Peckham Rye 1 o'clock club under threat of closure

[dondini]

Hello,

I am a local mum & have been taking my 2 children to the 1o'clock in Peckham Rye for nearly 2 years now, so when I heard that there that it was under threat of closure, I was very upset.

I have started a face book page to try to rally some help in campaigning against it's closure. If it is something that will affect you, please join the group so we can show some strong numbers. I haven't done anything like this before so any advise or support anyone can give will be great.

Here's the like

http://www.facebook.com/browse/page_fans/?page_id=264298460275529&notif_t=page_new_likes

Cheers

Donna.

[ironjawcannon]

Sorry the link didn't work. I would like to support you in keeping it open.

[elloriac]

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/1-oclock-club-campaign/264298460275529

[puzzled]

hasn't it just been rebuilt? sounds like madness.

[ClaireinSE22]

Not exactly,....the new play area has actually reduced the space available to the One O'Clock Club - besides, not sure that Southwark, like so many local authorities, are known for their forward planning! Donna, I'd like to offer my poor services in support of a campaign for PR one o'clock club - will PM you my details. Just a thought, but maybe the original post should be re-posted under the Family Room as I think more parents would see it there?

[Gavin Edwards]

Claire - thanks for bringing this thread to my attention via pm.

We held a meeting in August with cabinet members to ask them to investigate a way forward on this issue. We had been waiting for an update and have been chasing for an update as we agreed it would be good to speak to parents and the community in October ? that?s obviously now! I will chase them again now and come back with more information ASAP.

Gavin

Peckham Rye Labour Councillor

http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com/

[Earl Aelfheah]

ClaireinSE22 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Not exactly,....the new play area has actually

> reduced the space available to the One O'Clock

> Club

I really don't 'get' the new play area that has been built just outside the 1 O'clock club premises. It consists of a massive (and ugly) metal frame supports a single, very small swing. Some random poles, the larger of which no child could actually climb on to and 'wobble boards' (which are OK I guess) and from memory, that's pretty much it. It's one of the worst thought out play areas I've seen. Why didn't the council use the money to extend / improve the exiting play area?

[i*Rate]

Dear dondini, well done for taking some action over this great local amenity. My wife and I first took our younger son there in 1982, our granddaughter over ten years ago and I took my younger grandson there on Tuesday; so I go back a long way. The difference now is that there are only two staff rather than the four or five as there used to be, but the staff are good especially Maureen and many thanks to her for her hard work.

As for the new playground, Councillor Gavin, someone said that it cost ?40,000 to built, does that sound right? Considering that the main feature, the Play River, was shut down very soon after the official opening because of flooding, then it does'nt seem a great use of space or public money. The Play River floods because water does'nt run uphill, as the site does; will the Architects be back to put this fault right, hopefully without any cost to Southwark? A pity that some of that money was'nt spent on the other playground near the pond, where there are only two swings for small children that you have to queue for.

I do hope that us parents and grandparents will have this FREE local facilities for many years to come, it would be a disgrace if it was Privatized.

[gina_t]

I think that is a very thoughtful action you've taken there Donna, you have definitely got my support there.

I'm quite surprised that they are thinking about a closure. I am young mum with a 20 month old boy and he really enjoys it there as we've only recently moved to East Dulwich, so it's been quite difficult to settle down for both of us. It also gives me the opportunity to make new friends in the area.

I think you should set up a petition and take it along to the playgroup and get as many signatures as possible. We all need to work together here.

[hpsaucey]

I'd also like to support however I can. And look forward ot hearing more from Gavin too!

Helen

[Renata Hamvas]

To confirm what Gavin said above, we are waiting for an update from council officers re the one o clock club. Re the new play area, this was built from Play Builder funds. It is geared up for older children than the one o clock club. Whenever I walk past, it appears to be well used, particularly by the 5-12 age group. The swinging dish seems to be the most popular item there. I will chase up on the fencing issue in relation to the new area.

