THE FIRST MEETING WITH CHADLINGTON SPORTS CLUB, 25th May 2016
ATTENDEES:
MHDP: CLAIRE OGDEN, JON ALSOP, LIZ WOOLCOCK, SIOBHANN MANSEL-P, SUSAN MYATT,
CHADLINGTON SPORTS CLUB: MARK LAMBERT, PAUL DEUSTER
The core members of the Village Hall Project Team (including members of the Memorial Hall Committee and Parish Council) and two key members of the Chadlington Sports Club gathered with the following outline ‘agenda’ shared in advance of the meeting;
- Project team to update all assembled on where we’ve got to with our ‘fact finding mission’ regarding user needs and the Memorial Hall
- Share outline timings and phasing of the project
- Invite the Sports and Social Club to share their views on the next phase of planning and their ambitions for the future to see if the Hall may play a part in that.
A presentation was made. Please see attachment for details including project timings. The below details the outline of the discussion and key next steps.
FACT FINDING MISSION UPDATE
Research & local community groups so far
- The latest round of ‘top up’ research among parents and school children showed a high demand for an extended afterschool programme, which could potentially be run from a refurbished hall
- The staff and committee at Chadlington Playgroup, who are still in discussion about their future and are under extreme financial pressures, have confirmed the potential for the hall to serve their needs into the future and have allocated a team of parents to work with us during the planning phase.
- Whilst more work needs to take place to unearth other areas of consideration (provision of services from the council? Should we be thinking about what more could done to serve the elderly in the future?) the research conducted so far suggested a significant overhaul of the hall will be required (as opposed to a simple update/refurbishment)
- With all this in mind, there is the potential to have a steady stream of activity within a newly refurbished village hall which would not only pay for its upkeep but also attract more use.
Funding
We have done some independent research and also met with Lynne Newin, Village Halls Rep from Community First Oxfordshire and the Project Team behind the Finstock Refurbishment. Our findings confirm that;
- The largest funding pot we would be eligible for from government services is the £50k bi-annual allocation from West Oxfordshire District Council for community projects
- We would not be eligible for any Big Lottery or Lottery Grants due to the relative wealth of the county
- It is likely that a loan from the Parish Council would need to be considered, depending on the size and scale of the project.
- Aspects of the the project would be eligible for many small ‘pots’ which, combined, would be significant
- The project would be heavily reliant on fundraising initiatives and generous private benefactors
With all this in mind, we invited Mark and Paul to share their club’s mission, current user needs and ambitions for the future. The following points detail the flow of the discussion and key next steps.
Mission
- The Chadlington Sports Club’s mission is to provide good value sporting opportunities for local people.
- It is run purely by volunteers and this keeps it affordable (and therefore accessible to all)
- Currently approximately 200 footballers and 140 cricketers per week. The club has ECB clubmark status and is an FA charter club.
User needs
- The facilities at the CSC are adequate for the current existence of the club and all needs are broadly met, particularly when it comes to equipment; the external funding available for the CSC is purely related to advancing of sporting opportunities and there are no capital grants available for the club house (which is maintained by said volunteers)
- This means that most funds are reinvested in sporting equipment to ensure the coaches and ground staff have everything they need to deliver.
- The Parking however is a key concern and the team would absolutely like to collaborate on that front.
- They are also acutely aware of the lack of optimised space across both buildings
Ambitions for the future
- To keep it going as is for the next 6 to 60 years! To make it sustainable (which the model currently is as costs are very low due to the volunteer base)
- The CSC has reached maximum capacity in the fields for weekend sport
- The main consideration for the future of the CSC is that it’s survival also depends on the low cost of the fields currently leased;
- The field to the east of the Sports Club is leased from The Wallace-Jones family (in favour of the Parish Council) and is due to expire in 2024
- The field to the west of the Sports Club is in the first year of a 21 year lease with a 7 year break clause at a cost of £750 per year
- Rent is currently paid to the Memorial Hall to lease the space on which the CSC sits (£300 per annum)
Conclusions
Given the funding limitations, and the fact that they are at capacity in terms of field space and volunteers, the Chadlington Sports Club have no real need to change the current scenario. However, the team are open to discussion and will of course listen to ideas given that the Project team are ‘planning for future scenarios’ and will need to explore several options.
Next steps
The Sports Club to share their current hours of operation, floor space requirements broad figures relating to cost of operation
Agreed that the Project Team to proceed to early brief stage and financial modelling so we have something tangible to discuss with current users, future users and the community.