No storm (Angus) in a (Pavilion) teacup

November has seen a bit of progress, as some of you locals may have noticed..

The Pavilion is now having regular (mainly fortnightly) inspections to which we are invited to attend. Our committee architect, Peter Cross, has been keeping a record of what the condition of the building is, what is being done and what still needs to be done. Churchgate are undertaking urgent repair work, mainly to the roof, hence the scaffolding surrounding the Pavilion.  The latest inspection was last week and it seems that Storm Angus decided not to visit us. The west wing and western half of the main roof have now been felted and rainwater outlets cleared to allow draining to the car park.  Apparently the eastern half of the roof is not as bad as the western side and, weather permitting, it is hoped that this would be done in the next week. A drainage survey is still to be arranged to establish a system of how all rainwater drains away from roof areas and the vegetation needs to be removed from the east and west walls. There is also scaffolding inside to inspect the roof lantern, beams etc. We are very pleased that Churchgate are proceeding with this work and the Pavilion will at least be weatherproofed in case Storm Barbara decides she’d like to stop for a cuppa!

Mid-month we had a very successful meeting with Jess Steele (Jericho Road) who is our mentor and consultant. We now have sorted out a timeline for our progression over the next three years. In general, next year it’ll be mainly getting a viability survey, costing survey, preparing for Round 1 Lottery funding etc. We have also contacted Purcells in Canterbury to get a quote for getting a project brief/feasibility study. We’ll be able to release further information once we’ve been in contact with Churchgate regarding the lease, which will be very soon.

Our Crowdfunding project ended on the 27^th October, raising nearly £10k. We had a few pledges that didn’t go through, for various reasons, so we’ve been contacting those people to see if we can sort. Luckily there were not many and about half those unsuccessful pledgers have managed to retry. We’ve alerted the others once more, but if we haven’t heard back by the end of November, we’ll have to assume that their pledge has been cancelled.

So now we have the pleasure of sending out the rewards to pledgers, including the thank you e-card (which I designed, sorry!), various gifts donated by our celebrity gang and prints of the original architectural drawings. We just have to frame the prints and then we’ll be ready for take off so all you pledgers, watch out for your email, postman or even one of us delivering your reward before Christmas.

Speaking of our celebs, we’ve had a few more come on board the campaign. Whilst in Ireland, I awoke to an email from the lovely Pam Ferris (Call the Midwife, Darling Buds) who is very keen to offer her support, not just from a distance, but to really get involved once her work commitments have calmed down. Many thanks to our ‘Friend’, Sheila Young, for telling Pam about our cause and passing on our details.  We have also welcomed Timothy West, Michael Cochrane, Helen Lederer and Imelda Staunton on board.

Finally, we are very pleased that the Folkestone Living Advent Calendar will be using the Pavilion forecourt as a venue on the 3^rd December (at 6 pm). If you are local to the area, do come along to watch this fantastic event taking and a big thank you to Churchgate for allowing them access. Enjoy!