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

Matthew Ruffley of Cheshire Fitcamp has been running a one month series of classes to raise money for gym equipment for the GYCA. Participants have worked hard at a fitness and fat loss workout program, three sessions a week for the past few weeks and can now see the results.  All the money paid to take part has been donated to the GYCA to aid with the refurbishment of our gym / sports hall. If you missed the first round of classes,  Matthew is now continuing with his classes both early in the morning and early evening three times a week.  Please contact Matthew for further information 01925 748474

Santa's Visit in 2010

Come and join us at Grappenhall Community Centre at 5pm on Saturday 26th November when Father Christmas will pay us a special visit to turn on the lights on our Christmas Tree.

Mulled wine, soft drinks and mince pies will be available, as well as our licensed bar.

After the ceremony, for just £3 children can visit Santa in his grotto, where he will listen to their Christmas wishes and present them with a small gift.

We have at last made a start on refurbishing the tired kitchen in the Olde Barn at the Community Centre, we secured a small grant for a new cooker and the ‘Friends’ raised extra funds to enable us to purchase a fantastic new Range Cooker as well as a commercial catering sink.  The walls in the kitchen have been clad with hygenic wallboards and the new equipment has been installed. In the serving area we now have stainless steel workbenches and a new fridge.  There is still some way to go as we still need new flooring and more cabinets but the difference so far is amazing.  Thank you to all those volunteers who helped with the work and also to those of you who supported the ‘Friends’ with their fundraising.

Grappenhall Community Centre is gearing up for the 2011 Grappenhall Village Fete which will be held on Saturday 3rd September.

The fete will officially be opened shortly after 11am by the Mayor of Warrington, Councellor Mike Biggin.

With over 35 indoor stalls including, crafts, gifts and food, plus outdoor stalls and rides for the children, a bouncy castle, go karts, and fire engine, it will bigger and better than ever.

Our ever popular Marquee will be serving tea, coffee and home bakes, plus there will be an Art Exhibition in the Studio with paintings for sale from £10 to over £300.

Martial Arts demonstrations and taster sessions for children will also take place during the day.

The event will draw to a close at 4pm.

2011 Beer Festival

As May approached the ‘Friends’ activity increased in readiness for our famous Beer Festival.  This year was the 15^th Beer Festival and due to all the hard work from volunteers it was again a resounding success. Both the Friday and the Saturday evening sessions were Sold Out.

This year for the first time, in addition to our Cask Ales, we had a ‘bottle bar’ selling specialist lagers and fruit beers as well as one larger on tap. This was very well received and even the hardened Cask Ale drinkers had to admit that offering more choice means we appeal to a wider customer base.

On Friday night the crowd were entertained by Slippery Hill, a country music band and on Saturday night the crowd were rocking to cover versions of great hits from the past 3 decades performed by No Stamp Required.

We have to give special thanks to Cliff Houghton from Warrington Rotary Club who kindly assisted us this year. He has a wealth of experience gained during his time running the Oktober Fest in Warrington. Thanks also go to club members who offered their services to help behind the bar.

As mentioned in our last News Letter we have been extremely fortunate that the Parish Council have given us 5 hours a week of Janet Richards time to concentrate on obtaining grants.

We were successful in obtaining a grant to assist with the Royal Wedding Event and also to replace the old and worn trestle tables. We also received a small grant for a cooker which was not quite enough to enable us to buy the ‘catering size’ one we wanted, but again the Friends came to the rescue and donated a further sum of money which has enabled us to purchase a Range Cooker for the Olde Barn kitchen and will also enable us to purchase a new sink unit.

Grants were also received from Warrington Rotary to rerubish the Glass Wash area and all the units were kindly donated by Howdens and fitted by volunteers.

Janet is currently working on a large grant application for the replacement of the heating system in the Community Centre.

For those of you who use the Gym you will know that it is in need of a facelift and to this end Janet applied for and has been successful in obtaining a grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The money has not been released yet but as soon as it is we will be obtaining quotations for upgrading the lighting, heating and decoration.

Our new web site www.grappenhall.com is now up and running with details of all the events and sports action taking place here as well as up to date news from the Management Committee and ‘Friends’.

We have continued with our programme of improvements and the windows and cladding have been replaced in the Studio. Other projects have been completed with the aid of either Grants or Donations from other groups.

Alan Gavin has left us after 11 years service and has moved on to work for Landrover Jaguar. A presentation was made to him on his last day and we all wish him well in his new position.

Our new Caretaker/Handyman, John Daley joined us three weeks ago and is settling in very well, having already tackled a number of outstanding joinery projects.

We have another new member of Staff; Mo Johnston has joined us, having previously been the Manager at the Grappenhall Sports and Social Club. She will be Assistant Steward and Bar Supervisor with the Bellhouse Club, but will also be heading up our new catering service. Mo’ is just completing her training as a Chef and has already put together some sample menus for functions.

In March we held a Special General Meeting in the Olde Barn which was well attended by Members.  A presentation was made by the Chairman, Ginny Mair and the Treasurer, Hugh McManus and the Secretary Graham Welborn took the minutes of the meeting.

They explained that the law relating to charities has changed significantly since the GYCA was formed in 1974 and consequently in our current format we no longer conform with the law.

Legal advice has been taken and we have been advised to formally separate the GYCA and the Bellhouse Club. This would be done by setting up two companies: GYCA Ltd, which will be the charity and The Bellhouse Club Ltd, which will be the trading arm of the GYCA. It is very clear that if we don’t do this we will lose our charity status. If this happens the cost of running the GYCA will increase by about £20,000 per year which is clearly not viable.

Members were asked to vote and the resolution to change to a Limited Company was carried almost unanimously with just a couple of members absteining.

This will mainly be a paper work exercise however, one change that has to happen and will affect everybody is that all current membership will cease and everybody will have to join the “new” GYCA. There will be no charge for this and membership status i.e. Life or Annual will not change. It will be just a matter of filling in a new membership form.

The Management Committee are almost ready to make the change over which has been handled by a local Solicitor and further details will be made available to members as soon as the paperwork is finalised.

If you have any suggestions for events you would like to see here please let us know.

Dates for your Diary:

Quiz night in Olde Barn on Friday 24^th June
Strawberry Cream Teas & Tennis on Sat 2^nd & Sun 3^rd July
Village Fete / Craft / Food Fair / Art Exhibition 3^rd September

STOP PRESS: We would like to offer our congratulations to Mike Biggin on his appointment as Mayor of Warrington.

This publication is sponsored by Davidsons Scrap Metal Dealers a downloadable copy is available by clicking here

GYCA President Bill Williams & Chairman Ginny Mair

The 15th Annual Grappenhall Beer Festival took place on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th May 2011 and we are delighted to be able to report that it was a sell out!

Friday night was the night for serious Real Ale lovers with Cask Ales ranging from an easy drinking 3.8% ABV up to the wopping 6% Wobbly Bob.  With over 30 Real Ales and Ciders there was plenty of choice for everyone.

Live Music on Friday was provided by Slippery Hill and on Saturday the room was throbbing to the fabulous ‘No Stamp Required’

This was the first year that we had a ‘bottle bar’ selling bottled lagers and fruit beers. The Timmermans Frambozen was a massive hit and will definitely be on the list for next years Beer Festival – another very popular bottled beer was the Amigos with a hint of Tequila.

Two of the Cask Ales were Brewed by 4T’s Brewery in Warrington including the Grappenhall Ale which was a 4% easy drinking seasonal ale.

On Saturday afternoon, during the lunch time session we showed the FA Cup Final on the Big Screen. This proved to be very popular with families and couples alike.

A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY:

Next Year’s Beer Festival will take place on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 May 2012.

The Grappenhall Community Centre  hosted a Family Fun Day to celebrate the Royal Wedding in conjunction with the local Scout Group.

Families were queuing to get the best seats and the Olde Barn was packed with well wishers for the Royal Wedding, the summer sunshine held and following the televised service everyone enjoyed the hot food, cool drinks and entertainment.

Following the Special General Meeting held on 3rd March 2011, the Management Committee are pleased to announce that the Resolution :-

“That pursuant to Clause 15 of the Constitution of the Grappenhall Youth and Community Association, the Grappenhall Youth and Community Association is dissolved voluntarily in favour of a Charitable Company limited by Guarantee, Grappenhall Youth and Community Association Limited, and that the assets are applied to Grappenhall Youth and Community Association Limited”

Was passed with a unnanamous vote in Favour.  Further updates will appear on the web site within the next few weeks.

Existing members need do nothing at the present time as the New Membership Forms for the Grappenhall Youth & Community Association Ltd will not be available until around the 1st April 2011.