Memorial Pavilion News

Memorial Pavilion’s Latest News

 

Future Fundraising Events 2016

For further information about future fundraising and other events, please click onto the village website at www.southcreake.com

Newsletter April 2015

Building news
The building is now complete and is in full working order and, as can be seen below it is being well used. In December this year we need to make the two final payments which amount to £33,000. This money will need to be raised and enclosed with this newsletter are some donation forms to help us raise this money. We know times are hard and money is short for all of us, but please consider donating as much as you can as this will go a long way to help us pay this debt off. We will still carry on with fundraising events as well, see below. We have strived to give the village a building to be very proud of and we think we have achieved this and hope you think so too. Please consider donating any amount that you can afford using the forms provided. If you are a tax payer you can Gift Aid your donation which then allows us to claim an additional 20% back from the government.
For the Buy-a-Brick/Roof Tile donors from previous requests for funds who have been waiting to see the plaques in a panel erected in the building; we are very sorry about the delay in doing this as all your funds have been used in the construction of the facility. We intend to put in a temporary notice showing, in alphabetical order, a list of all donors in the corridor as soon as possible. This is not an alternative measure; it is temporary as we will be putting the plaques up as soon as we can.

Memorial Pavilion Events
Since the opening on 29th Nov 2014 there have been 67 events that have happened in the building. These range from 25 Zumba classes, 13 private parties, 10 Art classes, 7 football matches, 6 fundraising events, 2 opening events, 1 Christmas event, 1 Girl Guide sleepover, 1 Health and Welfare class and 1 Bridge Tea. This is a remarkable amount of events in just 4 months. The aim now is to continue to encourage people to look at using the pavilion for their future events. We have a number of bookings (51 to July) for future hires and we are hoping for Slimming World to commence weekly meetings from the end of April.
Please try to convince your family, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances to consider hiring our building.

Future Pavilion Fundraising Events
Sat April 4th – A new Craft Club will be starting and will be held on one Saturday per month from 9am – 12, cost £10pp. This will be followed by May 16th, June 20th, July 18th, Aug 8th, Sept 19th, Oct 18th, Nov 14th and Dec 19th. All are welcome, please contact Vickie May on 01328 823398 for further details and to book places.
Following each Craft Club there will be a Pavilion Café which replaces the original Soup Lunches we use to hold. There will be a larger choice of hot food and it will be open from 12 – 2pm, hot food, pudding and a drink will still be £5pp.
Wed April 22nd – Bingo Night at the Memorial Pavilion, Main Hall with eyes down at 7.30pm @ £6 per book of 12 games. Any unwanted gifts for prizes please to Vickie May (01328 823398). There will also be a raffle.
Sat Apr 25th – A new Pavilion Quilters event will be held to help you learn how to use a sewing machine more confidently and learn how to quilt. This will then be followed by June 27th, Sept 12th and finish on Nov 21st. Cost is £10pp and will run from 10 – 4pm. Drinks will be available but bring a packed lunch with you. Suitable for complete beginners but all abilities welcome. Please contact Vickie May for further details and to book a place.
Sat May 16th – Quiz Night 7pm at the Memorial Pavilion, Main Hall. £5pp and this includes a “soup and pudding” supper. Teams of up to six with numbers please to Vickie May (01328 823398). There will also be a raffle.
All proceeds from these events will go towards the pavilion funds.

Mar 27th 2015

Today two new wooden benches that were very generously donated have been fixed into position in front of the south facing wall of the pavilion giving a pleasant aspect looking across the bowls green and tennis courts.

Feb 19th 2015

The plaque celebrating the official opening of the pavilion by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh K.G., K.T. on Feb 3rd has been erected in the lobby on the Meeting Room wall so it can be seen through the main entrance windows.

Newsletter January 2015

Official Opening of the Pavilion
The official opening date has been set for Tuesday 3rd February 2015 at 11.30am. The event will last for around 40 minutes and the building will be opened by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh K.G., K.T.
Approximately 70 guests have been invited to meet his Royal Highness inside the building where he will unveil a plaque commemorating the event after Father Clive Wylie dedicates the building in memory of all those who served and those who died for their country in the two world wars.
Members of the public are welcome to watch the event from behind the new fence surrounding the children’s play area. Car parking will only be available on the playing field via the entrance on Leicester Road.
The building will be open to visitors after his Royal Highness has left and refreshments will be available.

Memorial Pavilion Events
The very first event in the newly opened pavilion on Nov 29th was an absolutely outstanding success! The Christmas Fayre attracted around 450 people (we cannot say exactly how many as we lost count after the first 100 or so) and we have worked out the approximate number by the adult entrance fee takings on the front door, £412, and guessed the number of children that did not have to pay to get in. The Cafe made an incredible £257.60, the Raffle £263, the Tombola £194 and the stall fees £240, giving a grand total of £1,366.60.
The stall holders had a great time selling their goods and some of them sold out their stock completely. Most of the cakes donated for the cafe had all been eaten, but with a couple left over being added to the raffle as prizes.
The comments on the building and the event were all extremely favourable; in fact we did not have one complaint or a bad remark. Some of the visitors could not get over the size of the interior rooms and the quality of the finish of the building. The trustees are justifiably proud of their efforts over all those eleven years of fundraising to be able to get the building constructed! Well done to everyone!!
There was a Quiz Night held in the Main Hall of the Pavilion on Dec 6th and around 45 people attended and a great time was had by all. The food laid by Alirae and Josie in the kitchen was exceptional. Thanks goes to both of them and their helpers June and Biddy. We must not forget the questions caller, “thanks Peter” and the total takings for the night were £207.00. Grateful thanks go to all who helped run the night and all who attended.

Future Pavilion Fundraising Events
Fri. 16th Jan. Bingo Night at the Memorial Pavilion, Main Hall. Eyes down at 7.30pm @ £6 per book of 12 games. Any unwanted gifts for prizes to Vickie May (01328 823398) please. There will also be a raffle. Proceeds will go towards new window blinds.
Fri. 6th Feb. Quiz Night at Memorial Pavilion, Main Hall. £5pp which includes a “soup and pudding” supper. Teams of up to six with numbers to Vickie May (01328 823398) please. There will also be a raffle. Proceeds will go towards new window blinds.
Sat. 14th Mar. 10am-2pm Coffee Cafe with bric-a-brac, second-hand & craft stalls in the Main Hall. Donated items and homemade cakes for sale are very welcome to Vickie May (01328 823398) please. There will also be a raffle. Proceeds will go towards new window blinds.

Nov 30th 2014

The very first event in the newly opened pavilion was an absolutely outstanding success! The Christmas Fayre attracted around 450 people (we can not say exactly how many as we lost count after the first 100) and we have worked out the approximate number by the adult entrance fee takings on the front door, £412, and guessed the number of children that did not have to pay to get in. The Cafe made an incredible £257.60, the Raffle made £263, the Tombola £194 and the stall fees made £240, giving a grand total of £1,366.60.
The stall holders had a great time selling and some of them sold out their stock completely. Most of the cakes donated for the cafe have all been eaten, but with a couple left over being added to the raffle as prizes.
The comments on the building and the event were all extremely favourable, in fact we did not have one complaint or a bad remark. Some of the visitors just could not get over the size of the interior rooms and the quality of the finish of the building. The trustees are justifiably proud of their efforts over all those eleven years of fundraising to be able to get the building constructed! Well done to everyone!!
For future events in the building please check the Future Events page for full details.

