Chairman’s Report 2024 – 25
Welcome to the RRA AGM for the 2024 to 2025 year.
responsibility but the committee members work has made the task easy.
We have had a very successful year. I have picked out a few highlights but these should not detract from the wider activities that the committee and the community contribute daily and weekly throughout the year. We are blessed to live in a village with such a caring and supportive community of people.
Through a combination of fundraising, RRA savings and a significant grant from Ribble Valley Borough Council we renewed the surface at a cost of around £50,000. It is testament to the old surface that it had lasted so well for the 30 plus years it had served the village. Although, anybody attempting to use in in autumn and winter in recent years will have no doubt spent time on their bottom after venturing into the slippy corner of doom. We must o�er thanks to Rowena for her project management of the works with support from Jan and others on the committee.
The new surface seems to have generated much more village activities with the recent pickleball events and more tennis action this spring. I know there has been bounce debate. I can assure you that the surface selected is the highest quality available that provides for tennis and football multi use. Might I suggest that some of our tennis players invest in replacing their tennis balls that have lived in garages and sheds for the 30 years since the original court surface. I can recommend some particularly bouncy balls from Amazon.
I would like to note that, whilst many activities are credited to the RRA, there are many members of the community who contribute hugely to the village under the banner of the RRA. Gary Bolton and the team that developed the Community Garden are an example of this. The charity co�ee mornings are a further example raising nearly £2,400 for various charities. Although, I am unsure of the health benefits of cake for breakfast on the co�ee morning Saturdays.
Other notable events during the year have included; the summer party in July, Halloween and Bonfire Night; our VE Day celebration and picnic. We had a selection of Christmas events; the Village Christmas Party, the Children’s Christmas Party and the Seniors Christmas Lunch.
The Pavilion was also opened as part of the Warm Spaces initiative and during the various power cuts and service interruptions that our lovely village seems plagued with. It is lovely to see this wonderful village facility being used to help people in their hour of need.
Our Blue Bin Fridays have gone from strength to strength supported no doubt by Roy’s regular quiz. There may or may not be a theme.
Once a month the Blue Bin Friday is upgraded to Foody Friday. To all the volunteers who have cooked for these events, the village owes you a huge thanks. Cooking for 30 to 40 people takes a huge e�ort and much support. Thanks to Rowena for organising the Foody Fridays and for understating the work involved when you are campaigning for volunteers.
There are a few more people worth thanking.
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Jan Cotterill for her management of the maintenance team keeping all our assets safe and compliant on a tight budget.
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Rowena & Kara for their communications to the village.
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Martin Lawson for his work a RRA Treasurer.
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Steve Porter for his management of the bar. The beer here only tastes this good because the lines are so clean and the barrels are so lovingly cared for.
I am sure some of you are aware of some challenges between the village and the Football Club in recent years. I am happy to say that this relationship is much improved. This is thanks to the e�orts of Terry Braithwaite, Martin Lawson and, more recently, Steve Conti. We must all continue these e�orts to ensure harmony between the village and the important users of the facilities.
to all the good that the RRA achieves, whether it be extracting money from unsuspecting local authorities to keeping the RRA compliant with the myriad rules that we must operate within. Personally, Rosie makes being the Chairman easy, prompting, guiding and poking me in the right direction. Thanks.
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