University of the Third Age - Matlock Talk

I gave a speech to the Matlock Branch of the University of the Third Age. It was more of an update from the speech I gave three years ago. There really was a lot to say and it was appreciated by the audience.
I included photos from the first visit we did to the Pavilion and compared them to what you can see now! This proved very interesting to the audience, which included a couple, who had helped to achieve our success.
In the end I signed up no less than 10 new members! There was also one who renewed on the night.
Since then we have had a further 3 new members in the post!
Gregor

Pavilion Tidy-up Carries On!

The work in the Pavilion carries on apace! We are currently working in the Grey Room and here you can see the ceiling being got ready for painting. We did one magnolia coat two years ago to make the room a bit lighter (it was black!)
Now we are doing a proper job of repairing the ceiling and painting it white. The paint pot is there to assist with a larger repair of a hole in the ceiling. We put a piece of wood above the hole, attach it to the paint pot to hold it in place and then fill where the plaster is missing. In the end we will cut the string and make good before painting.
We have seven weeks left to get the work completed; if you can help phone Les on 01629 760599.
Gregor

Pavilion Plans Rethink

The Operations Group have just had an away-day to review our plans, after the rejection of our Heritage Lottery Fund bid. 

It was made clear that we would not be able to bid successfully for the larger National fund and will be limited to an application of no more than £2m.

We have decided to divide the project into a number of phases and apply for each individually, rather than doing it all in one big application. 

We have also made an alteration to the plans that will mean not making such a big change to the 2nd floor. 

Gregor 

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Heritage Lottery Fund Visit

Jeremy Fenn of the HLF visited the Grand Pavilion to see for himself the plans we have and advise us on how we can progress them. 

He was enormously impressed by our enthusiasm and skills, a well as the number who  came and presented to him. 

We hope that this will lead to a more successful Bid when we make it again. 

Gregor 

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Loading the wood

Here we are loading wood onto Dave's trailer to be sold. This load got us around £300 towards the cost of restoring the Pavilion. It took us a while to load it though! 

The Main Hall is now ready for our Ski Film event this weekend. 

Gregor 

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Saturday Clean Up

Here is Les and some of the team who helped last Saturday. They are enjoying a cup of "real" coffee and a mince pie after a couple of hours hard labour.
We have now made enormous progress in the Grey Room and are starting to dismantle the bar there. In the under-stair area Eric had a good day pulling down partitions. Les and I had a day clearing the front entrance and outer office.
Gregor

More work at the Pavilion

Big work is going on at the Pavilion: clearing the Grey Room so we can use it more thoroughly, organising the stage and letting more light in at the front of the building. 

We are meeting at 10 am each Saturday morning. Join us! 

Gregor 

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Derbyshire Dales District Council Visits the Pavilion

Mike Galsworthy and Ben visited the Pavilion to discuss matters relating to parking, the illuminations, trees and construction issues. 

Charles, Dave , Andie and I took them round the building showing what we have done and what we are planning. 

We have given them a list of requests to take away for a decision.

Gregor   

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Great Evening at the Temple

John Gill is putting on a super evening at the Temple tonight. I aid of Sheffield Hospital's Neurocare Unit they hope to raise a lot of money! 

Gregor 

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Photos from the weekend

 

Derwent Valley Mills Discovery Days

We had the Pavilion open over the weekend for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Discovery Days. These were a great success with 38 people attending and having the tour of the building on Saturday and 30 on the Sunday.

Photographed is Charles giving the lecture. Lynn also worked hard with around 10 new members signed up over the weekend.

Gregor

The final balcony!

We have now managed to dismantle the last of the balconies that were left over from the nightclub days. This has been a major task one the last few months. Now we have a clear hall for events which allow us to let the hall without any space restriction. 

There it's still a lot of tidying up to do, but we should be able to move the rubble on time and before the next event. 

Gregor  

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A Great Weekend!

Overall we had a super weekend this weekend taking around £1,500, of which we should see an increase in Pavilion Funds of around £1,000.
In the Café we raised around £500 of this and thanks must go to Judy, Andie, Trina and Dave for their help.
We also signed up five new members, without really trying!
The view is of a customer just leaving the café having had an enjoyable drink!
Gregor

Successful Craft Market

We have had a successful Craft Market this weekend, helped in no small way by the Fireworks Night in Matlock Bath.
We had 17 stalls altogether, with a range of goods from weathervanes to Christmas decorations. Most did well and sold a good quantity of stock.
For the first time we used our "Street Team"; licenced young teenagers who deliver leaflets to passers-by, reminding them that the market is open. It was clear when they went out because within a few minutes we had a rush of people arriving at the Pavilion entrance! Thanks to Lily, Lily and Annabel who between them did the work.
Gregor

What an Amazing Evening!

Judy organised the Café stall last night and it was incredible!
From 6.30 to 9.15 it never really stopped. We were offering Hot Dogs, Baked Potatoes, Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate and a range of soft drinks and doughnuts. We pretty much ran out of everything!
Judy, Jane, Penny, plus Charles (GmacG), Becks and Felix all helped and together raised a turnover of £480, just from this stall! This will give us a good profit towards Pavilion Funds and be added towards the Café takings over the weekend (more later).
During the evening it started to rain and I gave a virtuoso performance of how to NOT put up a gazebo! I had to erect it OVER the tables and then get the roof on; whilst people were still serving our customers underneath! It paid a wonderful reward when the rain rally came. We were able to provide a dry area for our foods our servers and our customers.
A great evening was had by all!
Gregor