Nov 1st 2014

Newsletter Nov 2014

Pavilion construction progress
Since the last newsletter, the progress on the pavilion has been incredible. The aluminium external doors were installed in early Sept. and they have made the building water tight and secure. The underfloor heating system was installed and the concrete floor screed put down. After a while the heating was switched on very low to aid drying out the floors. All the walls have been plastered and are now receiving their chosen colour scheme. The oak internal doors and architraves have been fitted and the oak skirting is being installed. The oak style dado rails have been installed in the Main Hall and Meeting room with the white dado rails in the two Changing rooms. These rails also act as the trunking for the electrical wiring to the sockets mounted in the rails in these rooms. The second fix of the electrics and plumbing are nearing completion, the toilet fittings are being installed and a start has been made on laying the vinyl flooring. The Kitchen will be the first to be done so that the cabinets, worktops, shelves, sinks, extractor hood, cooker, fridge, microwave and water boiler can be installed. The Plant room access hatch and ladder have been fitted and the three electric roller shutters, one between the Main Hall & Meeting room, one in the Kitchen/Main Hall serving hatch and the one in the outside machine store have been installed. The exterior oak fencing has been completed in front of the East wall and the posts have been erected on the bridge. The oak rails for these posts are in the process of being made ready to be fitted and the knee fences have all been erected. The whole site has been tidied up by the contractor and the garden area has been dug over and the plants that were generously donated have been planted. The overflow car parking area has been rolled and the grass seed sown and hoed in. The grass has really grown well and the plastic reinforcing netting has been laid down, pegged and rolled. This area will remain fenced off for at least 6 months to allow the grass to mature and grow into the plastic netting. Both canopy roofs have been fitted and they are now complete. The fences and gates are being fitted at the two entrances onto the footpath along the South side of the building and they have been designed to keep the rabbits off the bowls green.
The chairs, tables, water boiler, water cooler, fridge, cooker, microwave, crockery and cutlery have all been ordered and some items have already been delivered.
The Triptych Panel from the old Institute commemorating the loss of life in both wars has been restored and will be erected in the entrance lobby opposite the entrance door to remind people what the building is all about!
Photos of the building’s construction are being put onto the website daily so you can see the progress being achieved. Go to www.southcreake.com click on Memorial Pavilion, then the Building Progress page.
Volunteers
The time has now come where we need to ask for volunteers to assist in running and maintaining the building.
We are on schedule to open on the 29th Nov. and we need people to be cleaners, we need people to help with the booking of the events and to operate the control system and we need people to help run events within the building from that date. This is a serious request as we cannot expect one person to do it all!
Please consider seriously whether you can help us run this building effectively for the village and its people.
Do please speak to any Trustee or you can call me on 01328 823350 if you wish to help in any way. Thank you.

Memorial Pavilion events
29th Nov. Christmas Craft Fayre, our first event in the building and all are welcome!
5th Dec. Rangers Bingo Night Eyes down at 7.30pm with all proceeds to the Rangers Club.
6th Dec. Quiz Night 7pm Teams of 6 at £5pp with “Soup and Pudding” supper, all proceeds to the Pavilion.

Sept 1st 2014

Newsletter Sept 2014

Pavilion construction progress
Since the June newsletter, a vast amount of construction has been achieved. The roof tiles are on, the Velux roof-lights are in, the solar panels have been fitted and the guttering and downpipes installed so the roof is now watertight. All windows have been fitted and the doors arrive in early Sept. The outside store hut is almost complete and the two spectator canopies supports have been erected and in Sept their roofs will go on. The paving slabs around the building are being laid and the brick paving for the disabled parking area and walkway ramp has been completed. The shrub garden has also been created. The ceilings and walls are being plastered ready for the first coat of paint and the first fits of electrical and plumbing have been completed with the underfloor heating system to be installed in early Sept. The interior colour scheme has been decided upon, the floor covering chosen, the toilet cubicle equipment has been sorted out and the kitchen cabinets and worktops have been ordered. The parking area knee fence has been installed and work proceeds on the bridge area oak fencing.
We do need some volunteers to help de-weed the overflow car park area in early September and then help to roll the ground, hoe in the grass seed and then lay in the plastic netting for the surface of the car parking area: so if there is anyone willing to offer their services for a few hours, please contact me on 01328 823350. Thank you.
Photos of the building’s construction are being put onto the website daily so you can see the progress being achieved. Go to www.southcreake.com click on Memorial Pavilion, then the Building Progress page.

Memorial Pavilion events
The Memorial Pavilion Committee members are planning the first event to be held in the new building and it is to be a Christmas Craft Fayre on Saturday 29th November, 10am to 4pm.
Entry will be £1pp to include a hot drink. We will have a cafe open for the day so refreshments and light lunches will also be available. There will also be a raffle and all proceeds from the event will go towards the Pavilion. We hope an event such as this will be popular with everyone looking for Christmas gifts and those just eager to see inside the new building. We will be delighted to welcome you all into the new Memorial Pavilion so stay for a bit, have a cuppa and a gossip.
In order to make this an interesting event that villagers would like to come to we need to have a diverse range of craft stall holders present. It would be marvelous if this first event could showcase a lot of differing local talent.
So, if you are a local artist or crafter why not apply to Alirae or Robin (robin@rmaslin.fsnet.co.uk) to come along! Stall holders will have a table top space to display their wares and the cost of a table will be £10 plus a handmade item for our raffle. We would like to attract a whole range of artists so, if you make knitted garments, greetings cards, sew, pottery, glass work, metal work, woodwork, jewellery, painting, photos etc. then please consider having a table at our inaugural event! We may even have space for you to demonstrate your skill or supervise drop in craft activities. Come and be one of the first to spend time in this lovely new facility.
The table allocation will be by ‘first come, first served’ so you need to get your application in as soon as possible.

Future Fundraising events
20th Sept. Wayside Stall at the bus shelter, 10am-2pm. Any unwanted gifts and bric-a-brac to Vickie May please.
15th Oct. Bingo Night at the Ostrich Inn Barn Room. Any unwanted gifts for prizes to Vickie May please.
15th Nov. Quiz Night at North Creake village hall. Teams of up to six with numbers to Vickie May please.
29th Nov. Christmas Craft Fayre in the new Memorial Pavilion, our first event in the building. See details above.

August 3rd 2014

The above photo shows the villagers that attended the First World War Commemoration Dedication event and are patiently waiting for their free tea/coffee and cake!

The Commemoration went extremely well. The attendance at the church was excellent as was the attendance for the walk to the War Memorial for the floral tribute to be layed by Ellie Mendham. The Mayor and Mayoress of King’s Lynn attended the whole event and were impressed with the turnout. We thank the Mayor and Mayoress for attending. The dedication was heartwarming and the Trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank Father Clive Wylie for making the whole event a great success. The donations raised by the refreshment tent amounted to £148.74 which will go towards the Church Bells Fund and they hope to have the bells ringing for Christmas this year. The Trustees would also like to thank everyone that helped with the whole event and to those that donated cakes, thank you.

