FAQs

The Woodside is our community building that has been formally transferred to the Bolnore Village Community Partnership (BVCP) from Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC).

The building was named the Woodside by the BVCP trust, a name that was put forward by a local resident. The venue is being used regularly by a large number of community groups including Bolnore Village Pre-School, Scout Group (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts), football clubs, dance lessons, yoga, pilates, Grace Church plus many more!

The land for the new community building and leisure facilities was provided by developer Crest Nicholson as part of the Bolnore Village housing development, along with the majority of the funding for new sports and recreation facilities. The build cost over £1.1 million, of which around £700,000 came from Crest Nicholson and the remainder provided by MSDC. MSDC continue to own and maintain the recreation ground working in partnership with the BVCP to deliver excellent facilities.

The new sports and recreation area is situated on the Tim Farmer Recreation Ground. MSDC worked closely with the Bolnore Village Residents Association (BVRA) and consulted with local people to create a scheme that meets the needs of the local community. 

There are four grass football pitches and a hard surfaced floodlit area that is marked out for a range of sports including tennis, netball, five-a-side football and basketball.

The Woodside provides local people with a large community hall, meeting rooms, kitchen area and four sports changing rooms. All facilities are available to hire.

A skate park has been installed to enable local skateboarders and scooter enthusiasts to practice their skills. The skate park is made almost entirely of concrete, which means users have a perfectly smooth ride, and benefits from a range of features including, ledges, quarter pipes and grind blocks.

The BVCP is charitable incorporated organisation, (registered charity number is 1152374), created by local volunteers to run the new leisure facilities on behalf of the local community. The BVCP was founded in June 2013 specifically with the aim of managing the Woodside and adjacent facilities, although the BVRA had been actively involved in the consultation process for a new community building for many years before this. The BVCP has a board of trustees and local volunteers with a wide range of expertise and experience. Their biographies are available here. All of the BVCP trustees (including the chairman, secretary and treasurer) are unpaid. The BVCP has a 28-year lease on the Woodside building, which includes the management of the Rec ground and floodlit multi-use games area (MUGA).

The BVCP aims are to establish and run the Woodside and recreation facilities, and to promote these facilities for the benefit of locals, improving social wellbeing and developing our community. Put simply, we aim to develop our community building for building our community.

What are the advantages of having the BVCP run our facilities instead of the council or a private contractor (as is the case with the local leisure centres)?

With the exception of our paid centre manager and assistant manager, the Woodside is run by a group of volunteer Trustees. This keeps our costs down and ensures that our facilities can be used for as diverse a range of activities as possible, rather than focusing solely on profit. Although nearby towns and villages have some excellent facilities we are very aware that despite being a village of over 2,500 people, Bolnore always had a deficit in terms of local amenities, the Woodside addresses this deficit.

The BVCP is funded through the hiring of the halls and rooms in the building, occasionally we receive grants for specific projects. Should our position permit us to do so once our staff and maintenance costs are met (BVCP is responsible for maintaining and running the building), any financial surplus generated will be used to support new and existing groups, or the creation of new projects that have an impact on local wellbeing.

If you’re interested in getting involved at the Woodside, have an idea, a suggestion or can volunteer, do contact us and get involved!