The Hullbridge Center.
The policy followed by your committee in previous years has been continued and I am very pleased to tell you that the first part has now been completed. With the completion of the projects involving capital expenditure, the re-furbishment of the building is now finished. The cladding at the front and rear of the building has been replaced. The car park and the area at the front of the building have been paved, using a grant from the Essex County Council Community Initiative fund. The installation of the automatic door has made a huge difference to the users of the Centre and we must thank the people of Hullbridge who through their Parish Council, paid for it. Inside the building, improvements have continued. A grant from the Essex County Council Grass roots fund paid for high quality, comfortable, good-looking arm chairs, some new banquet chairs which match those we already have, and an equally high quality, good-looking carpet for the foyer. It is surprising how many people have commented, particularly on the carpet. A kind friend chopped up the old chairs for us! The message has been sent out "loud and clear" that being a bit older does NOT mean that one has to have other people's "cast-offs".
The innovations put in last year have proved hugely successful. The ecosystem installed in the gents' lavatory has halved our water bill and the room remains sweet smelling and comfortable. We replaced the water cooler for one which not only uses tap water, eliminating the need to lift heavy water containers, but provides carbonated water as well as cold water. It is particularly useful during the Keep Fit sessions! I must particularly thank our treasurer, Mr Neil Williams who does all sorts of maintenance jobs for us as well as Mr and Mrs Millgate. They have joined our volunteer team during the last twelve months. Mrs Millgate cleans for us each week and Mr Millgate has carried out various plumbing repairs for us. We are truly grateful. Your committee now intends to look at an efficient method of heating the kitchen. There is no radiator in there and last winter it was very cold until the ovens had been on for some time.
We continued to increase the use of the building and it is now a major meeting place in Hullbridge. We continue to serve a two course lunch on three days a week. We again had fifty to our Christmas lunch and the photographic display which followed it was very popular! We now have about forty to lunch on a Thursday which remains our busiest day for lunches.
The Centre remains a meeting place, serving tea and coffee all day but Tuesdays and Thursdays remain our busiest days. On Tuesday we continue with the very popular "Keep Fit for the Not so Young" and our thanks go to our teacher, Mrs Jo Temple, who works us hard. In the afternoon we have a Tea Dance which is very well supported and is, again good exercise as well as being fun. On Thursdays, we have Mr Timmins' dancing class in the morning. Turning the far end of the hall into a games area proved to be a great improvement. The dart board and pool table are now well used on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, as is the short mat bowls equipment. Mr Dunmow is the committee member and volunteer responsible for the bowls and we are grateful to him. On Thursday afternoons the Centre is full of people following activities of their choice. The greetings card group goes from strength to strength and some of their number went to the Craft Show at Olympia together. I am told they swelled the trader's profits considerably! The LAPTOP team, organized by the Rochford Rayleigh Association of Voluntary Services of which we are members, has run very popular computer courses at the Centre on Monday mornings. So far, they have run two, four week beginners courses and one more advanced course. We are now advertised on three websites. Mrs Page's Line Dancing class goes from strength to strength and we must thank her for her loyal support. She and her husband also presented our Country and Western night which was a huge success. We have continued with our monthly Saturday dances, hosted by Mrs Port and Mr Timmins. This year, the chairman of Rochford District Council, Mr Jim Grey sent us a pack of St George's day bunting flags etc., and our building was the only public building in Hullbridge which celebrated the fact that this is England and we are English, on St George's Day. We celebrated again with a St George's day dance. Mr and Mrs Hutchinson decorate our building for us on all our special occasions. Thank you to both of them.
The hall is now recognized as the most comfortable in Hullbridge. The Hullbridge Riverside Ladies Club, The Women's Institute and the Townswomen's Guild all meet here, as does the Parish Council. All activities continue to be paid for by donations. It is clear to everyone that the money to support the Centre has largely to be raised by your committee and the Centre's volunteers. I must particularly thank Mrs Margaret Faber who has continued her excellent nearly new clothing department and Mrs Pam Dunmow, who not only runs the bookcase and jigsaw pool, but organized a very successful table sale for us and organizes the raffles. She also organized the Tombola stall at the village Fair. They are invaluable volunteers and fund raisers.
Mrs Timmins continues to help in the kitchen as do Mrs Lynn Fallow, and Ms Stracey. In addition to everything else they do for us, Mrs Dunmow and Mrs Hutchinson work in the kitchen twice a week. Mrs Hutchinson and Ms Stracey did some training and received the level 2 award in Food Safety in catering from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. How proud they were when they passed the test! There will be other training opportunities and we are to get free training in return for providing the course venue. Our small band of volunteers has been increased by two. Mrs Joan Knox is a huge help and expert with washing up for forty and Mrs Christine Brunton has become our assistant cook, working in the kitchen twice a week supporting our resident cook, Mrs Sheppard and taking over completely when Mrs Shephard is absent for holidays etc., We can not thank these volunteers enough. We depend on them totally. Finally I must thank our committee for all their work and support. They have ensured that the number of people using the Centre has more than doubled in the last year and that it is fast becoming the most popular public building in Hullbridge. Thank You.
Chairman: Barbara Port.
Vice Chairman: Janet Stracey.
Acknowledgement is made to the following contributions from:-