Pavilion 2022 montage at the Q&A

2018 has to be the year of big fundraising and lots more ideas are bouncing around after last night’s successful open evening and Q&A session.

Representatives from all the clubs updated the audience on how large the membership numbers now are and how the current building cannot cope.

Trustees for the Recreation Ground explained how National Park regulations demand the footprint of the new building cannot be bigger than what exists, so they have to go up to make a larger (and more attractive) pavilion. Numerous regulations covering food hygiene, disabled access and child protection all mean that the current building is already way out of date.

On the money, the trustees said the £1m figure is an ‘average’ quote for a public building of this size: for comparison a small leisure centre costs £15m. The process for securing grants from the lottery and sport governing bodies is underway along with pledges and donations. 

Concerns were expressed about parking and the hire of the building for large parties and wedding receptions. In response, trustee Bill Gourlay said one of their guiding principles is for the pavilion to be ‘something that inspires rather than annoys’. All use will be closely monitored to ensure it does not become a nuisance. Sport takes precedence so, realistically, the number of wedding receptions will be limited. On parking, we already have one of the largest car parks of any comparable sports club: what is needed now is more considerate parking, a few white lines and for more people to walk to the Rec. It is a victim of its own success.

Please do get involved with fundraising and ideas and follow our progress: on Facebook we are @FernPav2022 and on Twitter @Pavilion2022 .

Let’s build a pavilion to be proud of.