June 1st 2014

Newsletter June 2014

This is a notice to say that as a safety precaution the play area and a section of the playing field will be closed and fenced off from Friday 6th to Wednesday 11th June.
From Friday 6th to Wednesday 11th June a trench will be dug, the pavilion power cable laid in and then the trench refilled from the power pole on the Leicester Road/Avondale Road Junction across the playing field and through the centre of the Children’s Play Area.
Pavilion construction progress
Since the May newsletter, a vast amount of construction has been achieved. The walls have been growing upwards every day and the outer ones are at roof wall plate level ready for the roof trusses. All the steelworks is up, the plant room floor is in position and the inner walls are nearing completion. At time of writing this, the roof trusses have been delivered and will be erected this week. The roof tiles are on order and will be delivered very soon. It is hoped to have the roof completed by the end of June and the windows and doors in by the end of July. Photos of the building’s construction are being put onto the website daily so you can see the progress being achieved. Go to www.southcreake.com
To clarify my statement in the May issue concerning competing, no we will not be competing with other venues but, the building will be available to be booked for a wide diversity of events that can be staged such as birthday parties, sports events both inside and out, tea parties, wedding receptions, anniversary events, coffee mornings, OAP’s lunches, Mother and Toddler groups, health and well-being events such as Yoga, Pilates, etc. The list is almost endless but, the biggest factor in the buildings’ use is you! There will be a need for volunteers to run a lot of the events that are organized and it will need you to attend and enjoy these events.
This building is being constructed for you, so, when it is open please use it and enjoy it!

Future Fundraising events
26th July. Quiz Night at North Creake village hall. 7pm. Teams of 6 please. Soup and pudding supper provided.
3rd Aug. WW1 Commemorative event. The new Pavilion will be blessed by Father Wylie after church service.
24th Aug. Community Group event on the green/playing field. See latest Creake News for details.
20th Sept. Wayside stall at the bus shelter. 10am-2pm. Any unwanted gifts and bric-a-brac to Vicky May please.

April 26th 2014

Newsletter May 2014

This newsletter will be sent out regularly to keep you up to date with the latest news and of future fundraising events. You can check for details in between newsletters in the Creake News and on the Future Events page of the South Creake village website, www.southcreake.com
Pavilion construction progress
Progress on the pavilion is going really well. The first layer of concrete on all the floors has been laid and the walls will now start to shoot up. Willie has been using his stockpile of blocks and bricks to get to where we are now as we have had to wait for them a while due to shortages from the suppliers. The blocks have arrived and the bricks will be here in early May. Most of the ground works have been completed ahead of schedule due to waiting for the steelworks to be manufactured. The rainwater collection tanks are now in place. Pictures of the building’s progress are being put on the above website every day so you can view the work that is being achieved.
The pavilion, when completed and opened, will not compete with either the Ostrich Inn or other local village halls and pubs as there will be no licensed bar selling alcohol, no restaurant selling meals, no stage for plays/pantos and no cinema system for films. But it will be available for all villagers to use for events such as sports both indoor and outdoor, birthday & other celebration events, community events, health and recreational events and meetings.
One of the possible uses of the new pavilion is for it to be a polling station for all future political elections. We have requested this with the Borough Council but they wish to know the villagers thoughts on this action. Attached to this newsletter is a one question paper for the village residents to answer and to also state their views. Please would you make every endeavour to fill in your answer and comments then forward this paper either directly to the Clerk Sarah Harvey, any Parish Councillor or attend Parish Council meetings on 12th May or 2nd June as we need it to be returned by 7th June so we can report our findings back to the Borough Council?
The village website has been live since 2009 and is in desperate need of modernization. This is now going ahead as donations from the Parish Council and the Community Group has allowed me to get a local website builder to create a new design. He has started and with what I have seen so far it is looking good but it will not go live until it is fully completed. The information on the present site will be transferred and the layout improved to make it more user friendly making it easier to navigate through. A new section will be added that will make it possible to book the rooms in the pavilion via the website, a bit like how you book hotel rooms on-line.

Future Fundraising events
24th May. Wayside Stall at the bus shelter. Any unwanted items you wish to donate will be gratefully received.
26th July. Quiz Night in North Creake Village Hall. 7pm. Teams of up to 6 please. Soup and Pudding supper.
? August. Community Group event on the green/playing field. Details will be announced later.
Further details of these and future events can be found on the Future Events page on the website.
Any items that you wish to donate to sell or for prizes please contact Vickie May on 01328 823398. Thank you.

Newsletter March 2014

WORK HAS STARTED ON BUILDING THE PAVILION!
Fantastic news!! It has been a long, frustrating 13 years wait, but it is now happening! WHOOPEE!
The contractor Shackcloth Ltd. has finally been able to start work on constructing the long awaited Memorial Pavilion. The worksite area for the contractor has been fenced off for safety reasons and we ask you to be careful whenever you are near the area. You may have already seen them begin to remove the top soil and lay the first level of compacted hard core in the main car park area. This will take approximately two weeks. This will allow their vehicles to access the site over the new bridge to commence construction without sinking into a muddy quagmire that would have been churned up by the machines. The little rocking hedgehog in the play area has already been moved from its old position as this is where the new safety fencing of the play area will be erected.

The construction is planned to take around 36 weeks to complete, so making an opening date sometime in early November. Plans are already being discussed about the opening ceremony and which celebrity person/s will officially open the building. We would love to hear about your thoughts and ideas on what form of celebration you would like to see happen and which special person/s you would like to see open it. Please contact any Trustee with your ideas; alternatively you could contact me using the details at the bottom of the page.

Now is the time to plan how the new building will be run. We have 4 volunteers to manage the building, run the booking arrangements and clean and maintain the rooms. More volunteers are needed to help with the cleaning, open the kitchen for regular coffee/tea mornings, help maintain the building and grounds, help organize and run events within the building such as a Mother and Toddlers group and help other groups who wish to hire the rooms for events. If you could consider offering your services then please contact any Trustee.

In February’s newsletter details were listed of future fundraising events that are being organized over the next few months. We need ideas for an event in June and need donated items for prizes at the Bingo/Quiz Nights and to sell at the wayside stalls. If you would like to help in any way in raising funds for the pavilion please do not hesitate to approach any Trustee to offer your assistance. We still need other ideas for raising funds, so again please approach a Trustee with your suggestions.

One further event has been organized by Sara Dyson on Sat April 19th at 11am – 3pm in the Ostrich Inn Barn room. It is a “Local Art, Craft, Collectors and Vintage Fair”. Limited numbers of tables are available at £8. Please contact Sara on 07587 147160 to book a table. All the proceeds will be donated to the Memorial Pavilion fund.

The Trustees contact details are:-
Rodney Wakeman 01328 823296
Len Ringwood 01328 823241
Paul Hart 01328 823515
Ann Harvey 01328 823234
Vickie May 01328 823398
Robin Hawkes 01328 823300
Peter Haywood 01328 823920
Alirae Bunkle 01485 528687
Robin Maslin 01328 823350
Alternatively you can always contact me by email at robin@rmaslin.fsnet.co.uk

This is such incredible news, finally the village will be getting a place to hold community events no matter what the weather throws at us. Remember, this is ‘YOUR’ community centre so please use it!