Renata

[ClaireinSE22]

Rahrahrah - there is a thread in the Family Room headed 'Renata if you're reading...One o'Clock' which I found very interesting on the subject of THAT new playground and the gravity defying water feature - if you search One O'Clock club it should come up. But let's not get off topic.....what we want to know is whether the One O'Clock Club is really under threat of closure i.e. permanent closure - as I believe there was some talk last year of it being closed in the short term whilst building work takes place in that area of the park (including replacing existing One O'Clock Club hut).

[VikkiM]

As Gavin and Renata have said we?ve been meeting with the Cabinet and council officers about the club.

As I?m sure some people will be aware, the council has two budgets. A ?revenue? budget that covers the cost of running things and a ?capital? budget that covers the cost of building things (I?m simplifying but hope that broadly makes sense).

There is money in the capital budget to rebuild the One O?Clock Club. However the details of any rebuild aren?t going to be finalised until it?s clearer how much of the council?s revenue can be spent on running the Club after next April. Obviously we?ve had huge cuts in our revenue budget as a result of Government cuts so we have to make savings across the board.

Some of you may have picked up the decision earlier this week that the council will be keeping all its libraries open. This does involve a reduction in opening hours at four of our libraries and some volunteers will also be used. Combined with some other bits of re-jigging we?ve been able to find a way to make ?400K of savings without closing any libraries down. I hope that?s a good indication of how determined all councillors (and happy to be cross-party on this!) are to keep well-used and well-loved services open.

We asked Cabinet Members to investigate a whole range of things when we met in August and as Gavin says above, we said that we would like to talk to parents and the community in October (now). One of us will hopefully post on here with an update asap.

Cllr Victoria Mills

Labour Councillor For Peckham Rye Ward

[email protected]

www.peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com

[dondini]

It's great to see all the support from the parents, and feed back from Southwark Council. Thank you for your help Claire.

As you can see from the feed back this is a well used community facility. About 1000 children use the 1 o'clock club each month so I hope there is a way to keep this up & running (as has happened with the libraries - fantastic!).

I don't have much free time as my toddler & baby keep me very busy, but I will keep checking this post and add any info I get to keep you all updated. For some reason the face book page link doesn't copy, but search for '1 0'clock club campaign' & you'll find it.

Keep your comments & support coming in.

Thanks

Donna.

[Otta]

My mum used to take me there over 30 years ago, would be such a shame, and a disgrace on the part of Southwark, if it was to close!

[dondini]

Hi Gavin, Renata & Victoria,

Have you had an update from the Cabinet and council officers yet regarding the 1o'clock club? You posted on 13th Oct that you were waiting for feed back.

It would be good to meet you & discuss the progress. Is this possible?

Many thanks

Donna.

[bonniebird]

I don't have any children, but I hope this club does not close, good luck (tu)

[kammy]

I don't understand why it should close down, it's a fun place for kids to meet other children before they start full time nursery. It has certainly helped my two boys (10 mnths & 2 year old) develop and interact with the others. It doesn't only benefit them but also helps me meet other parents and learn from them. I'm sure a lot of parents would agree with me here.

It would be such a shame to see this place go, so if there is anything we can do as a community I think we should go for it.

Kammy

[Gavin Edwards]

Hi Donna and others,

We've got a meeting with the Cabinet member about this tomorrow night, so we'll report back here after that meeting.

Happy to meet up with people as you suggest, but let's wait and see what comes out of tomorrow's meeting first.

Watch this space.

Gavin

Peckham Rye Labour

[Gavin Edwards]

Hi, We had our meeting tonight as mentioned above. Vikki has just posted this update on the Peckham Rye Labour Blog :

"As some readers will know, there is a great deal of community interest in the future of Peckham Rye One O?Clock Club, partly as a result of the budget cuts which have hit Southwark Council and also as a result of rumours that the club was soon to close.

We?re not sure where the rumours have come from and we remain committed to keeping the club open. We?re now at the stage where we want to set up a community ?steering group? for the club to make sure that happens.

