You may notice some changes in the coming weeks.  The sign has changed and we are now known as   THE BELLHOUSE instead of the Bellhouse Club. 

THE BELLHOUSE is a traditional village pub open to all.  We look forward to this bringing more customers of all ages to enjoy our facilities at a time that is financially challenging for all pubs and clubs. We have found that those who would love to pop in for a quick drink have been put off by the belief that, in order to do so, they needed to be a Member.  Those that have ventured in have been very pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome and the comfortable surroundings on offer.

The Bellhouse Club was a Private Members’ Club until last year.  Under our new licence, there is no longer a need to become a Member of the GYCA to be able to come and use THE BELLHOUSE  bar.  All are welcome!

As many regular users know, The Bellhouse Club was formed as the ‘trading arm’ of the GYCA, a Registered Charity.  This is still the case with THE BELLHOUSE.

For those who wish to become involved in how the organisation is run, free membership of the GYCA is now available and is renewable annually on the
1^st August so that we can keep our records up to date.  Members of the GYCA are eligible to attend and vote at the Annual General Meeting.

Importantly, you no longer need to be a Member of the GYCA to be able to come and use THE BELLHOUSE  bar.

Putting Up the new sign ……

Ian, Paul and Hugh putting up the new sign, it was the “Last of the Summer Wine Comes to Grappenhall”,  well done all of you who helped with our fabulous new sign.

This year will be the 17th Annual Beer Festival at the Grappenhall Community Centre and will take place on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th May 2013.

We have a selection of  Real Ales, Ciders, Bottled Beers, Wine and Soft Drinks for drivers.

There will be three sessions as usual:

• Friday night from 7.30pm to Midnight with entertainment provided by The Bogtrotters, www.thebogtrotters.com NOW SOLD OUT
• Saturday Lunch time from 12.00 to 5pm
• Saturday evening from 7.30pm to Midnight with entertainment provided by The Retrobeats, www.theretrobeats.com

This year for the first time tickets are available to purchase online as well as at the Community Centre.
For online ticketing please click the ‘On Sale’ button to the right or click: http://www.wegottickets.com

Tickets are priced at:

• £6 for Friday NOW SOLD OUT
• £3 for Saturday lunch time
• £5 for Saturday evening.

Entry tickets include a commemorative glass and programme.

Hot food will be available to purchase at all sessions.

The GYCA received a grant from WREN to upgrade our heating back in August, but in order to access this grant we have to raise £7,500 extra to top it up.  During the past 8 weeks the work has been going on to replace the central heating boiler in the Club House which serves all of the bar area, the office,  committee room, pre school, gym, Warrington Amateur Radio Club, Grappenhall & Thelwall Model Railway Club and the studio. We were without any heat or hot water for a number of weeks but the pre school, studio and gym now have lovely warm rooms again although the work is not finished as the boiler in the Olde Barn is also going to be subject to replacement.

In order to raise the necessary extra funds the GYCA have reinstated our Quiz Night on a Thursday, with a limit of 6 members per team and professionally set questions this is proving popular event, however we still need more people to take part and its only £1 each to enter. The winning team gets £3 Grappenhall Pounds each to spend in the bar.

The ‘Friends’ of the GYCA continue to raise organise fund raising events and have just held a successful Wine Tasting evening which raised £200 and in the summer our Sunday afternoon teas and homebakes in the marquee raised a further £250.00.

A long term member of the GYCA and his wife,  who have been members since the Club started and regularly visit on a Saturday evening, were very concerned that we were all putting in such a lot of effort to raise funds,  but the total raised was only going up very slowly, they therefore decided that as they had enjoyed coming here for many years and wanted to help us that they gave us a staggering donation of £1,000.  We are truly grateful for such support and hope that they will continue to enjoy our facilities.

All events are advertised on our notice boards and this web site and via Facebook and we hope that members non members will come along and support our events.

Despite the rain we had a good turn out to our ‘Big Lunch’ to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. This was another Free event organised by the ‘Friends’ of the GYCA.

Entertainment was provided by the Chicago Teddy Bears and a fabulous BBQ was put on by the local Scout Group, along with side shows and games for all ages. Everyone made an effort to come along in their red, white and blue attire, metres and metres of bunting were put up inside and outside the Community Centre and even the home made cakes had a patriotic theme.

It is now almost 2 years since the current Management Committee came into being in July 2010 and those of you who use the Community Centre and The Bellhouse Club regularly will know what massive changes have taken place during this time:

• Lowering the fence around the Beer Garden
• Redecoration of The Bellhouse Club
• New toilets in the Ladies
• Refitting of the kitchen in the Olde Barn including new catering fridge and cooker
• Reorganising of storage in the Olde Barn so chairs and tables are stored out of sight
• Purchase of new tables for Olde Barn
• Renovation of the garden at the front of the Parish Council offices
• Removal of dead trees
• Upgrade of the projector, screen and sound systems throughout
• New website
• Free WiFi throughout Old Barn, Committee Room and Bellhouse Club
• Fitting new programmer controls to the existing boilers
• Renovation of the committee room to provide a state of the art training room
• Renovation of the glass wash area
• External renovations to the guttering and weatherboarding
• New UPVC windows in Pre School
• Fitting new LED lighting, a Green option with long term money saving benefits
• Radiator covers in Pre School
• Introduction of Free Community Events, ie Christmas Tree Lighting, Diamond Jubilee Lunch, Village Fete etc.
• Complete renovation of the Gym into a bright well equipped sports/badminton hall.

