The wait is nearly over

It will be with great pride that we host the polling station for the 2010 general election.

Today saw English Nature hold an all day meeting in the hall. Stacked on the stage were polling booths and signs (delivered on Tuesday) ready for tomorrow morning.

After Cubs this evening, the hall was swept, hoovered and loos checked ready for tomorrows potentially heavy traffic through them.

The election crew will arrive at 06:30 with polling starting at 07:00. By that time the urn should be hot and a cuppa available for the crew who will work all day!

We wouldn't want to put anyone off voting, so during Cubs, Akela fitted some hooks on the front door, so that the doors stay open even if the wind blows.

Returning officer visit and Hall Mgt Cttee

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:

1^st 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 1^st September 09 to 13^th 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 6^th 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 6^th 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 26^th 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.

Pete Snipe
Group Scout Leader
pete.snipe@gmail.com

Marigolds at Easter

Saturday saw another four year olds birthday party take place in the hall.  Nice people.

Today (Easter Sunday) saw Akela and the Veveri don 'marigolds' and clean out a drain at the rear of the hall.  This involved lots of scooping out gunge from the drain and just when we thought it was never clear, a bucket of water was applied and drained away very quickly.  The down pipe was refitted and rods returned to Akela.

The front door has some damage (from being left open and not being held in place) so our next job is to fir a new hinge and repair the front door.

Happy Easter!

Call 01793 741164 to hire the Calley Memorial Hall.  Bookings are brisk but we continue to make rates very comptetive.

The coming week should confirm the general election date - we are really looking forward to being Chiseldon's polling station.

Speakers and hall clean-up

Two future hirers of the hall were shown round this morning.  I swept up, emptied bins and tidied all the areas the Cub team missed on Saturday.  New loo rolls and extra paper hand towels were placed in the loo.

The Wharfdale speakers that were donated some months ago had a number of faults and one had stopped completely, so some replacements speakers were soldered into place and the DVD / CD player removed (it stopped working some weeks ago).

We now have an amplifier, two (smaller) speakers that work and a jack that will allow ipods to be plugged in.  I guess I need to ask around for a spare audio CD player to leave in the hall (do I have one in the loft myself?).

Over the weekend, it became clear that the fridge isnt cooling too well (the freezer part is fine).  We need to start looking for a replacement.

Leo printed some hall leaflets in heavy weight paper.  I fitted a leaflet pocket to the notice board and our future hirers each took a leaflet as they looked around.

We need to pay attention to the mens loos prior to polling day (the hall is planned to be the polling station for Chiseldon).  I have asked the Veveri to work with Akela during the bank holiday weekend to make the mens loo ceiling good.

Finally, Leo tells me a future hirer found us on the web (via this blog).  The power of the web eh?

Hike Over event

The Chiseldon Cub Scout section slept in the hall last night.  Prior to the sleep over, they walked 4.75 miles in very poor (read wet) weather. Upon arrival back at the hall, they were treated to a meal and then had a go at electric 'round the pole' model flying (indoors).

Many Cubs were still awake a 2am and were upset when they were 'roused' at 6:30 by leaders keen to get on with breakfast. 

The hall was a great place for the event and we look forward to many more Scouts sleeping over as they walk the Ridgeway.

Rates demand!

The annual rate demand for 2010/11 arrived today for the Calley Memorial Hall.  The hall rateable value is £1875.  The charge for the period is £776.25.  Mandatory rate reflief of £621.00 and discretionary top up relief of £155.25 leave a balance to pay of £0.00 (nothing).  This is good news for the future sustainability of hall operations.

With the general election likely to be on 6th May 10, we now expect the hall to be used as Chiseldon's polling station and have an agreement with the election team to this effect.

The weekend saw a swimming awards ceremony (followed by a disco) and a private function held by a village family. 

Update

Another weekend function was held by villagers and Scouts returned from Ferney Croft to a warm hall and somewhere out of the wind to wait for parents.

February 2010 was an impressive month for hall income (our best yet) and word is getting around about the hall being available. 

Sunday saw a Cub parent and Akela set up 'round the pole flying' ((RTP) for a future Cub session. Starting with a pole, by the end of the session an airplane was wizzing round the hall on two very thin wires.... The Cubs are going to enjoy this activity!