services and work on initial designs for the proposed development.  

Research

ARC’s core team have been working hard in many areas to research all aspects of this huge undertaking. This has included engaging with community groups in the village to understand the sport and recreational needs of our community, looking at all types of funding and learning from other facilities in our area to understanding the design & build process and operation of similar facilities.

In December members of the core team went to look at the facilities at Royal Wooton Basset (RWBSA). Although their facility is much bigger than our project, it is a multipurpose centre and the team at the RWBSA were incredibly generous with their time, so we were able to learn a huge amount. The RWBSA have also been very kind in offering their ongoing support and advice on all aspects of the project, which we are sure will prove invaluable. We’ll be having many more visits to other projects over the coming months and we’ll let you know how we get on.

Palmers Field Update

As we speak the solicitors representing ARC and Aldbourne Parish Council are looking at the last few details of the lease, and we hope that this process will not take much longer. We’ll keep you posted on any progress and we’ll let you know as soon as we have been able to sign an agreement. 

We look forward to sharing more news very soon, but in the meantime please remember we always welcome your questions and feedback so please do drop us a line. Also, please help us spread the word by letting us know if there is anyone else who would like to receive this newsletter each month

info@ARC-Aldbourne.org.uk 

And finally don’t forget to follow us on social media; we’re on on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so just click on the links below. 

Many thanks 

Malcolm Pryce, Chairman, Aldbourne Recreation Centre