Doors

I forgot to mention in my last posting, but you may have noticed in the pictures, we have opening doors to the boat store!  It is great to get some daylight in (it really helps for the evening working parties) and see just how much space we have for storage...

Fundraising successes and more boat store progress

Since our last posting on this blog, we've been making progress on a number of fronts:

1. Fundraising, I'll list some highlights in a moment
2. Boat store and dry store, again more on that here
3. Utilities connections, I'll post something soon to let you know what is happening - there are some negotiations involved and I'd rather not say too much until they are closed

So, fundraising first.

We held our Donkey Derby on one of the best days of the year for sunshine and warmth - a bit windy for putting up marquees, but other than that we could not have asked for better.  An excellent turnout, both in terms of helpers and members of the public - well over 3,000 of the latter!  Financially it was also a huge success, taking over £10,000 on the day, and making an estimated £7,500 profit.  An excellent result and many thanks to everyone who organised the event or helped out.  And thanks also to those whose efforts have been recognised by their employers in the form of match funding - for example we have been sent a cheque for £1,000 by a local firm towards fencing around the Aquativity Centre.

The following week we had some great news from Hampshire County Scouts.  We had submitted an application for a grant from The Mrs W Hayward Trust fund, for improving access to adventurous activities in Scouting.  We applied for funding to enhance the fleet of kayaks and sailing dinghies.  Hampshire decided that, since Scout groups using the lake through Ferny Crofts Activity Centre are more likely to be kayaking in the short term, that is where they would like to invest at the moment.  So they have offered us £8,500 towards buying 15 new kayaks, complete with paddles, spray decks and helmets.  We are now arranging the purchase of these kayaks, pending having somewhere to put them, and also making sure we involve the Admiralty to ask them for partial match funding under their Royal Navy Recognition scheme for Sea Scouts, so we can also get some other boats at the same time.

We are pursuing some other possibilities for financial support to the project - grants, other match funding and potential sponsorship deals - as we still need more income before we can be ready for business.  I'll let you know if and when any of these come to fruition.

What's going on with the build?

Well, a number of us (Scout Group and Explorer Unit parents and leaders) have been participating in regular working parties over the last few weeks.  Our focus has been on the walls and ceilings of the boat store and dry store - insulation, noggins to hold plasterboard, and sterling board on the walls for strength behind plasterboard.  We now have the boat store completely insulated and boarded, and the dry store now segregated off and well underway.  And, along the way, an electrician has been in fitting the cabling we need for lighting, power, fire alarm etc. in these areas.

This was all in preparation for starting to fit plasterboard on ceilings and walls.  To meet building regulations, in particular to give sufficient protection from fire, all of the boat store ceiling and wall surfaces need 2 sheets of plasterboard.  This will also give us more strength as those walls will need to take some knocks.

Then about 10 days ago, a building firm called RJ Spiller, who work with someone involved in the Sea Scouts, visited us to see how they could help.  The result was that they offered to do all the plasterboarding in the boat store for us.  So far they have done 3 days for us, all for no payment, and they will be back tomorrow to carry on.  Just what we need - free professional labour, fitting plasterboard that was donated, using tools that have been loaned free of charge!  Thanks very much to everyone who is helping in this way.  I've put a few snaps here to give some idea of how the boat store is progressing.

Once the plasterboard is complete, we have a plasterer lined up to skim the surface for us.  In order to provide access, we've moved all of the unused plasterboard and insulation out into other areas of the building - it is no easy job moving several hundred sheets of plasterboard, sheet by sheet!

Donkey Derby 2012 is coming soon

...next Saturday to be precise.  We're all hoping for fine weather and big crowds.  Preparations have been going well for the last few months, but this final week will be busy.  Just look at everything we have lined up.

Main stairs

The raffle we've been selling tickets for will be drawn at the Donkey Derby - first prize is £100, not bad for only £1 per ticket.  And of course, lots more prizes too.

While the fundraising team have been working extremely hard to prepare for the Donkey Derby, including selling many hundreds of programmes in advance, others have been getting on with the work at the building.  A few highlights:

• 2 sets of stairs are now in place and usable so we don't need to rely on a ladder to get upstairs.
• The fire exit and associated internal ramp are now ready for use.
• Nearly all of the internal sterling boarding is complete for the boat store, just a couple of boards to go.
• Noggins are in place along the steel girders ready for plasterboarding.
• Noggins are starting to go into the ceiling to stiffen the structure and help hold the plasterboard.



Fire escape stairs

• About 80% of the ceiling insulation for boat and dry stores are in place.

So what next?  Here are just some of the jobs we'll be taking on in the coming weeks:

• We've had some door bar brackets made up, these need fitting on the boat store doors so we can open up those doors and let some light in to help us when we are working.
• We need to finish the last few sterling boards for the boat store.
• We need to fit noggins in the boat store ceiling between each pair of joists.
• We need to complete the ceiling insulation in the boat store.
• Once noggins and insulation are complete we can get on with fitting 2 sheets of plasterboard on the boat store ceiling.
• Then we can do the plasterboarding (2 sheets again) on the boat store walls.
• We need to sterling board then batten and plasterboard the underside of the 2 staircases.
• We have a plasterer waiting for us to give him the nod to skim the ceilings and walls when they are ready.
• We can then complete the sockets, switches and lights in that area.
• Our boating manager can start planning the detailed layout of the boat store and start preparing to fit racking etc.
• Primer then painting floor, walls and ceiling - we'll need to choose some paint!
• Dry store completion.
• Ground floor galley, changing, plumbing, showers, toilets.......

