Funding progress

As well as being a fantastic week for the activity on site, there is still lots going on for the funding side of things.

1. Preparations are going well for the annual Donkey Derby.  This year, it will be held on 2nd July, at Eling Recreation Ground.  We're looking forward to an excellent turnout and a record taking this year to bring in the much needed funding to get the project through to completion.  The Totton Carnival week runs from the procession the weekend before through to the Donkey Derby as the Carnival climax.  We'll have members of the Sea Scouts Group in the procession advertising the Group, the Aquativity project and the Donkey Derby.  Programmes will be on sale around the Totton area starting from this weekend, with many members of the Sea Scouts volunteering their time to sell these programmes to the public.
2. This coming Monday is Totton Charity Market, where we'll be selling draw tickets, plants, bric-a-brac etc.  Again, thanks to the wonderful volunteers from Sea Scouts parents, leaders and friends who are giving up their valuable time on a Bank Holiday Monday.
3. The grand prize draw has started.  Tickets are printed and starting to be distributed and sold.  Just 50p a ticket with the chance of winning £500 or another great prize.  The sales will run throughout the summer with the draw at the end of September.
4. A charitable trust (not the one I've mentioned before) pledged a donation of £2000, to be made available when we started work.  As soon as we started on Tuesday, we contacted them and they have confirmed that the money is on its way!

End of first week

Exciting progress this week.  The entire outline of the building has now been dug down to a depth of a couple of feet, so we can start to see something of the scale of the centre to come.  The area around the building is fully fenced off and the "Construction Site.  Keep Out" signs are up.  And the big "Aquativity Centre - Arriving Soon" sign is up too.  It really has the feel of a building site, which of course it is!  After waiting for so long, it feels really odd to be talking of an active building site.

Over the Bank Holiday weekend, there will be lots of people visiting Testwood Lakes, so the site, the fencing and the signs should attract a lot of attention, hopefully there might be some offers of help!

This evening, as with every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, the Sea Scouts (or the older Sea Explorers on a Tuesday) have been out sailing and kayaking on the lake.  I've taken a few more photos of the site, with the flag raised to mark a Sea Scouts meeting night, and sails as a backdrop.

I'm just occasionally taking these snapshots as we go along.  Others involved in the project are also taking some better and more regular photos so we have a good record of project progress.

Building work starts!

We've started building today.  If you don't believe me, look at this:

Yesterday, the final details on the plans were agreed, so this morning a digger and a dumper arrived and started digging out the earth ready for the foundations, as you can see.  So far, they've dug out perhaps 1/3 of the floor area.  Once it is all dug out, the ground underneath will be compacted then filled with concrete, ready to lay the base on which the building frame will sit.

Meanwhile, the frame is being built off site, ready for erection in about 6 weeks time.  The time will fly, I'm sure, and we'll soon have the frame, then the roof and cladding and we'll start fitting out the ground floor.  I can't wait for opening day of Phase 1.

Well done for all whose patience and hard work is now paying off.  We're going to have a wonderful facility here and it is just fantastic to see work start.

A few more photos to prove to us all that it is really happening:

 

Current Status and Next Steps

You will have noticed that pages keep being turned on the calendar and you haven't yet seen an announcement that building has started!  So what is going on?

We have had some further to-ing and fro-ing with Building Control to sort out various details.  We have also had a series of discussions between overall design engineer and the timber frame builders to ensure we have every detail right before they actually start making the timber frame.  The last thing we want is a frame that doesn't quite fit on the footings, or that doesn't quite meet the needs or fit together right.  So we're very frustrated by further delays, but resisting the urge to start work on something that could yet prove to be wrong.

The good news is that these discussions are looking very close to completion.  The issues we've recently been sorting out with Building Control are now resolved (and we have written confirmation of these).  That's not to say there will be no more, but we believe all current issues are resolved and we don't expect any further significant issues to be raised.  We expect the timber frame design details to be finalised this week so they can start construction off-site ready for erection once built.  And the building contractor doing the foundations will therefore start digging about 3 weeks before the timber frame is ready for erection, to minimise the time we have empty trenches in the ground or foundations sitting idle (and vulnerable to anyone who wants to cause damage).

