Clubhouse 150 - making it happen

CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN!

Planning has been granted and pre-planning conditions have been satisfied. We have the funds to start and a builder and construction has begun. It was all a bit of a rush in the last few days before we knew we could go ahead. More information will be posted in the coming days but for now, you can read some more about how we got here in the letters to local residents, and to all members from the trustees.

Have a look at the photos to see how things are getting on. Or the drawings below (which are from planning, not the final set) which give an idea of the design.

How did we get here

Throughout Falcon’s history the Club has never had its own Club House. As part of our 150th anniversary the goal is to have plans and funding in place to be able to build one, so we have somewhere to train and socialise off water and support our wider community activities.

At an EGM in the autumn 2016 it was decided that we needed to make a fresh start with a new, dedicated working group. Approximately 12 members from across the club and with a wide range of suitable skills volunteered to get involved. A number of sub-groups are working on all the aspects of the new development: legal, planning, fund raising etc.

How can you help?

We still need to raise a lot of money if we are to complete what has now started. We have the funds to get the shell of the first phase (3 rowing-boat bays and space above) constructed, and perhaps a bit more.

If you feel that you can help and would like to make a donation please contact the club president or treasurer. We regret that whilst it used used to be possible to make online donations, but unfortunately the agency we used for that closed its doors early in 2020

Shopping online

You can also help support Falcon Rowing & Canoeing Club by the way that you shop online.

You can use easyfundraising to shop with over 3,600 retailers including Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, Booking.com, eBay, Boden, and M&S.
Every time you shop, you’ll raise a free donation for Falcon Rowing & Canoe Club every time, it’s that easy!
Find out more: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/falconrcc/

Have a look at the bottom of the next section for other ways you can help.

What is the club doing?

As a Club the best way we can move forward with improving our facilities is to help ourselves. Gaining access to substantial grants is difficult and whilst these efforts continue our chances of succeeding with these will be greatly increased by raising our own funds. We have an excellent start but we will need to do much more.

The Club House Development Committee has re-assessed the requirements for new facilities, taking a start-from-scratch approach to the design. Working with our architects, Original Field, who are connected with the club, we have redesigned the building and a new planning application was submitted in the middle of February 2019. Once this is accepted as an application, we will publish a link to the planning website where the plans can be seen and comments made.

We obviously hope and expect that club members will be supportive of the application and you are encouraged to comment on it. We will publish the full details of the application here and some notes on what issues are valid to comment on from a planning point of view in due course to help with this.

Assuming we get planning permission our aim is to push on with satisifying the conditions that will no doubt be applied as quickly as we can. Then, if we have sufficient funds to make a start, we will do so, not least so as to "fix" the planning approval in place.

What is needed to succeed?

To succeed we need the support of the whole club. Many small actions can soon add up to significant gains. For example, this may be in the form of:

A direct donation of money
Sourcing sponsorship from local companies or individuals
Personal sponsorship of a challenge Ideas for ways to raise revenue
Provision of expertise to raise awareness of the project
Help with the fund raising activities e.g. finding appropriate funding bodies and applying to them.

If you have ideas to add to this short list or if you have any way to help and support please get in touch with anyone on the committee.

Together, as a club of rowers and paddlers we definitely can make this project happen if we all pull together. It isn't going to be easy to raise the funds that we need, but we have made an excellent start and firmly believe that starting on the first phase of development is within out grasp, possibly even before the end of 2019.