Out of the ashes...

Dear <<First Name>>,
We promised to keep you abreast of developments to the proposed Dean Court Community Centre. You will almost certainly have heard of the recent fire that apparently left our plans in tatters. But if you thought that, you don't know us very well yet!

We are very grateful to Cumnor Parish Council for granting us £1,000 which enabled us to secure initial architectural plans and a schedule of works from Dan Jones of Civic Architects (http://www.civic.org.uk).  We met Dan through his work at Oxford Brookes, and were extremely fortunate in securing his services at considerably less than the commercial rate because (a) he is passionate about Community Architecture and because (b) he shares our vision of the future.

Dan is working on a very similar scheme in Cambridgeshire, and caused us to look at the old Social Club building with a new respect. He told us that this despised structure, once restored, could be an iconic building: a fine example of Alvar Aalto Community Architecture. So, far from seeing the building’s apparent destruction as an ideal opportunity for a complete rebuild, we are now hoping that we can restore it to its original glory.  And what sort of turn-around is that?

Major grant awarded!

We are excited and grateful to have received a provisional grant of £20,000 from OSCA (Oxfordshire Stronger Communities Alliance) to begin the restoration once we have the go-ahead from the Vale of White Horse District Council. Our application was one of a handful from over 140 to be successful, and we thank them for keeping faith with us. So before long we hope to be inviting you to a celebratory opening of a Community Centre that has uncovered the structural pillars on which the building “hangs”, reinstated the north-facing windows along the top under the fascia, allowing natural, non-directional daylight back into the space, inserted windows along the back, allowing supervision of the recently refurbished playground and discouraging anti-social behaviour, and installed updated disabled access.

Are we a bit mad?

The years of plenty have brought us to a time of economic uncertainty, concern about our wasteful society and, of course, the closely allied - and huge - issue of global climate change.  So why on earth, in this time of stringent spending cuts, are we thinking or embarking on a new project for a Community Centre in Dean Court?

Because we believe that a better life doesn’t get handed to you on a plate: that unless you work for it, it means nothing and is valued at nothing. Because Dean Court has proved, through the success of its many and varied social activities (STAC, Kids Club, CAG etc) that here is a real community in need of a meeting-place. It has proved that here is a real community of forward-thinking, caring people committed to making a better world for their children and all the world’s children.

Events

Meanwhile, please put the dates in the sidebar in your diaries.

To find out more, visit our website www.deancourtcc.org.uk
The Management Team are Anna Pearson, Priscilla Waugh, Jonny Kennedy, Paul Hettler and Ruth Hettler