The cuts mean that the staffing budget for One O?Clock Clubs across the borough will be cut from next April ? the budget to cover maintenance and running costs (heating, lighting etc.) remains. Two One O?Clock Clubs are pretty certain to be run by local children?s centres ? i.e. they will take on the club and run the club without charging the council as they will benefit from the use of buildings at other times. We had hoped that this might be a possibility for Peckham Rye and negotiations continue with Rye Oak. However, at the moment there is no certainty that this will happen.

We have therefore been investigating exactly what responsibility the community would take on if a group of people came forward to run the club. On the face of it, it might be quite a big ask as parents would need to organise the club being open, cleaning it up at the end of the day and possibly managing bookings for other users. However, it looks like there would be no cost to community group and no charging for people who use the club. The council will offer some help in getting things set up and also investigate whether the council?s parks team whether they might be able to help out with a few things.

As there is money to rebuild the club, it?s also possible that the rebuild could be timed for April which would allow the community a little more time to get organised before it opened with a new club.

Lots of questions remain and we are a little frustrated that we still have some unanswered questions after having waited so long. However, we?re hoping we?ll have more answers very soon and would also like to hear what interest there is from the local community to help run the club. So we?re suggesting a meeting sometime in the week beginning 7 or 14 Nov. We need to check availability of a few council officers but it would be good to hear any thoughts about what time during the day or evening would be best for people to meet. We?ll then post a finalised date here asap."

Please do suggest times here or by emailing us. My address is [email protected] but as Vikki says, just good times for now as we need to chase a few people for date availability.

Gavin

Peckham Rye Labour

[hpsaucey]

Look forward to hearing when the meeting is!

[Renata Hamvas]

Gavin has last night's meeting discussions well summarised above, I just have a few points to add. The costings were done to see what parents would need to pay if we kept the club being run as it is at the moment, this came out as 6 pounds per child per session. This assumed that the same number of children attended. We felt that this was too much for many parents. That is why that option got the (td) from us.

We don't know whether the one O'clock club will be run by a local children's centre or by the community, but one thing is clear, we will need to have a steering group of interested people involve with the club:). Please post here or PM me or Gavin or Vikki or email us about when would be a suitable time for the meeting to discuss the next steps forwards (daytime? evening? location?). As well as funding for a new purpose built building and for the overheads, there is also funding for the toys/equipment for the club.

Renata

[dondini]

Hello mums, dads & carers,

I have arranged a meeting with Renata at the end of this week. Please let me know any specific queries or points of view you would like me to discuss.

Please feel free to private message me or chat at the 1o'clock club, I'll be there tomorrow & wednesday.

Thanks

Donna.

[minder]

Report about the one o'clock club in today's Southwark News.

[pipsky2008]

i*Rate Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Dear dondini, well done for taking some action

> over this great local amenity. My wife and I first

> took our younger son there in 1982, our

> granddaughter over ten years ago and I took my

> younger grandson there on Tuesday; so I go back a

> long way. The difference now is that there are

> only two staff rather than the four or five as

> there used to be, but the staff are good

> especially Maureen and many thanks to her for her

> hard work.

> As for the new playground, Councillor Gavin,

> someone said that it cost ?40,000 to built, does

> that sound right? Considering that the main

> feature, the Play River, was shut down very soon

> after the official opening because of flooding,

> then it does'nt seem a great use of space or

> public money. The Play River floods because water

> does'nt run uphill, as the site does; will the

> Architects be back to put this fault right,

> hopefully without any cost to Southwark? A pity

> that some of that money was'nt spent on the other

> playground near the pond, where there are only two

> swings for small children that you have to queue

> for.

> I do hope that us parents and grandparents will

> have this FREE local facilities for many years to

> come, it would be a disgrace if it was Privatized.

Yes, the whole playground is extreemly poorly conceived, with as you say a stream that runs uphill, d'oh. grass planted under the deep shade of the trees where it will inevitably get trodden to mud and die, finally where the sump is for the water return, in an absense of an idea of what to do, gravel is used which children of course love to pick up and throw, which is going to be a problem when cutting the grass that is going to die.

Fancy giving the contract to Conway in the first place. What on earth do they know on the subject. Most favoured contractor status indeed. There are excellent, creative and competent landscapers living locally. Fine Conway and reallocate the contract.