Boarding complete around the doors

Boarding finished on this wall

We're doing a lot of this ourselves (that is, a bunch of volunteers working evenings or any other time we can spare), to make the money we have go as far as possible.  And we're begging, borrowing or stealing equipment and materials wherever we can.  Of course, some jobs require specialist skills, so some money is going out.  And doing everything ourselves would mean we have a very long time before we're done, so everything is a balance of money and time.

Meanwhile, we have various grant applications in train for building fittings, boating equipment (including kayaks, sailing dinghies, a canoe and a couple of pulling boats), and pontoon for access to pre-rigged boats out on the lake.  Still plenty of money needed before we are fully operational!

Please come along to the Donkey Derby on Saturday 26 May - Eling Recreation Ground next to A35 West of Southampton, we'd love to see you.

Boat store progress

A few people have been very busy over the last few weeks getting some traction on the work needed to get the boat store into operation.  From a bare shell as the starting point, the tasks involve insulating the walls and ceiling, then boarding/dry-lining them, in parallel with doing the electrical first fix for the building, taking cabling through and into the boat store.  We also need a partition wall to separate the wet boat store from the dry camping equipment store, with associated doorway and fire escape stairs.

As well as planning all that, we've actually been making good progress with getting on with it.  All of this is being done in consultation with the local building inspector who has been on site in the last couple of days to review and advise.

We have an electrician in doing the first fix, having had a fantastic donation of electrical materials from a local friendly supplier.  The electrician has been working closely with related experts on lighting, ventilation, security, heating and plumbing.  The boat store now has an agreed set of supply points, lights, switches and sensors, as well as feeds to outside lights etc., which are now being installed as we go along.




On the insulation front, we have had insulation sheets delivered and we've installed them into the store walls, and are now progressing to install them into the rest of the ground floor external walls too.  We've had ceiling insulation delivered this week, and yesterday evening made a good start on fitting this into the store ceiling, leaving the necessary gaps for wiring to be infilled later.

The walls are now being covered with vapour barrier fabric to protect the structure and insulation from the damp atmosphere.

Once the wiring is complete, the walls and ceilings will be boarded (using a combination of chip/ply boarding, and donated plasterboard), then plastered, primed and painted, ready for racking and boat installation.

At the moment, the building is a hive of activity whenever we can get working parties together.  With the Sea Scouts having started their boating season now, a number of parents are helping out with the work while their children are out on the lake on Thursday and Friday evenings, which is excellent.  You can probably see from the pictures that we have large stacks of boards and insulation ready to be used - plenty to do, but great to see some rapid progress.

General update - March 2012

Plenty going on behind the scenes, even if visible progress may appear to have slowed, to the casual observer.

We have a great group of specialists helping us plan and install the electrical wiring, lighting, plumbing, heating etc.  We are also advancing on the detailed plans and implementation of fitting out the ground floor.  A working party last weekend helped get some of the materials we need onto site ready for use.  Suppliers are coming forward with donations of materials and equipment as we need them.  Many thanks go to everyone who is helping move this project forward.

On the fundraising front, an increased focus is now turning on the Donkey Derby on 26 May.  We've been running various events like refreshments stalls at district events, and a really well-attended and very successful quiz night.  With the Donkey Derby getting closer, the programmes are being prepared ready for sale in the coming weeks, and equipment is being dusted off, checked, repaired or replaced.

With the boating season due to start after Easter, we're also paying attention to the fleet of craft currently stored in the container next to the building.  As well as preparing the boat store to move the fleet in, we're making selective purchases to plug the most important gaps in the boating provision.

A winter's day's visit to Testwood Lakes

We've had a bit of a lull over the winter.  Once the shell was completed and the cold, wet and dark set in, focus shifted for a while from building to funding.  As mentioned on our sister website, we've recently had another injection of cash from The Barker Mill Estate, as well as donations of internal materials and some good ideas and offers for progressing the internal work.

In the last week, workers have been back on site to start clearing the external ground and lowering the level where it is too high against the building, adjusting where we need fencing, and progressing the internals of the ground floor to get us to the point where we can start getting some volunteers involved to take the next steps.

Today was a lovely bright winter's day, so I took the family and the dog for a visit to Testwood Lakes, to get a view of how the building is settling into the landscape and to see how things are looking.  These photos are a record of our visit.

Murals on the gates to welcome visitors

Going into the site - Aquativity is at the bottom of the drive

Aquativity Centre from near the car park - note the reduced fencing

Looking back as we head off around the lake

The view back across the frozen water

Aquativity gets a little lost across the lake with the industrial estate and football club behind it

The Wildlife Education Centre nestles into the hill

Walking with the family back towards Aquativity

The ground near the front door is being lowered

...and piled up ready for removal

The fencing has been moved back to next to the building now that the main lake-side external work is complete

The boat store is ready to be insulated and plaster boarded

The main doors for maneuvering boats in and out

Looking across the boat store from the tent store

A good view from the tent store over the frozen lake

We can't get upstairs but we can look up into the framework

...from both ends of the building

Camera held up to look across the 1st floor

The sun streams into the main hall upstairs

Insulation going down on the ground floor

Screeding over the insulation by the front door

More external ground levelling this coming week, as well as finishing the ground floor insulation and screed, then plaster boarding in the boat store - looking forward to starting to get the boat racking in so we can use the boat store in the near future.  Then we need to get going with internal walls, electrics, plumbing etc. for changing rooms, showers and toilets...  Still plenty to do but great to see some progress again.