There have been some new additions to our regular programme of events in that every 3^rd Friday we now have live music in the Club House and the Quiz Night will recommence from Saturday 14^th July 8.30 for a 9:00pm start.  This will be a Charity Quiz with a difference,  with teams of up to 6 people, come along and try your hand, even hardened quiz goers will find this a little bit out of the ordinary.

GRANTS AND FUNDRAISING

During the past two years we have been extremely lucky to have had help from Janet Richards the Parish Clerk in assisting us to get grants to help with some of the major refurbishments, ie the Gym and the Kitchen. Further funding has been provided by the ‘Friends’ of the GYCA when available.

We have  just heard that we have secured a £40,000 WREN Grant towards the cost of replacing the central heating boilers which will cost a total of £47,500.

The current boilers are the original ones installed over 30 years ago and are inefficient, costly to run and are now obsolete. The worry is that they will fail in the winter and we will not be able to source the parts to repair them.

Although a £40,000 grant will go a long way to carrying out this work, this money cannot be accessed WITHOUT US RAISING £7,500 ourselves to ‘match fund’. If we do not raise the funding and carry out the work within 12 months we lose the grant.

It is a massive task for the Management Committee, The Friends and Staff to undertake alone and we need your help to raise this money.

We will be putting on some extra events during the coming weeks and months and need your support.  If you would like to organise a fund raising event, or have an idea for an event, please speak to anyone of the above groups who will be delighted to assist, if not please come along and attend the events.

Donations may be made through ‘Just Giving’ (click to dontate) or donations may be posted into the collection box in the bar, or handed in to the Manager.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

AGM   -  Wednesday 25^th July in the Olde Barn at 7.30pm

New Charity Quiz Night – Start Date Saturday 14^th July at 9pm.

Afternoon Tea and Homebakes – Sunday 5^th August and Sunday 19^th August 2pm to 4pm in the Marquee

Village Fete – Saturday 5^th September 12:00 to 4pm

Wine Tasting – 12^th October

Halloween – 26^th October

Tree Lighting Ceremony / Santa’s Grotto Opening – 1^st December

Pantomime – Puss in Boots – 15^th December 1.30pm

The Annual General Meeting of the Grappenhall Youth and Community Association will take place at 7:30pm on Wednesday 25^th July 2012 in the Olde Barn.

1. The purpose is as follows:
2. To receive apologies
3. To receive and adopt the report of the trustees for the year ended 31st March 2012 and the independent examiner’s report thereon.
4. To elect Directors
5. Any other business of which prior notice is not required.

Following the formal business of the meeting, there will be presentations on topics of current interest.  Members will be invited to putquestions and comments on such topics and any other matters of relevance to the Association.

Click to download full details: GYCA-AGM-Notice-July-2012

In June 2011 we were awarded a Big Lottery Grant for £9000 for the refurbishment of the gym/sports hall at the GYCA.

All users of the hall were invited to a meeting to discuss what they would like to see done by way of improvements to the hall and the result is fantastic.

We have repaired the damaged walls, fitted new lighting, replaced the fire exit doors, refurbished the heating units, decorated throughout, taken the ‘hump’ out of the floor, laid new flooring with lines for badminton, purchased new badminton posts and nets etc.

Despite the rain many of you turned out to attend this event and enjoyed the live music provided by the Chicago Teddy Bears Jazz Band while watching the flotilla on the big screen in the Old Barn. The scouts put on a marvellous BBQ and the GYCA provided their wonderful home made cakes in the marquee.

The 16th Annual Grappenhall Beer Festival will take place on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th May, tickets are now on sale and going fast, so dont leave it until the last minute to get your tickets.

This event is always a sell out. The entry price, which includes a comemorative half pint glass and a programme is the same as the last few years at only £6 for Friday night, £3 for Saturday lunch time and £5 for Saturday night. Tickets available from the Office during the day or the Bellhouse Bar evenings and weekends.

Once again this year we have over 30 casks of Real Ale ranging from easy drinking session ales at 3.5% ABV including beers from Hawkshead and Saltaire Breweries, up to the ever popular Phoenix Brewery’s Wobbly Bob at 6% ABV.  This year we also have a selection of specially brewed beers for the Queens Diamond Jubilee including  ‘Jubilation’  from Westerham Brewery,  a 4% Golden ale brewed with Pale Ale and Caramalt, hopped with one hop from each of the decades of the Queen’s Life and Queen of Diamonds from Three Castle’s Brewery together with many others too numerous to mention and it would spoil the suprise if we list them all now!