February 2nd 2014

Newsletter February 2014

“This newsletter will be sent out regularly to keep you up to date with the latest news and of future fundraising events. You can check for details in between newsletters in the Creake News and on the Future Events page of the South Creake village website, www.southcreake.com
Firstly, I would like to apologize to you all for not bringing out a newsletter earlier but it has been a very hectic six months since the last one in August.
The Working Party and the Professional Team have been very busy getting the information ready to go out to tender to choose a contractor. The original tender requests went out to eight contractors in mid-September and returned in mid-October and all eight tenderers replied with their costings. This is when we got a big shock! The costs from all tenderers were well above our original estimate. We decided to have a complete review of why their costs were so high and it was found that a big mistake was made by our Professional Team. A review meeting was arranged and alterations were then undertaken to the specifications for the construction of the building and new tender documents were sent out to the three lowest tenderers. The three returned tender forms were opened on Wed 29th January in Norwich and a contractor has been chosen by the Working Party.
The contractor chosen is Will Shackcloth. The reasons for choosing Will are; his quote for the development was competitive and he is a local builder with a very good reputation for his work within this area; he is familiar with the site and has already completed the construction of the new access bridge successfully and on time.
We are hoping that construction will begin in mid-February; this is dependent on the Lottery, with a completion date of mid-November.
After nearly 11 years of hard thinking, talking, hard graft, many hurdles jumped, heartache, lots of headaches, sleepless nights and worry, we can now say for definite:-

THE PAVILION IS BEING BUILT IN 2014
But the finances for the project are still not complete, some alterations to the specifications have helped save some additional costs, but we still need to maintain the fundraising activities to keep the project on target. So, you will find attached to this newsletter two forms for “Buy a Brick” and “Buy a Roof Tile” and the Trustees are asking you to please consider donating some of your very hard earned finances to help push this project to a successful conclusion. If you are also a tax payer, then please sign the Gift Aid section of the form and we can claim an extra 20% directly from the Government! A tile or brick only costs £10 and if everyone in the village brought just one brick or tile then we would raise over £5,200. Gift Aid cash donations are also very welcome. I know this may sound like begging but we do need the money!
Overleaf are the results of the 100 Club draws, and the details of the fundraising events that were run since the August issue.
Also overleaf are details of future fundraising events that are being organized over the next few months. We do need donated items for prizes at the Bingo and Quiz Nights and to sell at the wayside stalls. If you would like to help in any way in raising funds for the pavilion please do not hesitate to approach any Trustee to offer your assistance. We do need other ideas for raising funds, so again please approach a Trustee with your ideas.
You can always contact me on 01328 823350 or by email at robin@rmaslin.fsnet.co.uk.

Fundraising events
Aug 25th The Yard Sale was a great success as there were 19 stalls open either on the village green or in their own yards. Refreshments were also available in Brenda Mendhams’ yard. The total raised for the Memorial Pavilion was £235.
Oct 13th The Quiz night was a very successful evening as there was good attendance with around 35 players making 8 teams. With the quiz and the raffle we made an excellent £154.
Oct 24th The Sausage Making Demonstration event in North Creake village hall run by the Community Events Group was a fantastically attended evening with all 80 tickets being sold out early on. The total money donated to the Memorial Pavilion was £690.
Nov 6th The Bingo Night held in the Ostrich Inn was a very entertaining and well attended event with 47 people playing and we made £289.

Future fundraising events
Wed 26th Feb at 7pm in Ostrich Barn room. Bingo night including a raffle. £5pp for 12 games.
Sat 15th March at 7pm in North Creake village hall. Quiz night. Teams of six at £5pp this include a soup and pudding supper. There will also be a raffle.
? April No event planned as yet, ideas please!
Sat 24th May 10am – 2pm S. Creake Bus shelter. Wayside stall selling all sorts of goodies. Donated items please!
Sat 26th July at 7pm in North Creake village hall Quiz night. Teams of six at £5pp this include a soup and pudding supper. There will also be a raffle.
Sat 20th Sept 10am – 2pm S. Creake Bus shelter. Wayside stall selling all sorts of goodies. Donated items please!
Wed 15th Oct at 7pm in Ostrich Barn room. Bingo night including a raffle. £5pp for 12 games.
Sat 22nd Nov at 7pm in North Creake village hall. Quiz night. Teams of six at £5pp this include a soup and pudding supper. There will also be a raffle.”

November 24th 2013

The 2013 South Creake War Memorial Institute Annual General Meeting will be held in the Ostrich Function Room on Wednesday 11th December at 7pm. All village residents are invited to attend.

November 18th 2013

The bridge construction has been completed, except for the final road surface of tarmac which will be laid at the end of the construction of the Memorial Pavilion. The site is fenced of for safety reasons as the planned oak handrails have not been added but, as with the tarmac these will be added when the pavilion is finished. Below is two photos of the finished bridge.

October 17th 2013

Today we have received a letter from Bassang offering us a £10,000 grant for which we had applied for a few weeks ago. This now brings our shortfall of the estimated cost down to £32,000. We have tried several other companies for assistance and Barclays Bank has offered to match any fundraising takings on future events and Tesco has offered items for prizes and food stuffs for events with food. Although these do not directly add to our shortfall, they do offer a way to cut down our costs in organising and running future fundraising events. Our thanks goes out to Bassang for the grant, and Barclays and Tesco for their help.

October 16th 2013

Today the bridge deck beams have been lifted into place, secured and the bars positioned in the joints and filled. The two pictures below show the second deck beam being positioned and the completed deck before the joint bars and fillers were inserted. The rest of this week will see both approach splays be put into place and the kerb stones laid. Also the sewer connection pipe for the pavilion will be installed under the river to connect with the main sewer under the road.

September 2nd 2013

The first sod has been dug for the new access bridge today. The two pictures below show the hole being dug for the playing field side bridge abutment.

August 27th 2013

The contractor for the construction of the bridge, Will Shackcloth, started work this morning by erecting the security fence around the worksite! The ability to walk along the river bank on the playing field side will not be allowed as it will be closed off by the fencing because it becomes part of the construction site. Please be aware of the work and take care to keep clear of the site. The children’s’ play area will not be affected.

August 13th 2013

See below for copies of three articles printed in the local press concerning our getting the Sport England grant of £50,000.

The contract for the construction of the access bridge over the river Burn onto the playing field was signed today and the contractor is hoping to begin the work on Monday August 26th. It will take around ten weeks to complete the construction including the installation of the bridge deck and road surfacing. There maybe some minor disruption to the traffic going through the village by a one-way-working system of traffic lights being erected to allow contractors access to the site for work involving the road and roadside river bank, but this will be kept to a minimum.
The whole worksite will be fenced off so please be aware of the security of the fencing so as to prevent access to the site to prevent possible injury. Click on South Creake Bridge Contractors Area to see the area outlined in red.
The children’s’ play area will not be affected in any way.

We have just received some great news, Sport England has offered us a grant of £50,000. This is fantastic and brings us even closer to starting the buildings’ construction and brings our total up to £664,200. Due to the reduced grant offered to us by Garfield Weston, we are busy searching for, and applying to other grant giving organisations to raise the balance required of £47,000.

