Goathland Community Hub & Sports Pavilion C.I.O
Background
The Parish of Goathland is situated some ten miles from Whitby on the North York Moors in an isolated location with a resident population of 450 people. It comprises the hamlets of Darnholm, Beckhole, Green End, Dale End and the village centre. The village is surrounded by the largest expanse of upland heather in the UK much of it SSSI designated, whilst the local economy is primarily hill farming & tourist related.
It is located on a tributary of the Murk Esk and its railway station is a major stopping off point for some of the 300,000 visitors using the North York Moors Steam Railway, known globally as “Aidensfield” from the T.V series “Heartbeat” there are an estimated 500,000 people annually who visit the village.
The Organisation
The catalyst for the creation of the CIO came with the removal of the mobile library facility in 2011, the parlous state of the existing cricket pavilion which is uninsurable, a need to protect & preserve the cultural heritage ephemera of the villages long sword dance tradition & the provision of a village playing field.
The Goathland Cricket Club was formed in 1874 as the Vale of Goathland Cricket Club, first playing on land at Beckhole before moving to its current location in 1876, the current pavilion has very limited facilities, there is no electricity, disabled access or changing rooms for the young ladies who now regularly play for the club.
The Goathland Plough Stots, the village Long Sword Dance Team currently based in the Reading Room, whose tradition is acknowledged as the oldest surviving of this dance form in Britain which is also the traditional dance of North Yorkshire have over the years been bequeathed artefacts relating to many of the local teams & those of East Cleveland that now no longer exist. The development of this new facility will provide a much needed exhibition venue for all of this and provide the many visitors to the village a insight in to our cultural heritage.
Evaluation of the costs associated with developing the Reading Room another building in the village was discounted because of its size, ownership & location within the conservation zone as was a development on the cricket ground because of the restrictive covenants on the land.
The final solution was to buy land adjacent to the cricket ground, free from any such restrictions and develop a facility that would serve all of the needs known of & those suggested through the extensive consultation processes that took place over the two years prior to the CIO being formally recognised in September 2014 by the Charities Commission.
Support for the project & its aims has also been given by a number of organisations that include, Goathland Primary School, North Yorkshire County Council, Scarborough Borough Council, English Folk Song & Dance Society, North Yorkshire County Council Library Services, Goathland Parish Council & the Sword Dance Union.
The CIO was established to raise the funds, develop, build & run a Community Hub, Sports Pavilion & Playing Field for the benefit of the 450 residents of the village & some of the 500,000 visitors who come here annually.
Following extensive consultations with the village residents using a questionnaire, briefings & exhibitions to ascertain their support & ideas along with other organisations the following uses were identified & incorporated in to the final plans:-
- 1. Reinstatement of the Village Library, run by volunteers & supported by the County Library Service.
- 2. Provision of a Community Meeting Place for residents & visitors.
- 3. Provision of a Village Playing / Sports Field with a football pitch, the village school children have never had one, having to go to other schools at some distance to access such facilities.
- 4. Provision of a new Cricket Pavilion complete with separate changing facilities for the young ladies who now play for the club.
- 5. A Performing Arts Venue for all genres that will encourage & promote artists wishing to show case their work and talents.
- 6. Home to the Goathland Plough Stots, the village longsword team, regarded as having the oldest surviving tradition of this dance form in the UK.
- 7. Establishment of the first National Heritage & Cultural Exhibition Centre to Long Sword Dancing
- 8. Home to the Sword Dance Union the National Organisation set up to promote this dance for
- 9. Provide a training facility, lecture & exhibition space for organisations such as the Goathland Village Volunteer Fire & Rescue Service.
Once completed the building will not only provide a social meeting place for the residents but allow visitors to better understand the cultural heritage of the village as well as providing a place for children & adults to engage in sporting activities, something that currently is not available.
It is also intended that the Twelve Oak Trees planted adjacent to the new development in memory of the men from the village who paid the ultimate price in the Great War of which few people new about until this project started will each be remembered within the Hub for the generations who follow.
Forward Plan / Progress
Significant amounts of work were provided on a pro bono basis ranging from legal services, planning & design, installation of new land drainage, car park, fencing & boundary hedging, loans of diggers, bulldozers & dumpers by organisation such as Interserve Ltd, The Woodlands Trust, Northern Power Grid, & Wilf Noble Plant Ltd as well as work undertaken by the village volunteers which cumulatively is estimated to be worth £112,300.00. Additionally many companies, such as Grant UK Ltd, who supplied the heating boiler have given us extremely generous discounts in recognition of our efforts. John Wright Electrical & Mechanical Engineers of York designed, supplied all of the equipment, installed, tested & then commissioned the electrical installation which has a commercial value of some £35,000.00 which helped our limited resources to go even further.
Fund raising, sponsorship and appeals to various organisations including North Yorkshire County Council and various Charitable Trusts raised more than £230,000.00 valuing the whole project in excess of £450,000.00.
The work undertaken by Interserve to install the new land drains, car park base & remove the over burden was a major contributing factor, what was a boggy field has now dried out whilst Northern Power Grids removal of the overhead lines created a safe playing environment for the children of the village.
The official opening ceremony undertaken by Mr Mark Sowerby took place on the 23rd September 2017 after almost three years of effort & has already hosted a number of events featuring a range of artistes & musical styles some of which have been sold out, vindicating the need for a Performing Arts Venue in the area.