Security and insurance arrangements are in place ready for the build phase.

Meanwhile, the Scout Group have just participated in an excellent weekend's camping with New Forest North Distrct, including St George's Day celebrations.  Thanks to everyone who helped organise and lead this camp; I'm sure lots (300+) of children across the district had a great time.

And coming up on 15 May, we're having a Group Fun Day at the Lakes.  Boating will be the central focus, to let the wider group's families see what the Sea Scouts (older sections) are all about, but there will be other activities, food on offer and a chance for everyone to find out more about what is going on around the Sea Scouts Group, the building project, fundraising activities and how they can get more involved.

Fundraising update

Two great successes to report today.

Over the last few weeks, most of the members of the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers took home a tube  of Smarties.  Having eaten the sweets to build up some energy, they took on the challenge of finding ways to raise money in the form of 20p's to refill the tubes.  Once full, the tubes came back in and those who raised the most won a prize.  I know of 2 Scouts who raised over £30 each, and with some tubes still to come back in, we have a running total of over £780!

And last Friday evening, the fundraising team and their helpers organised a Barn Dance.  There were about 100 people there, each having paid for the privilege.  A ploughman's supper was thrown in as part of the price, and a prize draw, cake stall and drinks stall all added to the pot of money raised.  We all had a fantastic evening, led by a very accomplished caller, her husband on the music, and her trainee son calling some of the dances.  Lots of fun, great to see so many people enjoying the evening, and some excellent money coming into the project fund into the bargain.  We raised over £490 on this event alone.

Of course, both of these sums go into the overall project fund and become eligible for the Big 20/20 match funding, so these 2 activities have raised an amazing £2540 towards the Aquativity Centre.

Well done and a huge thank you to all involved.

More details on the building phase

Just a very quick update today.

We've had some good discussions over the last few days on getting some details in place for the building phase of the project - heating, water, electrics etc.

We've also got approval from the local planning authority for the proposed cladding and roofing materials.

And we're starting to get things in place for actually starting to work - fencing and security arrangements, access for the contractors, sourcing equipment and materials, and pulling together a sign to go up on site to let passers by know what we're up to.  Here's a first draft.

The BIG 20/20

We had a Sea Scouts Group Executive meeting yesterday, where we discussed all the usual business, including an update on fundraising plans through the summer.

The campaign we are running is called the BIG 20/20.  If we can raise £20,000 by the end of September, our benefactors have pledged to double it - so raise £20k and get another £20k, hence the name.

So far we've raised approximately £3,000.  After a few big events and activities at the end of the year, we've slowed down, but we have a packed programme of activities through the summer to achieve our target.

The biggest 2 potential money earners in the programme are:

• The annual Donkey Derby on 2 July 2011 at Eling Recreation Ground, Totton.  Donkey racing, bouncy castles, stalls, rides and general good fun.  This year it is the climax of the Totton Carnival week, which kicks off the previous weekend with a Carnival procession.  We also have some early ideas of what else we can do at the Carnival, and we'll firm up those plans in the coming months.  Meanwhile, Donkey Derby preparation is going well - the small but dedicated team are getting it all in place and we're looking forward to a bumper year in 2011.
• The Aquativity Grand Draw, with a big cash first prize and plenty of other excellent prizes.  Tickets are being prepared now for selling at every opportunity through the summer, with the draw at the end of September to maximise the time we have for raising money.

Alongside these, we have a Barn Dance on 1 April, bag packing, litter picking, a family fun day at Ferny Crofts (a chance to drum up interest in getting involved in the fundraising effort) and a Group Boating Day in September where I am sure we'll take the chance to run some side stalls, food etc.  The members of the Group are also busy filling smartie tubes with 20p's, selling things on eBay, buying things through easyfundraising, and I'm sure more ideas will come along through the year.

We all owe a big vote of thanks to the fundraising team (including the Donkey Derby team and the Beaver, Cub, Scout and Explorer leaders of course) for getting all this arranged.  We have an exciting summer ahead - plenty of hard work, but plenty of reward.  More volunteers are always welcome!