One of the conditions of the Sport England grant is for us to provide a free sports day to encourage use of the sport facilities available, so we have organised two sports tasters of which details are provided on the poster below. We hope that as many people as possible will attend these FREE events.

August 1st 2013

On 31st July we received a letter containing a cheque for £10,000 from Garfield Weston a grant giving organisation that we had applied to for a grant of £57,000. The £10,000 grant, whilst very welcome, was considerably less than the £57,000 actually requested, leaving us with a final £47,000 still to be raised. So we are now searching for other grant organisations that we can apply to for the shortfall. We are still waiting an answer from Sport England.

July 30th 2013

Newsletter August 2013

On the 29th July the Parish Council made the decision on which contractor is to build the new access bridge across the river Burn. This bridge is vital as the access for the contractor who will be building the pavilion will only be over this bridge. We are looking for a start date in early August, with completion in late October (on the reverse of this newsletter is a drawing showing the contractors working area outlined in red for the construction of the bridge and the associated river bank works).
South Creake Bridge Contractors Area to see the area outlined in red.

The tenders for the pavilion are at the final stages of completion and will be sent out to the six proposed contractors by the middle of August. They will return the completed tenders by the end of September with a construction start date in early November. We are hoping to complete the construction for an opening ceremony to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of the start of the First World War on 4th August 2014. As this building will be the replacement for the War Memorial Institute, that was purchased by the village to commemorate the villagers lost in that war it seems very appropriate to try and marry the opening with this anniversary. On the 24th July we received a letter offering us a grant of £30,000 towards the construction of the pavilion. This has come from The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation which is one of the three grant organisations that we have applied to for the balance of £137,000 to complete the total cost of the pavilion. We are waiting to hear from the two other grantees, Sport England and Garfield Weston, for the rest of the balance and we are hoping to hear from them within the next couple of weeks.
Two wayside stalls were run in June and July and we raised a total of £515.19 Thanks must go all those people that donated items for sale and those that attended and purchased items to raise such good sums.

Future fundraising events:-
August 4th.South Creake Vintage Fair on the green. It is a 1940’s style event with games including a boat race.
September. None at present.
October 12th. Quiz Night 7pm at North Creake village hall. Soup and pudding supper is included. £5pp
November 6th. Bingo Night 7pm at Ostrich Inn function room. Everyone is welcome.

July 24th 2013

Today we have received a letter from the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation offering us a grant of £30,000 for the construction of the new Memorial Pavilion. This is the first one of the three grantees that we applied to for grants to complete the balance of the required funds. This is really great news and we now await the decision from the two other grant organisations. We are still working hard on the tender applications for the construction of the building and hope they will go out to the contractors sometime in August. The goal for the start of construction is still November 1st 2013 with completion in August 2014.

May 20th 2013

Newsletter June 2013

Press release
“On Tuesday May 21st the National Lottery Communities Building Fund will be announcing their list of the latest communities that have been awarded grants towards their local building projects. South Creake War Memorial Institute will be one of those communities and we have been awarded a Lottery grant of £479,200 towards the construction of a new Memorial Pavilion in the village of South Creake in Norfolk. With this grant our present funds amount to £574,200 and further grants have been applied for to raise the balance of £137,000 needed as the total cost of the building is estimated at £711,200. This is a major step in the process of obtaining sufficient funds to build the much needed new pavilion. The building will be a substitute for the original community building that was obtained by the community from Pinchen Breweries in 1920 in memory of those villagers that lost their lives in the First World War. The building was in constant use from 1920 through to 2003 when the Trustees decided to sell the building and build a new pavilion closer to the centre of the village, with easier access, car parking and to make it a multi-functional community and sports centre which could not be done with the old Institute building due to its run down condition and location on the busy B1355 road.
The new building will be a huge benefit to the villagers of South Creake as it will give them a centre to re-vitalize the community spirit that has waned since the old building was closed. It will also give the thriving sports teams much needed changing rooms and offer better facilities to encourage further sporting activities to be run inside and outside the pavilion. It will also be a vital community centre for the elderly, mothers and toddlers, single parents and new-comers to the village to meet others and this will help diminish the sense of isolation of these groups.
The building will also be a place where the local residents will be able to hire for private functions such as wedding receptions, birthday parties, etc. It will also be available to groups such as the Community Events Group that organize events within the village to boost the community spirit and get people together. Further information can be found on the website www.southcreake.com ”
Hopefully you should have seen this press release in the local papers, maybe even heard it on the TV and radio. It is fantastic news for the village and all its residents. An awful lot of hard work and long hours has gone into the process of grant applications and they are still going on. We have applied to three other grantees last week and we will await their decisions, hopefully it will be favourable as we now have a large chunk of the funds. This does not stop us fund-raising though, in fact it increases the need to carry on doing so and below is the next event:-
Sat June 22nd Wayside stall at the bus shelter 10am – 2pm. If you have any items that you would like to donate for us to sell then please either call Vicky May 01328 823398 or deliver them on the day. Thank you.

March 26th 2013

Newsletter April 2013

The National Lottery Stage 3 application form, the Capital Project Delivery plan, the Business plan and the Technical drawings were delivered by hand to Lottery’s Birmingham headquarters on Feb 9th. In early March the assessor for our project came back to us to ask for clarification on 15 points in the two plans and the answers to these were sent in on March 13th. The Project team has a site meeting with the assessor in early April. The whole application goes in front of the deciding committee in early May, so we should have an answer soon after. In the meantime we will look for and apply to other grant providers to obtain the balance required to complete the construction. We thank you all for supporting us in this long haul but we are now even closer than ever towards the construction of the new Memorial pavilion.

Future fundraising events:-
April 13th 7pm – 10pm. Quiz Night at North Creake village hall. Teams of six (max) please and details to Vicky May on 01328 823398. £5pp entry with soup/pudding supper.
May 2nd 7.30pm. Sausage-making demonstration, The Ostrich Inn. Tickets, Amanda Mendham, Brenda Mendham or Kate Thomson.

October 25th 2012

Newsletter November 2012

The Trustees’ Project Team would like to announce that the National Lottery have informed us that we have been invited to send in an application for Stage 3 of the process to obtain a grant of £500,000 towards the cost of building the new pavilion. This means that we have been asked to complete a Business Plan and a Sustainability Plan for the running of the building. This however does NOT mean we have been given the grant as we still have one more stage to go, one more hurdle to jump, before we can announce the offer of the grant being given. This is one big leap and we have six months to complete this stage. In the meantime, as well as compiling this application we will look for and apply to other grant providers to obtain the balance required to complete the construction. We thank you all for supporting us in this long haul but we are now closer than ever before towards the construction of the new Memorial pavilion.

Future fundraising events:-
Nov 10th 2012 7pm – 10pm Race Night at North Creake village hall using real wooden horses. This has now been postponed until the new year.
Dec 23rd 2012 3.30pm – 5pm Carol Singing within the village. Start outside the Ostrich Inn and finish at the village church of St Mary’s. All are welcome to join the group at any point. For further details contact Vickie May on 01328 823398.
We have had a very generous offer of running an Adult Self Defence Class to raise money for the pavilion at North Creake village hall early next year. A date will be announced in the next newsletter and on the website, address above, so if there is anyone interested could they please contact Vicky May to give their details. Prices will be announced when the date is fixed but all proceeds from this class will go towards the pavilion.

August 25th 2012

Newsletter September 2012

We have had a request from the Big Lottery Fund concerning our re-application of Stage 2 for a telephone interview for more information that they require for their meeting to decide whether we have got through to Stage 3 which is being held on September 19th. As soon as we know either way we will inform everyone either by another newsletter or via the website. So please keep checking the Memorial Pavilion page on the website. If we get through, we will then start to approach other organisations that offer grants.
The Wayside Stall held on June 23rd raised a wonderful £251 and the Quiz Night on July 7th raised a staggering £158. Our thanks go out to all those that donated items for the stalls, to those ladies that did all the cooking for the Quiz Night, to all who helped and to all those that attended any of the events. Thank you.

Future fundraising events:-
Sept 8th 2012 2pm – 4pm Car Treasure Hunt. Playing Field start, Ostrich Inn for results. £5 per car. There will also be a Scavenger Hunt for children. Tickets from 01328 823398
Oct 6th 2012 12am – 2pm Soup Lunch at North Creake village hall. Two courses and tea/coffee for £5pp
Nov 10th 2012 7pm – 10pm Race Night at North Creake village hall using real wooden horses, great fun. You can sponsor (also name) a race for £25 and/or you can own a horse (also name) before the day and be the jockey for £10. Bets are £1 per horse. Entrance £5pp which includes a hot supper. Please bring your own drinks. Tea and coffee will be available all evening. Sponsors and owners details need to be made available well before the night to create the programme and for food numbers to Vickie May. Tickets can be obtained from Vicky May 01328 823398 and Peter Haywood 01328 823920.
If you would like to donate any unwanted gifts as prizes for, or help with any of these and future events, please contact Vicky May on 01328 823398.
The new 100 Club will be run each year from 1st July to 30th June. The cost will be £1.00 per month and must be paid in advance for the year. The draw will be made at the event that is being run in each month and the results will be announced in the Creake News and on the website (address above). The prizes are dependent on how many join the club. To date there are 49 members. Below is an application form for you to cut off and send in with your remittance cheque (please reduce the payment by £1 for each month missed after June).

July 15th 2012

The 2012 South Creake War Memorial Institute Annual General Meeting will be held in the Function room of the Ostrich inn on Monday 30th July commencing at 7.30pm. All villagers are welcome to attend.

June 9th 2012

Newsletter June 2012

A meeting has been held between the Project Team and a representative of the National Lottery concerning the turning down, for a second time, of our application for the £500,000 grant. This meeting was a very positive and friendly one with the result being that the Lottery have agreed to reopen our Stage 2 application for further consideration, but only after a survey has been done with the residents to ascertain the villager’s needs. This has been undertaken and, by the time you receive this newsletter, the application with the survey results will have been sent in to the Lottery Fund. We would like to thank all those that completed the survey questionnaire. We await their decision and should we get through to Stage 3, then other grant applications will go into other organisations.
This newsletter will be sent out regularly to keep you up to date with fundraising events. You can check for dates, in between newsletters, in the Creake News and on the Future Events page of the South Creake village website.
The Soup Lunch held on March 3rd raised £92.70, the Wayside Stall held on April 7th raised a wonderful £365 and the Soup Lunch on May 5th raised a staggering £148. Our thanks go out to all those that donated items for the stall, to those ladies that did all the cooking for the Soup Lunches, to all who helped and to all those that attended any of the events. Thank you.
June 23rd 2012 10am – 1pm Wayside stall in the bus shelter. Items required for sale, see below.
July 7th 2012 7pm – 10pm Quiz night at North Creake village hall. £5 per person includes refreshments.
Aug 26th 2012 10am – 2pm Yard Sale stall selling leftover items from the wayside stall.
Sept 8th 2012 2pm – 4pm Car Treasure Hunt. Playing Field start, Ostrich Inn for results. £5 per car.
Oct 6th 2012 12am – 2pm Soup Lunch at North Creake village hall.
Nov 10th 2012 7pm – 10pm Race Night at North Creake village hall using real wooden horses, great fun.
If you would like to donate any unwanted gifts as prizes for these and future events, please contact Vicky May on 01328 823398 where you can arrange collection or delivery. Also items like cakes, cookies, bric-a-brac, books, etc. are needed for the wayside stalls in June and August. Please contact Ann Harvey on 01328 823234 or Doreen Cox on 01328 823464. If you would like to help with any of the above events then please contact Vicky May.
The new 100 Club will be run each year from 1st July to 31st June. The cost will be £1.00 per month and must be paid in advance for the year. The draw will be made at each event that is being run each month and the results will be announced in the Creake News and on the website, address above. The prizes are dependent on how many join the club. To date there are 36 members therefore leaving 64 members spaces left so, below is an application form for you to cut off and send in with your remittance cheque.

March 1st 2012

Newsletter March 2012

The Stage 2 application that had gone in to the National Lottery for a £500,000 grant under their Reaching Communities Buildings scheme has been turned down for the second time. The Project Team is very upset by this decision. The reasons given are that there was insufficient evidence of the needs within the village and whether the designed building was appropriate to answer those needs. So this means there will have to be another survey done with the residents to identify these needs and to marry them up to the proposed building. The Project Team is very sorry for yet another ‘survey’, but to obtain this grant this has to be undertaken. Further details will be announced later. Further grant applications to other organisations cannot now be undertaken until we get through to stage 3 of the Lottery grant application.
The Bingo night was an outstanding success with over 60 people attending and they had to be nearly crammed into the room. A great evening was had by all and the event raised a staggering £370.50 towards the Pavilion. Thanks must go the people that ran it, those that donated the prizes and to all the people that attended. Thank you!
The Quiz Night was also a great success with 35 people attending making up six teams. A wonderful £136 was raised and a fun evening was had by all. Thanks must go firstly to those that did all the hard work producing the lovely food that was provided, secondly to the Quiz Master and for the use of his announcing equipment, and to all those team members that enjoyed trying to answer all the questions! Thank you.
This newsletter will be sent out regularly to keep you up to date with fundraising events. You can check for dates, in between newsletters, in the Creake News and on the Future Events page of the South Creake village website.
April 7th 2012 10am-1pm Wayside stall in the South Creake bus shelter
May 5th 2012 12-2pm Soup Lunch at North Creake village hall
June 3rd 2012 Gift Aid and Buy-a-Brick/Roof Tile stall at the Jubilee Street Party
If you would like to donate any unwanted gifts as prizes for these and future events, please contact Vicky May on 01328 823398 where you can arrange collection or delivery. Also items like cakes, cookies, bric-a-brac, books, etc. are needed for the wayside stall in April. Please contact Ann Harvey on 01328 823234 or Doreen Cox on 01328 823464. If you would like to help with any of the above or future events, please contact Vicky May on 01328 823398.
The new 100 Club will be run each year from 1st July to 31st June. The cost will be £1.00 per month and must be paid in advance for the year. The draw will be made at each event that is being run each month and the results will be announced in the Creake News and on the website, address above. The prize is dependent on how many join the club. Below is an application form for you to cut off and send in with your remittance cheque.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
I wish to become a member of the South Creake Memorial Pavilion 100 Club. I enclose a cheque, made out to South Creake War Memorial Institute, for the sum of £12.
Name ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Address …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Telephone No ………………………………………..E-mail address ………………………………………………………………………………..
Please forward this, with a cheque, to:-
100 Club 4 Avondale Road South Creake Fakenham Norfolk. NR21 9PH Tel. 01328 823350

