Celebration day: Baroness Royall opens Cafe and Leisure path
Village SOS award for Blakeney Community Green brings community benefits
The Otter Holt café and Blakeney Community Green leisure trail were opened by Jan Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, on Friday 14th September 2012. Earlier in 2012 Blakeney Community Green was awarded a £30,000 grant by Village SOS http://www.villagesos.org>, part of the BIG Lottery Fund. This grant is being used by Blakeney Community Green to open the Otter Holt community café, and invest in a new 400 metre leisure trail and exercise track on the local recreation ground adjoining the Village Hall in Blakeney, Gloucestershire.
Rose Peaty, Chair of Blakeney Community Green said: "We were really pleased to welcome Baroness Royall at this critical point in our campaign to build a new heart for Blakeney around the Village Hall and the land owned by the Blakeney and District Recreation Trust. The leisure trail and café will benefit the whole community. Our Community Green is already being well used and will continue to be used for a great variety of local activities such the annual duck race, healthy walks organised by the Blakeney Surgery, regular sport, shows, fairs, out-door parties, meetings and fundraising events. It helps us sustain a variety of thriving village activities, with a friendly meeting place for all provided by our Otter Holt community cafe which will encourage others in the community to come and join us.
The £30,000 award from Village SOS enabled the employment of local contractors to build the leisure trail, upgrade the catering and kitchen facilities in the Village Hall for the Otter Holt café, which will open initially for two days a week. This included training for six staff and a number of critical actions such as installing new worktops to ensure high levels of hygiene and safety.
Ewart Woolley, Project Manager for Blakeney Community Green said "We are all very happy to get to this opening day... but we still have long way to go. We are really grateful to Village SOS and for the massive practical contribution from Two Rivers Housing Association. We would specially like to thank Jane Cordier for all her help with grant applications and direct support. Plans are being made for playground equipment and a BMX track for the young at heart and a Blakeney nature trail for everyone. The Blakeney Nature Trail is our next priority and with the support of the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust we hope to make a full announcement on the Nature Trail project before the end of the month."
The new 400 metre leisure trail round the football pitch gives everyone, including the infirm and disabled using wheelchairs, excellent access to exercise in the countryside in all weathers while the opening of the Otter Holt community cafe in the village hall will also provide local food, drink and other produce to benefit everyone. Blakeney Community Green is working with Blakeney Hill Growers (www.blakeneyhillgrowers.org.uk/ <http://www.blakeneyhillgrowers.org.uk/>) to eventually generate an income through sales of organic and locally community sourced foods from the cafe and other fundraising activities.
Rose Peaty continued "This is a great day for our Blakeney Community Green project. Our grateful thanks go to the Lottery and Village SOS. 'The café and leisure trail will be valuable assets for the community, encouraging visitors to the area and giving them a chance to discover the natural heritage and resources of Blakeney. Profits from the café will help sustain the project and will be reinvested into the community and village.
"Our thanks go to all who attend our events, provide tea and cakes, buy our draw tickets, run half marathons and take part in madcap activities like free fall flying to raise money. I would also like to thank the Southwest Foundation, who, while not directly involved, helped us give great support to our young village people... and this project was, after all, based on their original ideas. The Midcounties Cooperative pump priming award also helped us greatly in our early days and of course I don't want to forget all those members who helped us with fundraising, especially our two champion individual fundraisers Linda White and Sue Adams, both who live in Blakeney."
