THIS
IS HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Sharon
Williams, who was a lecturer at Northumberland College, thought that
it seemed a shame that the children who attended the Warkworth Cricket
Club during the summer would not maintain their friendships throughout
the winter when the cricket coaching finished in September. She sent
a note to their parents expressing this view.
A meeting was arranged and three parents attended - Keith Puddephatt,
Penny Wright and Maria Orange. A committee was formed - Sharon Chair,
Keith Treasurer and Penny Secretary. They provisionally booked the
parish rooms but then contacted Serena Coulter (bookings secretary
for the Memorial Hall) who arranged for them to visit the hall with
Peter Atkinson. They booked the hall provisionally for Friday nights.
Keith and Sharon met with Alan Hedley of the Community Council in
September who told them to write a Constitution and Child Protection
Policy, he also advised them on grants.
They did this, had it approved, and started thinking about funding
- the Committee met with their children and other parents attended
with their children, and the 9 children present were asked about the
games and equipment they would like at a youth club. A bank account
was opened at Barclays in Alnwick.
Sharon
wrote to the Parish Council and they were awarded £50.00. Warkworth
Cricket Club awarded them £80.00 to buy a CD player.
They
had their paperwork in place and decided to open on 5th November 2004
with a 'Halloween' party - they thought it would give them an idea
of interest. They used their own money to purchase sweets and drinks
for the tuck shop. Sharon did posters for the party and distributed
them around the village and put an article in the Pelican. The party
was a great success, and 24 children attended.
The
following week they took in their own board games, there were a few
snooker tables, and parents donated a snooker table and two football
tables. They continued to run every Friday when the hall was free
but had to close early in December because of the Pantomime.
Sharon applied for a grant to Yvonne Durham of Alnwick District Council
and received the promise of 50% of the funding. She advised her to
go to the Strategic Partnership Scheme in Shilbottle for a 50% match
- Sharon met with Ian Humphreys several times and finally completed
the grant application in late November. He didn't have any money available
until March at the time and it was very complex - suddenly he did,
and he tasked them to raise £260 on 3rd December 2004 in order that
they receive a 50% match, the panel were meeting on 9th December.
They had to have the money by the following Wednesday. Sharon went
around Warkworth on the Friday with a letter to all the businesses
and on the following Tuesday had lifetime 'Founder
Sponsors' and 'Friends' of Warkworth Youth Club plus donations
and the £260 needed to apply for the full grant. The grant application
form and evidence of funding were taken to Ian Humphreys on Wednesday
8 December 2004 for submission the next day. On December 14th 2004 Sharon collected
the cheque from Mr Humphreys - the panel had approved their application.
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