Trumpington Pavilion:
Opening Weekend,
14-15 November 2009
The new building is leased from the City Council to the Residents’ Association and the City Council is providing a grant to support its operation. The Residents’ Association has appointed Roger Randall to manage the building. In order to take on these new responsibilities, the Association has been established as a company and is working hard to increase its membership and involve local people in its activities. Graham Bass, the Chair of the Residents’ Association says “We are delighted to be taking on the Pavilion and will ensure that it is run by local people for local people. The project has been a great example of a partnership between local residents, councillors and council officers.”
Youth, football and community groups have been benefiting from the facilities since July and the response has been very positive. Eleven year old Brandon, one of the youth club participants, said “The Pavilion is cool because we can come in and do lots of activities that ChYpPS run”, while Lewis Owen, Senior Project Worker for ChYpPS, said “It’s nice to see a new building that is well used and enjoyed by lots of members of the local community.”
At the start of his visit, the Mayor unveiled a photographic exhibition which had been organised by Mike Tuck and the ChYpPS youth group. Councillor McPherson was welcomed by Cathryn Raffan (ChYpPS) and 8 year old Shanice Newman, who presented him with a drawing and said “The kids who come here always have lots to do. I think the grown ups have worked really hard, making games and activities enjoyable. There are always lots of different things to do and take part in, all the kids always have lots of fun.”
The Mayor was then invited by Graham Bass to mark the completion of the building. Councillor McPherson said that he was impressed by the transformation of the building and how wonderfully light the inside was and that the view across the playing field was fantastic. He praised the good partnership between the City Council and the Residents’ Association and the very community-focused efforts of local councillors. He thought the Pavilion was a delightful place and commended it to the audience. He toasted the success of the project, cut a ribbon and was presented with a bouquet by long-time resident Audrey King, who reminisced about the original recreation ground and sports pavilion that was in the area until the 1940s. As a permanent record of the event, there is a plaque in the foyer commemorating the visit by the Mayor. Ken Hay (Head of Community Development in the City Council) said “It was a very nice event and atmosphere, with good will in abundance”.
There were other events running throughout the weekend, including soft play and story telling, bingo, cookery class, tango demonstration, choir performance, talks and demonstrations and a football match. These were backed-up by displays about the building, the local allotments and community orchard and the ChYpPS activities. There were around 70 participants at the opening by the Mayor and nearly 200 at the other activities.
This page is a report on the weekend.
Trumpington Pavilion
King George V Playing Field, Paget Road
Trumpington
Cambridge CB2 9JF
Pavilion Manager
tel.: 01223 847433 (mornings)
email: Trumpington Pavilion
