All of us at the Centre are excited that we are now able to re-open as from August 31, albeit on a limited basis. Our priority is to ensure your safety.

Since we shut our doors we have been beavering away to find the best way to provide services to you as users and the wider Community.

While we have been shut to the public we have supported Badger Farm Preschool and helped them provide a safe environment for the children. As you will be aware from recent news coverage, Preschools are vital to our Community and we are proud to do all we can to support these heroes. We would urge you to look at the Fair Future Funding from the Early Years Alliance to understand the dedication of and pressures on all our local Preschools, locally and nationally.

We have been able to help the local GP surgery, providing easily cleaned furniture and storing their excess items so that they could keep us all as safe as possible during this pandemic. We have co-ordinated volunteer help to the community to act as good neighbours for those in need of assistance. Unfortunately, we have not been able to provide the opportunities for care and friendship that many of our hires usually give. We miss the regular fitness, sporting, education and social groups and classes which provide fun and friendship beyond their titles; we know our users have missed them even more.

We are constantly assessing the most effective measures we can use to help you enjoy our facilities once again. Among the steps taken, we have increased our cleaning measures and unfortunately had to restrict use of areas of the Centre to reduce risk. We are moving smaller classes into larger spaces where possible. We have had to revise the entrance to the Centre and individual rooms as well as taking other behind-the-scenes measures to provide you with greater safety. We also need to ensure the well-being and safety of our staff as well as consider their availability. To reduce the risk to all, we have had to shut the kitchen and restrict use of the toilets.

Sadly, we have had to say goodbye to the Social Club as they have now shut their doors for the foreseeable future.

We have been busy redecorating our Bushfield, Warren and Whiteshute rooms and hope you will now find these spaces more contemporary. We are currently planning a few complimentary services to enhance your experience. Do complete our survey; your input is invaluable (surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S2Y99Q2).

We have a number of temporary and permanent slots coming up and so do contact us for details if you are interested. We are also able to take bookings for parties and other one-off events. We are here for people, groups, charities and businesses and can provide facilities to help us all get through this crisis so do drop us a line and we can discuss your needs and see what we can do.

We are a place for all, not just to meet, but to make our Community more than just an address. We are a place where community has faces, friends and help for all. The office will be open as usual Mondays to Wednesdays so pop in to say hello or email us at {This email is obscured. Your must have javascript enabled to see it}.

Ali, Community Centre Manager