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Dec 11th 2011

Newsletter December 2011

A new sub-committee has been formed by the Trustees to arrange future monthly fundraising events in or around the village in response to the answers given by the residents in the village questionnaire. This newsletter will be sent out regularly to keep you up to date with these events. You can also check the dates, in between newsletters, in the Creake News and on the Events Calendar-Future Events page of the South Creake village website.
January 18th 2012 7.30pm Bingo in the Function Room of the Ostrich Inn
February 25th 7-10pm Quiz Night at North Creake village hall
March 3rd 2012 12-2pm Soup Lunch at North Creake village hall
April 7th 2012 10am-1pm Wayside stall in the bus shelter
May 5th 2012 12-2pm Soup Lunch at North Creake village hall
June 3rd 2012 Gift Aid and Buy-a-Brick/Roof Tile stall at the Jubilee Street Party
If you would like to donate any unwanted gifts as prizes for these and future events, please contact Vicky May on 01328 823398 where you can arrange collection or delivery. They need prizes for the first two events above and could they be made available by January 9th. Also items like cakes, cookies, bric-a-brac, books, etc. are needed for the wayside stall in April. Please contact Ann Harvey on 01328 823234 or Doreen Cox on 01328 823464.
The Quiz Night will feature teams with a maximum of six people, cost £5pp to be paid on the night, and will include food (soup and cake), drinks you will need to bring yourself. The teams names to be in by 18th Feb and to be either emailed to Robin Maslin on robin@rmaslin.fsnet.co.uk or directly to Alirae Bunkle or Vicky May.
If you would like to help with any of the above or future events, please contact Vicky May on 01328 823398.
Three requests the group want to ask 1. Is there anyone in the village that has experience of or knows how to run a “Race Night” which they wish to organise for November 2012? 2. Is there a volunteer to organize and run the 100 Club? 3. Is there anyone who would like to organise and run Coffee Mornings in their house? Please contact any of the persons above.
Thank you.

Nov 22nd 2011 (updated 23rd Dec 2011)

The questionnaire answers have now been correlated and the details are as follows:-
Number of questionnaires sent out = 360
Number of questionnaires returned = 155 (43.1%)
Number that said the development suits the villages’ community and sporting needs = 138 (89.03%)
Number of residents (502 at last count) that responded = 325 (64.74%)
Number of additional activities to the 20 already suggested and requested = 65
Number of Gift Aid envelopes that contained donations = 33
Number of additional ideas for fund-raising to the 5 already suggested = 29
Total donations given = £2,453.46p
Number of volunteers willing to help finish the building = 32
Number of volunteers willing to organize and help run activities = 64
Number of residents that attended the two Public Meetings = 34
The Trustees would like to express their thanks to all of those residents that took their time to fill in the questionnaires. These answers will help us when we apply for grants to raise the money to build the pavilion. A Stage 2 application as just gone in to the National Lottery for a £500,000 grant under their Reaching Communities Buildings scheme. Further grant applications to other organisations will be undertaken over the next few months.

Nov 3rd 2011

There has been a questionnaire delivered to all village households this week to ask the villagers their views on the new Memorial Pavilion and to ask if there are volunteers willing to help the Trustees in the running, organising, fund-raising and participating in the use of the building and any activity that will be run in it. The Trustees ask that the questionnaire be filled in by as many residents as possible as the information gained will aid them in obtaining grants for its’ construction.
There will be two public meetings being held in the Ostrich Function room on Wednesday 16th November at 4pm – 5.30pm and 7.30pm – 9.30pm where the results of the questionnaire will be available to view, copies of the design plans and a scale model will also be on show. Trustees of the War Memorial Institute will be available to answer any questions you may have.
Some necessary minor alterations to the design have had to be made for construction reasons, click on this link to see the latest drawings:- Pavilion and Site layout

July 25th 2011

The new position of the football pitch has been laid out and the goalposts have been moved to their new positions on the pitch. Thanks must go to the Football team for moving the goalposts and marking out the lines of the new pitch and they played their first friendly match on it on Thursday 21 July. The pitch has been moved to allow for the construction of the new Memorial Pavilion.

AGM June 27th 2011

The South Creake War Memorial Institute invite all South Creake residents to attend the Annual General Meeting which will be held in the Function Room, Ostrich Inn at 7.30pm. Refreshments, kindly provided by the Ostrich Inn, will be available before and after the meeting.
For the agendas and minutes of AGMs, click on the link above.

May 22nd 2010

The WMI Annual General Meeting will be held in the Ostrich function room on Wednesday 16th June at 7.30pm.

The Institute has now been registered with the HM Revenue and Customs for the collection of Gift Aid. This will allow the WMI to get an additional amount equivalent to the tax paid by a donor on all gifts of money (donations) if the donor agrees. This will be an additional 28% of that donation, at no extra cost to the donor as this will come from the government.

Feb 1st 2010

A legacy of £50,000 has been left to the War Memorial Institute solely for the maintenance of the new Memorial Pavilion when it is built. This legacy has a time limit of Feb 2010 and is dependent on planning permission being granted before then. If it is not, then this legacy will be lost for this project.
The planning approval was achieved on Dec 7th 2009, so this legacy has now been secured and it has been put into a savings account managed by the Trustees.

WAR MEMORIAL INSTITUTE

Huge progress has been made in the last two months on this project; the Institute building has been sold, and full planning approval has been obtained for the New Memorial Pavilion. Unfortunately, neither have been straight forward.

The War Memorial Institute
The sale of the Institute has been delayed for eighteen months, due to the enforcing of a covenant, put in place at the initial purchase by the village in 1920 from Steward and Patterson, the brewer, stating that the building could be used as a Parish Institute and for no other purpose. The effect of this has been to limit the market considerably, and reduce the market value to one-quarter without the covenant. The Trustees have very strict conditions from the Charity Commission on the sale of the Institute, one stating that it must be valued by a Chartered Surveyor and marketed at that value, and could not be sold privately, but only on the open market. The Trustees have tried in vain, throughout that time, to get the covenant removed, but all the legal advice has been that, although it could be achieved, the legal costs could be very high and it would take many months. The Trustees were not prepared, on behalf of the community, to takes this line.

Without removing the covenant the only option would be to put it on the market with the covenant in place and at the low valuation, which would be up to £150,000 below the market value without the covenant and with a very limited market. The Trustees considered that the community should be made aware of the reasons for the delay and considerable loss of income from the sale due to the covenant, which is in the region of £50,000 to £100,000, meaning that this much extra must now be obtained through fund raising.

Now for the good news. The sale has been made possible by two people, a village resident, and a second home owner in the village. Both are in agreement with the critical need for the development for the survival of the village as a community, and the importance of the income from the Institute in the project. The village residents, who moved to the village about 4 years ago, have made an acceptable offer for the building as it stands, with the covenants in place, and as individuals they are in a better position to deal with the covenants. They will also carry out all the remaining clearing out and are planning to live there themselves. The second home owner has made it possible, through a very generous donation, to enable a Solicitor to be employed to carry out the necessary legal work required by the Charity Commission to enable the building to be sold privately. On behalf of the community the Trustees sincerely thank them both for their support.

