N hal45

Published by Rothay House, Mayfield Road, Eastrea.

No 45: February 2014

Eastrea

Village News

VILLAGE HALL WINS FIVE STARS A FUTURE FOR EASTREA NEWS We never realised that Eastrea Village News was so popular! Ever since we announced that this monthly newsletter would cease publication, our readers have been telling us how much it means to the residents.

Now the Village Hall Trust has said that publication must continue several times a year (though not monthly) so we will be back. The editor, with help of others, will continue to run it for the time being.

THE EASTREA CENTRE kitchen has just been awarded five stars, top marks from Fenland District Council. The organisation of our kitchen changed as the village hall settled down and the Trust has recently appointed Mrs Thelma Taylor as our registered kitchen manager.

Thelma has long been responsible for cleaning the hall and works as a cook. Thelma has attended the latest courses on food handling and on hygiene organMrs Thelma Taylor ised by Fenland District Council and, as a volunteer, she has now offered her expertise for the benefit of the Village Hall Trust.

Ms Lucyna Loncka, of the real Food Company in Peterborough — one of our outside contract caterers — has said our kitchen is “the cleanest I

MARCH CRAFT FAYRE

After the tremendous success of our recent craft event (above), the second Eastrea Craft Fayre will be held on Sunday 23 March 2014.

Our organiser is Nicola Brooks, who now chairs the Executive Committee of the hall. Nicola says: ‘There will be over thirty stalls on the day. The bistro will be open and also our bar.’

Ms Tracey Russell teaching our teenager volunteers Cameron, Kayla and Charlotte. have ever seen in the UK.” Ms Dawn Sadler, senior Environmental Health Officer at the Fenland District Council offices in March, wrote to say that said our kitchen is “very clean, tidy and organised.”

The kitchen was originally designed

in July 2010 with the assistance and advice of Mr Ron Gibling at the Council. It was then installed for us

by Mr Paul Donnelly of PD Kitchens.

The kitchen was formally registered in June 2013 by the Environmental Health Officer Mr Ian Yates who said it was “by far the best I’ve ever seen” in any village hall.

Mrs Sue Parnell (right) demonstrating safe food handling with Tegan, Kayla and Trustee Mrs Jan Ford.

We have been advised by several professional caterers who have helped us plan and have also offered training for our volunteers.

Mrs Sue Parnell runs the successful King’s Dyke Truckstop and Sue has given us much useful instruction — she pointed out to volunteers several things they were not doing correctly.

Ms Tracey Russell from the Banquet Inn company also helps to train our young volunteers in kitchen skills.

Tracey has been teaching the teenagers how you have to ’clean as you go along’ and says she loves working in our kitchen whenever we book the cash bar that she runs. Tracey helps to advise our volunteers on correct procedure when she has spare time.

JOIN THE TRUST COMMITTEE? LET US KNOW NOW! The village hall is governed by local residents who extend a warm welcome to suitable new recruits.

Administration is handled by the Trustees, who oversee the conduct of the hall and its future strategy, backed by the Executive Committee who organise the whole events programme and the operation of the hall.

Nominations on the day of a public meeting have not proved to be the best way to identify new volunteers, so it has been agreed that people who want to join us should submit a c.v. in advance of the AGM due in April.

The best way is to write a letter with background details and then deliver it to the Eastrea Centre at 2 Roman Gardens.

Two of our recently elected members, Mr Groves and Mr Hayes, have had to resign and the Trustees have co-opted Mrs Ann Barrasso to join Pete and Gill Sennett plus Jan Ford and her husband Brian as the Trustees.

Brian has also been appointed Honorary Director of the hall, to keep an eye on organisation, and Ann is a senior administrator with much legal experience.

Mrs Noreen Smith announced her retirement from committee after twenty years and Jenny Cunningham is now our events manager.

So far the Eastrea Centre has hosted over 250 different events for local people. Noreen once wrote that the hall would be of crucial importance to people ‘from the cradle to the grave’ and her words were prophetic: we have had several Christening events at the hall, in addition to arranging for funeral wakes.

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CLASSES AT THE EASTREA CENTRE GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH Our weekly classes welcome everyone, and they have proved to be highly popular.

Just one class has discontinued — and curiously, that was the only one that had been set up in response to requests from local residents. Jenna Tudor was asked to run a zumba class for Eastrea villagers on Tuesday evenings, but in the end numbers were too low to make her classes worthwhile. The others are busy and class leaders are pleased with all their enthusiastic students.

Setting the Eastrea Centre on Course for the Future Come to spend time with us at the Eastrea Centre at 6.30-8.00 pm on Wednesday evenings when the new Bistro is open to everyone. In time we hope to offer a chance for us to open on other days too. If you have retail or catering experience, or you wish to learn, then just let us know.

During construction the Trust handled a complex system of finance totalling some £130,000 and every penny has to be fully documented. The overall budget was far higher but much of the money was handled for us by outside agencies. Thus the landfill tax operator WREN purchased our kitchen, the hall floor, the doors and the windows for our hall. Their money does not show in our accounts because WREN are among the bodies that paid our suppliers direct, bypassing the Trust.

Future grants are being sought for the TV monitors that we plan to install in the building, for the professional stage lights we need, and perhaps even a minibus.

CONTACT THE HALL E - m a i l : mail@eastrea.net P h o n e : 0845-607 8880 The hall has been designed to be future proof. Wiring for further developments has been installed during the construction phase. When our lighting contractor was preparing designs for stage lighting, he announced: ‘Two-thirds of the work has already been done!’ because of cabling, supports and the high-voltage systems that have already been installed ready for our control room.

Our technician Pete Hale handles our weekend events. Pete, who has been a professional musician for many years, now has in mind informal music evenings every Friday.

Contact by telephone 0845-607 8880

The range of music will initially cover blues and rock, though classical concerts have also been proposed with an operatic tenor under consideration. Local talent has already featured in musical performances at the Eastrea Centre, and the Friday night sessions could become a feature of the regional scene. More news on that later.

Brett Smith’s birthday party was one of the many happy events held at the hall.

The one proposal that can’t be realised is a nursery school for Eastrea. OFSTED were impressed by our plans, and the Council also approved them, but all the problems of arranging a school that was set up every day (and dismantled each evening) make it impracticable.

It is the residents of Eastrea who always come first when our bookings are being arranged, and the organisers at the hall will do everything they can to make your event run smoothly. Come and join us!

Few halls can accommodate a bouncy castle; the Eastrea Centre can hold two!

(email: mail@eastrea.net)