All posts by Alastair Greener

Despite the January weather, we hope you’ve had a good start to 2018. The ARC team is very excited that this looks like the year that real progress will be made, and a long-term lease will be agreed for Palmer’s Field. Solicitors for Aldbourne Parish Council have been working hard on the draft lease, which we hope will be ready very soon. It has taken quite a while to get to this stage, but it’s important to get it right and it will definitely be worth it. 

Exciting Plans

We’ve had more meetings with various sports and recreational groups this month, to get more of an understanding of what they need and how any proposed development on Palmers Field could benefit them. This consultation is essential and will continue throughout the planning process. On the subject of planning, we’ve been delighted to have a lot of help from RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects). They have trawled the country for five architects who have real previous practical experience with these types of projects. They have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to thiscombination of facilities, and we are considering setting up a competition for their concepts. More news on this next month.

Sport in Aldbourne

In last month’s newsletter we shared pictures from the touch rugby session over Christmas, and we are really delighted to see that the Saturday morning ‘Fitness with Friends’initiative is also blossoming. Mike Campbell and Rupert Bound, who tirelessly organise these weekly events, don’t seem at all phased by so many people of all ages and abilities assembling on Saturday mornings. It just shows how popular sport and fitness is in Aldbourne. Give it a try. Even a couple of ARC trustees join in and if we can do it you probably can!

What’s Next

While we wait for the all-important lease to be signed, we are continuing with our planning and consultations. In addition to our research in to core funding we are also looking at fundraising activities here in the village. There have already been some great ideas so we’ll keep you posted. 

We are also looking at putting a lot more information on our website, so you can keep up to date with all our news and find out a bit more about the team behind ARC. 

Again, a big thank you to all our supporters for your continued commitment; we really are very grateful. 

Malcolm Pryce, 

Chairman, Aldbourne Recreation Centre 

Firstly, we hope you’re enjoying the festive season, and isn’t it lovely to see so many great events taking place around our village at this time of year.  At ARC, we’ve had a busy month so have lots of news to share with you: –

• Lease Update
• New Funding
• What’s Next

Lease Update

We’re making good progress in obtaining a lease for Palmers Field from Aldbourne Parish Council. Unfortunately, this does take time because of the complexities of the project and our charitable status. There are many factors that need to be considered by both ARC and the Parish Council to ensure the final lease works well for everyone concerned. The matter was discussed at the Parish Council meeting earlier this month, and we are hoping that there will be some more news to share with everyone over the next couple of months. 

New Funding

We were delighted to receive confirmation that ARC has been awarded a grant of £2000 by:

What Next?

This is very exciting indeed and it means we can now progress to the formal design stage. 

Firstly though, there’ll be a formal lease signing ceremony and the unveiling of the new ARC Noticeboard sometime over the next couple of weeks. Everyone is very welcome to come along and witness this momentous occasion, so we’ll let you know exactly where and when in another email very soon. 

The really hard work starts now, and we have already instructed the architect to draw up some initial designs for the new building that will go on Palmers Field, along with the other facilities we plan for the area. 

We will keep you fully informed with our plans every step of the way and we are aware that there are some people who are keen to help in some way and we welcome any suggestions or offers. We are certainly looking to expand our core team members so please do get in touch. 

We’ll be back in touch soon with details of the lease signing ceremony and what we’ll be doing over the next few months.

In the meantime many thanks again to all our supporters for all their continued commitment.