THE NEW MEMORIAL PAVILION

Planning approval for this was obtained at the December meeting of the Borough Development and Control Board. As with most projects carried out in the village, there is a minority who are not in favour of the development. Of course, every one has that right, but they should accept that they are very much in the minority. In the case of this project it has been proved, on numerous occasions, that the vast majority of residents not only approve of the project and the need for it, but are anxious to see it completed and in use.

The village has been down-graded and now comes under the category of a Hamlet. It is also included in the 20% of the most deprived villages/hamlets in East Anglia, the reason being that it has no amenities or facilities and no community function facility. The residents who are not in favour of the project, and protesting, can be counted on the fingers of one hand and I am sure the vast majority of the community will agree with the Trustees that the protesters have now seriously overstepped the mark. They will not be specifically named in this report as their names are in the public domain through the Borough web site, and most residents know who they are.

One resident from a nearby village, presumably having delved into the village archives, discovered that, in 1976, the recreation ground/playing field was registered under the Commons Registration Act, with the same number as the village green. As such, it is classed as a village green, and cannot have a building of any description sited on it. He reported this to the Borough planning department. The village therefore, currently, does not have a site for the development and therefore before any development can be carried out this must be resolved.

This will seriously delay the project and be very costly to the community. Until this, the WMI Trustees have been leading, but it is now in Parish Council’s court as it will have to take the necessary steps to get the recreation field de-registered. This is not straight forward and will be very costly. The application alone will cost £4900 to submit, excluding all the necessary legal costs and other implications.

The recreation ground was purchased by the village in 1908 for the recreation and exercise of the parishioners, and no residents have ever considered it to be the village green. The village green has been there since before records began, and any map clearly shows this. This would not have been a problem if the objector had not delved into the archives and reported it to the planning department, which then had no option but to take the action it has. There has never been any reason for it to be queried before and full planning approval has in the past been obtained for the bowls and football pavilions, and more recently, in 2006, the New Memorial Pavilion. None of these would be allowed on a village green, and even the play area would be questionable. The protesters put a number of unfounded reasons forward for their action, most of which would have been answered if they had taken an interest in the project throughout the development, which commenced in 2003, possibly before they arrived to live in the village full time. It is not clear what their objective is, but if it is to create a lot of extra work, considerably delay the project, and cost the community a lot of money which could have been spent on other projects, they have succeeded.

If it was to stop the project, they have failed. it is critical to the survival of the village as a community and the vast majority are anxious to see it completed. It is a priority item in the recent Parish Plan, which was based on a survey delivered to every household in the village. If the project did not go ahead it would result in a loss of up to £200,000 to the community, and a one-off opportunity to provide the much needed facility, retaining a link with the War Memorial Institute, established in 1920 as a memorial to the bravery and loss of village residents.

A brief re-cap on the background to the project
When the Club closed in 2003, the Institute did not comply with the necessary regulations and therefore could not be let, and received no income. Following two well publicised, well attended, public meetings, it was unanimously agreed that the only option was to sell the building and provide a new replacement facility, situated on the playing field. The Trustees were re-formed and were given a mandate to see the project through. Initial dealings with the Charity Commission, to obtain approval to sell the building, were unsuccessful. The Commission needed evidence of the replacement, otherwise they would sell the building and decide where the money should go.

It was agreed that initial research for the new facility should be carried out to provide the necessary evidence for the Charity Commission. It was identified that, to satisfy the village needs and to make the facility viable, the building needed to be multi-functional, incorporating the football and bowls pavilions plus a function room and a meeting room. This would ensure year round use. Various sites for the development were considered including consultation with the Highways department for the access. The only road where they would allow a new access for such development was the Fakenham Road, due to emergency service access. To incorporate the bowls, tennis and football needs, the pavilion needed to be sited adjoining the bowling green, and the current site was agreed.

Before progressing further, work was carried voluntarily to design the new facility, incorporating the identified requirements, and carrying out the necessary work to obtain full planning approval to ensure the site could be used. This was obtained in 2006. A business plan was produced and all the details sent to the Charity Commission, requesting permission to sell the Institute. This was granted, with a number of conditions, one being that all the income must be spent on the new replacement building. All the details of the proposed development were published in the Creake News, asking for any comments or suggestions. Only two were received; the height of the roof, and breaking up and enhancing the elevation.

An architectural designer was employed, with experience in such work, to improve the development, taking into account the comments, and bringing the changing facilities up to the Sport’s Council recommendations. The roof was lowered by one metre and the elevations enhanced. The improvements increased the size of the footprint, hence the need for new planning approval. Before the revised application was submitted for approval, the new drawings, plus a model, were on display at a well-attended fun day on the actual site, asking for comments. With one exception, the response was very much in favour, with no complaints or suggestions. The community must be praised for its fund raising efforts to enable the project to reach this stage, which total £15,000 to date. All the details on the progression have been published in the Creake News, and have been reported at the Parish Council meetings by the Secretary of the Trustees. These meetings are public and everyone has an opportunity to have their say. It is planned to commence the project as soon as the village green problem has been resolved, with work on the bridge being the first phase.

War Memorial Institute Trustees

Dec 7th 2009

On Monday Dec 7th three members of the Parish Council, and they are also Trustees of the War Memorial Institute, Len Ringwood, Rodney Wakeman and Robin Maslin attended the monthly West Norfolk Planning Control Board meeting at King’s Lynn Town Hall as our application for planning permission was to be read. We arrived at the meeting at 10am and then found out that our application would not be read until after lunch. We sat through the meeting as none of us had attended this type of meeting before and found it both interesting and a little boring at times!

The time then arrived for our reading of the application and Len Ringwood, who had indicated that he wished to speak, was called forward to deliver his three minute speech to back up our application. The opposition representative was then called to give their three minute speech. The Chairperson then asked members of the Control Board if they had any questions. Two members gave their representations which were in favour of approving the application. So, with no questions being asked, the vote was taken and was passed by a very large majority! There were only two who voted against.

So, we now have our planning permission to go ahead and build the new Memorial Pavilion. There is still one minor stumbling block and that is the fact of the Recreational Ground (Playing Field) being wrongly registered as a Village Green. Negotiations are underway to rectify this anomaly.

In the meantime we will be carrying on with finalizing the finer details of the Pavilion’s design and proceeding with the bridge construction. Also we will be pursuing grants to finance the construction.
On this subject of finance, if there is anybody out there, either in the village or elsewhere, that would like to consider donating any money towards the construction costs, please contact me via the Feedback email link at the top of this page and I will contact you direct.

There is a legacy that has been left to the War Memorial Institute Trustees by Albert Shackcloth for the maintenance and upkeep only of the pavilion which was dependent on obtaining planning permission. This legacy has now been secured and will be invested for the future upkeep of the building.

It has been a very long haul to get to where we are now and we still have a long way to go yet, but you can now be assured that the new Memorial Pavilion will be built!

The planning application has been re-submitted to the King’s Lynn Borough Council’s Planning Department for their perusal and final approval.