We have live music on both Friday and Saturday night.  Saturday night entertainment will once again be provided by ‘No Stamp Required’ which is the same band that had the room throbbing last year with cover versions of all your favourite music over the past decades and Friday night the entertainment will be provided by Karl Beer and the Bottletops with a similar style of music.

Again this year we will be providing a ‘bottle bar’ selling bottled lagers and fruit beers, including the popular Timmermans range and the Amigos with a hint of Tequila and also a range of Ciders, together with the complimentary soft drinks for drivers and a selection of Red, White and Rose wines.  Crisps and snacks will be on sale from the bottle bar and hot food will be for sale in the Marquee.

We look forward to seeing you again this year..

The first phase refitting of the kitchen in the Olde Barn is now complete.  Most of the work to fit the units was carried out by our Caretaker / Handyman with just a couple of volunteers from time to time.

The results are stunning, we now have an hygenic practical work space.

Happy New Year To You All.

Our Christmas festivities started with our Tree Lighting Ceremony which was kindly attended by the Mayor of Warrington, Cllr Mike Biggin, with carols sung by the St Wilfrid’s Choir and the lights being switched on yet again by Santa’s magic.

Hamper Donated by Davidsons Scrap Metal

This year Santa and his Elf had their very own Winter Wonderland Grotto and Sitting Room in which to receive the children. Over 80 children visited the Grotto and received a gift from Santa before he sat down to a well-earned rest and a mince pie or two…

We have again been extremely lucky to receive sponsorship from Davidsons Scrap Metal of Altrincham who donated a fabulous Hamper worth over £150 which was raffled on the 23 December and won by Dave Sisson.

We again opened on Christmas Day for a couple of hours and it was wonderful to see so many families enjoying a couple of drinks while the turkey was cooking at home. The ‘bottle’ raffle was drawn and miraculously one of the prize winners was ‘Bonny the Dog’ I hope she enjoyed her bottle of wine…

We have continued with our programme of improvements including the Committee Room which now has a practical wood laminate floor plus all the equipment required to make this a super venue for smaller meetings including a projector, screen, white board and flip chart.  Some of the money for this was provided by way of a Grant from the Warrington Charities Trust.

An entrance has been made from the Olde Barn into what was the old cellar to make more storage for tables and chairs when not in use in the function room. We also, at considerable expense, had the floor in the Olde Barn stripped back, sanded and re-sealed to bring it back to its former glory, this will be well received by the various groups and dance groups who use this room.

On Friday 18 November all the Management Committee attended the Rotary Charter Night at the Firgrove Hotel where we were extremely lucky to be awarded a donation of £1000 towards further repairs and improvements to the GYCA buildings.

The quotes are now all in for the proposed work in the gym. This has taken some time as they have all had to be prepared on a like for like basis. Work should start in the next few weeks. This will be carried out, as far as possible, with little or no disruption to the groups who use this facility.

Over the past few months a new class running in our Gym by Matthew Ruffley of Cheshire Fit Camps have been ‘Getting fit for Charity’. They managed to raise a marvellous amount of £350 which will be used to purchase new badminton nets for the gym.

Unfortunately we are still waiting on the outcome of our Wren Grant application for the replacement of the gas heating boilers. In the meantime, we have upgraded the heating controls and now have a state of the art programmer where we are already seeing the savings in our monthly gas bills. This is not only a money saving exercise, but also improves our green credentials massively.

The next step will be the replacement of some more of the windows in the centre with upvc.

Bar Staff on Christmas Eve

We have seen two members of staff promoted in the last few weeks of 2011. Angela McCabe and Steve Broadbent have been promoted to Duty Bar Stewards and are in charge of running the bar staff and bar operations on a day to day basis.

Part of their remit is now to think of new ways to encourage new customers to come in and enjoy our facilities.  To this end they will be running celebration evenings in the bar for the Chinese New Year on Friday 27^th January when we will be showing a film and serving Chinese Dim Sum snacks.

They will also be running a St Valentine’s Day Massacre evening in the Olde Barn on Saturday 11 February, please watch the notice boards and on here for details.

We held a Christmas Quiz in December with a guaranteed prize of £100. The plan is to hold more themed quiz nights on a Wednesday, initially on a monthly basis. Here again please watch the notice boards for information.

Our next Social event is the Burns Night Celebration and Ceilidh on Saturday 21 January from 7.30pm.  This is a fabulous night with a two course hot meal and tot of whisky for just £12 or 6 for £66.  Be sure not to miss getting your tickets for this event as it’s always fully subscribed.

Saturday 7^th January sees the start of our ‘In on the Night’ raffle which will be drawn on Saturday 28^th January, where one lucky winner will leave with a cheque for £500.  See notice boards or here for details.

As in other years we are now already starting to plan our Beer Festival for May and celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

If  you are not on our e-mail list for updates on events, but would like to be, or you are on the list, but wish to be removed,  please contact Pauline on 01925 268633 or e-mail pauline.mcmanus@grappenhall.com

Our newsletter publication is kindly sponsored by Davidsons Scrap Metal Dealers – a downloadable copy is available by clicking here