Openings

I've had a thoroughly enjoyable morning attending two openings that meant a lot to me personally.

First, I went to Cove Infants School, where the Mayor of Rushmoor, Cllr Alex Crawford, formally opened our new Discovery Centre. A wonderful range of activities had been set up on the topic of 'Bones', with archaeological digs, real skulls to explore, games and quizzes. The whole school gathered and sang a song, then the Mayor talked about his own interest in science and exploring things before cutting the ribbon and declaring the centre open. He invited the children to ask him questions, and when asked, "How much does your chain weigh?" called for scales to weigh the badge of office, much to the children's delight. He then posed for photos with Charlie, the skeleton, which they also loved. The children then returned to their classrooms singing another song. They had behaved wonderfully well throughout, and I felt incredibly proud of them and of the staff, who had done a marvellous job.

Afterwards, I went along to Barclay's Bank for their grand re-opening following a major refurbishment. They have selected Parity as their charity for the year and invited students and trustees along to see Gerald Howarth, MP, cut the ribbon. I arrived just in time for a brilliant dance routine by some pretty flamboyant 'soldiers', with everything from break dancing to ballet. Adam, one of the students, was absolutely squealing with laughter and it was terrific to see him having such fun. The event will continue till 4.00pm and as many students as possible will be taken along to see further performances of the dance, scheduled to take place throughout the day. No doubt they will all return to the day centre with huge bunches of balloons. Inside the bank, a young man was peddling madly on a stationery bike to raise money for Parity. Like the rest of the trustees and staff, I really appreciate what he's doing for us.

Renovation of St John Ambulance Hut

Since I'm the building manager, I stopped by to see how work on the Station Road hut is progessing today and was very pleased with progress, though it's going to take a week longer than expected. We're currently under budget, so that won't be a problem financially, but Squirrals Pre-school won't be happy about the delay--they're desperate to get back in. Still, we're undertaking the work, consisting of putting in insulation and large built-in cupboards, for them, (and Ofsted) so hopefully they will be patient.
Since I became President of Cove St John Ambulance, I've had occasion to spend evenings in the hut during the heat of summer and the ice and snow of winter, so I can personally attest to the fact that it can be brutal in extreme temperatures. I take my hat off to everyone who has kept classes going over the years in such trying circumstances. I'm sure things will be very much more comfortable from now on.
We're going to have a painting weekend on the 4th and 5th February to finish off this phase, and hope to have an Open Day afterwards. With luck that will attract some new members.
The next phase will be the installation of new windows and doors, which will make a terrific difference because the windows have to be kept boarded up at the moment, so users must use artificial light all the time. Once the windows and doors are done, we'll set to and landscape the front of the building to make it look more welcoming. I think people will be very pleasantly surprised to discover how nice the hut is now. It's deceptively large, and conveniently located close to Farnborough town centre. I'm really excited by what we're doing and hope to be involved with SJA in Cove for many years to come.