We are confirmed as the Chiseldon polling station. 6th May 10 is a big day for the hall. A true community use and we are proud as punch.
Last night saw the hall management committee meet for the first time. Only five people attended (including Akela) but this is a massive step towards having independent oversight and governance. Its also demonstrating that we do what we say we will...
An article in the Ridgeway bell should be published in the coming days. Text is below:
1st Chiseldon Air Scouts – Hall report
After circa one year of discussions to agree a 99 year lease at a peppercorn rent and eight elapsed months of refurbishment, the Calley Memorial Hall reopened for use at the start of September 2009. In November 09 we held a very well supported ‘opening dance’, during the evening I forgot to mention a donation from the Calley lodge of the Buffs, so want to thank them here for their donation.
Our vision has been to establish a social hub for villagers and provide an appropriate venue for Chiseldon Scouting. The Scout Group developed a business plan that was critiqued by the Parish Council and Trustees of the village hall fund. Some considerable scepticism was directed at what we felt was a conservative plan, this was based on the experience of the Parish Council running the portable building adjacent to the Chiseldon tennis courts.
It is now April 2010 and it is right to review progress made towards our vision. In the period 1st September 09 to 13th April 10 we had 168 hall bookings and believe we have a success on our hands. Booking numbers by type are below:
Private party | Child party | Scout booking | Wellness sessions | Others |
5 | 9 | 70 | 64 | 20 |
Our financial strategy has been to cover costs but not make profit and we feel this makes the hall sustainable to operate. This allows us to set hourly rates of hire from £10 per hour and our uniformed group rates are as low as £5 per hour. This isn’t the whole story though; some hires are free, where the village will benefit in a social or community sense. Examples of ‘free hires’ are police sessions and the major public event on 6th May 10 (see below). In short, with over six months of operation under our belt, other than our need for capital to pay for large works, operation of the hall is sustainable. Strong finances have allowed us to replace a broken oven and an ailing fridge-freezer (both of the replaced items were second hand donations).
We are particularly proud that the Swindon electoral team have selected the Calley Memorial Hall to be Chiseldon’s polling station on 6th May. Scout and Beaver sessions will give way to this important event. From our perspective, we think the election will attract a lot of potential new users to the hall and community use of the hall is at the heart of our approach.
On 26th April the first meeting of the Hall Management Committee takes place. Delays have primarily been mine, but we are now planning to meet and this is the first step on the way to gain access to village hall funds that are in Trust. I have to say that trustees took a little while to be convinced of our plans, but they are now very supportive and we thank them. Due to the Scouts holding the lease, members of the hall committee will have to be CRB checked.
At the moment, upkeep and ‘care taking’ of the hall is voluntary, with members of the Scout Group taking on cleaning, maintenance and recovery from events. Whilst this will be a matter for the hall committee, our aspiration will be to secure a volunteer from the village to take on this role.
In March, our Cub pack used the hall to stage an ‘indoor camping’ event. After a night hike and flying model aeroplanes indoors ‘round the pole’, Tents were pitched in the hall. The morning saw Cubs break camp and cook their own breakfast on portable stoves in the main hall. When asked to rate the event out of five, a Cub gave a score of one thousand!
We still have work to do on the hall and we consider only phase one of the hall works complete. We do want to replace external windows and doors. We also need to apply attention to the men’s toilets by incorporating a disabled loo and moving the cubicles.
Adult parties and family lunches, a wake and children’s parties (including having a bouncy castle in the hall) reflect the genuinely busy schedule of the hall and suggest that we have a village asset would be the envy of many communities. It’s also great to see Slimming World and ‘Keep Fit’ draw many members of the community to the hall.
We feel our community based vision is now a reality and many villagers have used the hall. We now have external groups using the hall and operate a ‘first come, first served’ bookings model, but will always give discounts to Chiseldon residents. To book the hall call 01793 741164 and speak to our booking secretary Mrs. Leo Snipe.