Installation of the display cabinets as part of the Cultural Heritage Centre development was completed in May 2018 thanks to a grant from the LEADER Fund.
A consultation process is underway to establish the type of books that residents want stocked in the library which it is hoped to have running by June 2018, the bookshelves having been kindly donated.
The Goathland Volunteer Fire & Rescue Service are now using the facility for training & assessments
The installation of a telephone line has enabled the establishment of a Wi-Fi network within the building which has a complete IT Network
New boundary fences along with some 250 tree whips were planted to create wild life corridors whilst the new playing field which has allowed the local junior school to start an afterschool sports club as well as encouraging others to play sport at any time.
A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled the work to proceed on the living War Memorial Twelve Oak Trees Project with the village school children planting twelve new English oaks around the playing fields, arboreal work to the existing trees is scheduled, information boards commissioned, twelve statues in corten steel to be installed next to the new oak trees commissioned & the naming ceremony of the existing walk to Centenary Walk by the Bishop of Whitby set for 7th July 2018.
Thanks to Molson Coors the access road to the site was completely upgraded & resurfaced in September 2017, this and the installation of a new cattle grid means that people of all abilities, including wheel chair users can now access the facility with ease.
To safe guard the playing fields for future generations the C.I.O has entered in to an agreement with Fields in Trust formerly the National Playing Fields Association to dedicate it as a public playing fields that are now known as Goathland Centenary Cricket Field & Goathland Centenary Playing Field in memory of The Great War.
Responsibility for the overall project is vested with the trustees who now that it is completed intend to form a management committee from interested parties & user groups to take over the day to day running & administration against a set of agreed guidelines.
Everything that has been done has followed extensive consultations with the responsible regulatory officials to ensure that the building & its environs are full compliant with the relevant statutory requirements, these include NYMNP Planning Officers, NYMNP Enforcement Officers, NYMNP Compliance Officers, NY Building Control Partnership, N.Y Police Licencing Officer & Scarborough Council Licencing Officers.
Funds / grants are now being applied for to allow the installation of the all – weather (MUGA) playing surface which will allow sport to be played all year round.
Without the generosity, support, help & advice of the following companies & individuals the Hub would never have been completed our thanks to all of them is most graciously acknowledged here & also on the commemorative wall plaque in the entrance hall way.
The Trustees gratefully acknowledge the help given to them by the following organisations, companies & individuals without whom this would never have been made possible.
Applebridge Construction Ltd
Adam Beckett
Fields in Trust
Alex Stephenson
Goathland Community Fund
Andrew & Gayle Fiddler
Interserve Ltd
Andrew Hollins
John Wright Electrical & Mechanical Services Ltd
Andy & Sally Smith
Molson Coors Brewing Company Ltd
Andy & Sheila Calvert
Naish Estate Agents & Solicitors Ltd
Angus & Claire Nicholson
North Yorkshire County Council
Aubrey & Margaret O,Brien
Northern Power Grid Ltd
Ben Braim
NYMNPA Community Fund
Barry Bream
NYMR
Bob West & Kate Atkinson
Scarborough Borough Council
Brian & Christine Kell
The Bernard Sunley Foundation
Carl Garrett
The Charles & Elsie Sykes Trust
Catherine Mahon
The Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund
Charlie Woodward
The Foyle Foundation
Dave, Helen & Tom Beeforth
The Garfield Weston Foundation
Dave, Helen & Tom Beeforth
The Jack Brunton Charitable Trust
Derek Schofield
The Morrisons Foundation
Dickie & Jennifer Attridge
The Normanby Trust
Don Walker
The Peter Sowerby Foundation
Doc Rowe & Jill Pidd
The Rank Foundation
Emma & Mark Braim
The Sir George Martin Trust
Emma Smith
The Woodland Trust
Faye Thompson
Two Ridings Community Foundation
Gary & Liz Middleton
Wilf Noble Plant Ltd
Geoff Kirk
Yorkshire Building
Georgia & Natasha Stone
Yorventure
Goathland Cricket Club
Goathland Plough Stots
Peter Dale
Graham Woodhams
Paul Harker
Graham Tolhurst
Pete & Sue Coe
Ian & Maxine Davies
Peter & Joyce Lightwing
Ian Morley
Peter Lord
Jack Atkinson
Phil & Carole Heaton
Jackie & Graham Watson
Rhett Krause
James Naish
Robert Adair
Jamie Rose
Ron Day
Jeff & Liz Lawson
Snark
Jenny Brooker & Shaun Owen
Sullivans Sword
John & Lorraine Atkinson
The Sword Dance Union
John Bruce
The Wilsons
John & Christine Morley
Tim Reeves
June Rolph
Trish Bater
Keith & Carole Thompson
Vin & Pat Garbutt
Keith & Jane Jackson
Vince & Sue Rutland
Keith Reeves
Wilf Norman
Ken & Beryl Croft
Ken & Christine Foster
Ken Allan
Kevin & Karel Holland
Kevin & Leslie Mayes
Kevin Yeomans
Mark & Heather Sowerby
Martin & Norma Carthy
Martin & Tony Smith
Martin Holland & Linda Kett
Mike & Lillian Smith
Mr & Mrs David MacMillan
Mrs Ida Calvert
Neil & Glenys Crampton