Did you know that our much-loved community hub, The Cardwell Pavilion, is over 50 years old. During those years, it has been extensively used by Football Clubs, Nurseries, Brownies, After School Clubs and countless other local community groups. It has housed parties, wedding celebrations and of course it is the center piece of our annual village fete. However, the years have taken its toll on the Cardwell’s infrastructure… the old gas boiler was very inefficient, very expensive to run (and service), it barely warmed up the Cardwell during the cold months, and it was very environmentally unfriendly!
Some of the kitchen units were hanging on by a single screw, the worktops were badly worn, and the entire facility had a “tired” look and feel to it. The toilets, often leak and there are no accessibility facilities. As a result, there has been a significant drop in the number of village groups using the Cardwell. Something needed to be done to rescue our much loved community hub.
The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF): is available to help organisations:
(i) to transform outdated and under used villages facilities back to their former glory
(ii) help rural community facilities on their journey towards net zero emissions and
(iii) support local community groups, and promote local cohesion.
Given that the Cardwell Pavilion was in serious need of modernisation, Hollingbourne Parish Council applied to REPF for a grant; our application was to modernise, provide a multi-use space to all members of our community and to reduce our energy costs. We are pleased to announce that our application was successful and the REFP has awarded a grant for £22,466 to help fund these improvements.
Hollingbourne Parish Council invested grant by making the following improvements to the Cardwell Pavilion:
- Installation of a brand-new kitchen, including new sink, new cooker, new dish washer, new fridge freezer, new lighting and new flooring.
- Installation of a brand-new Heat Source Exchange Pump (which 300% efficient compared with the old boiler, which was less than 80% efficient – not to mention, much kinder on our environment and energy bills).
It is the goal of Hollingbourne Parish Council to return the Cardwell Pavilion into a facility that we are all proud to use. Our new kitchen and heating system has vastly improved our community hub. So if you are looking for a place to house your party or your meeting, the Cardwell Pavilion would love to host you. Our Parish Clerk will happily assist with your booking enquiry (pchollingbourne@gmail.com).
We all love a before and after photo, here are a few of our own renovation project:
