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June,
July, August 2009 |
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| Swimathon Success |
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Avalon Leisure customers have been raising money for Marie Curie
Cancer research by joining in with hundreds of pools across the
country doing the annual Swimathon.
Customers and team members at
Wells Leisure Centre, Frome Leisure Centre and Strode Swimming
Pool took part in the Swimathon that took place Thursday 16th
– Sunday 19th April.
The aim was to either do a 1.5,
2.5 or a 5 kilometre swim.
Among the Swimmers that took
part at Frome Leisure Centre were James Godwin, Anthony Lockyer,
Adam McDermott, Dean Ridley, Cherie Crozier, Rob Ayers, Michael
Lockyer, Paul Saunders, Kylie Withers and Leasha Fry.
Lucas Upham, Duty Manager from
Frome Leisure Centre said: “It was a great turn out and
really nice to see everyone taking part to raise money for charity.
Lots of fun was had by all”
“I look forward to next
year’s Swimathon and hopefully we can get more people involved
and raise more money for charity”
Sponsorship money or donations
can be sent by cheque, payable to Swimathon 2009, PO BOX 4500,
London W1A 7LF.
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Top left Adam Mcdermott, James Godwin, Anthony Lockyer
Bottom left
Kyle Withers, Dean Ridley

Kyle Withers |

Dean Ridley |

Anthony Lockyer |

Paul Saunders and Matt Stockton |
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DC LEISURE
& NHS ROTHERHAM LAUNCH GROUND BREAKING OBESITY STRATEGY
DC Leisure is working in partnership with NHS
Rotherham to launch a ground breaking programme designed to reduce
obesity levels in the town. The Carnegie Club is an ambitious
three year project which will start in May. It aims to help a
significant number of children from the local area to change their
lifestyles by becoming more active and eating a healthier diet.
The Rotherham programme has been developed by
Professor Paul Gately at Carnegie Weight Management based at Leeds
Metropolitan University. It is aimed at children aged between
eight and 17, who have a body mass index (BMI) indicating overweight
or obese on BMI centile charts. DC Leisure has appointed Marie
Hepburn as Programme Manager, who will be working with GP surgeries,
paediatricians and nurses to increase awareness amongst the medical
community. There will also be links with schools, leisure centres,
libraries and supermarkets to promote the scheme and encourage
people to self-refer on to the programme.
The weekly lifestyle sessions will initially
be run at two of the recently opened leisure facilities, managed
by DC Leisure on behalf of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
– Rotherham Leisure Complex and Aston-cum-Aughton Leisure
Centre. Children will attend with a parent or guardian in the
hope of getting the whole family involved. Over the 12 week term,
participants will increase their levels of activity, improve their
understanding of diet and nutrition and hopefully make a long
term behavioural change. Regular updates and reviews will continue
after completion of the course.
Carol Weir, Public Health Specialist for NHS
Rotherham, explains: “We are the first PCT in the country
to launch this type of programme and on this scale. The significant
level of investment demonstrates the priority it has been given
and our commitment to reducing obesity levels in Rotherham. At
the moment, 1 in 3 of our residents is overweight or obese. This
number is continuing to rise at such an alarming rate that by
2050, three fifths of people in Rotherham will be obese. The consequences
for people’s health and the NHS are extreme. Hopefully by
investing now, we will save in the future.”
Carol continues: “DC Leisure is an ideal
partner to work with us on this project. The team from Carnegie
will train DC Leisure’s staff to lead the lifestyle sessions.
They will then combine this with their own experience to motivate
the participants and their families to take part in physical activity
both at the centres and at home.”
Steve Philpott, Chief Executive of DC Leisure,
says: “Rotherham is in no way unique in its growing obesity
problem, it is a story repeated across the country. NHS Rotherham
has been very proactive both in creating its policy and moving
quickly to implement it. This is indicative of the local authority’s
vision and commitment to working with different agencies to meet
the needs of the community. It’s a fantastic example of
joined up thinking and we are delighted to be involved in this
exciting project.”
DC Leisure is well placed to help NHS Rotherham
meet the objectives of their Local Area Agreements and already
has extensive experience in delivering health programmes in the
community through its work with MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition,
Do it!), a programme also dedicated to reducing childhood obesity
levels. The company is the largest deliverer of MEND, with 20
programmes currently running in its centres throughout the UK.
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SPONSORED BIKE
RIDE TO HELP SAVE BABIES’ LIVES
Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd June will see Fareham
Leisure Centre play host to a 24 hour sponsored bike ride to raise
funds for Women for Women.
Nicola Newman, a member at the Everyone Active
centre, is cycling to raise a staggering £2500 to enable
her to take part in Cycle Jordan, the 9th women-only challenge
to fund groundbreaking medical research work at the Wolfson and
Weston Research Centre for Family Health in London.
Nicola will be joined on the day by a friend
and work colleague, Clare, who is a single mum of a premature
baby. “We are both mental health nurses working at a local
Forensic Psychiatric Secure Unit and we will be giving up our
annual leave to take part in Cycle Jordan, cycling 300 kilometers
through the desert,” comments Nicola.
Cycle Jordan will be lead by Professor Robert
Winston and the funds raised by the Women for Women ride will
be used to train women scientists and clinicians to work on major
research projects to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment
of a range of devastating conditions that cause miscarriage, genetic
diseases, infertility and cancer. The fundamental aim is to safeguard
our future generations by improving women’s health and ensuring
more women have a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby.
Commenting on her reasons for taking part in
Cycle Jordan, Nicola said, “Clare and I have worked together
for about 9 years. She recently gave birth prematurely to Samual.
Both were well but it could have been very different. I was widowed
in 2007 when my husband lost his life to cancer. We have no children
but the miracle of childbirth has always been close to my heart.
I am now in a position where I can put time and effort into helping
those less fortunate than myself while trying to make a difference
to their lives. This charity is relatively unknown and needs the
support and funding raised by events such as Cycle Jordan.”
If you would like to support Nicola and Clare
in their quest to join Cycle Jordan please contact reception at
Fareham Leisure Centre who will be able to put you in touch with
Nicola. Alternatively why not show your support and join them
on the day of the 24 hour challenge.
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Maidstone Re-bid Success
Subject to final contractual arrangements and
working as managing agents to the Maidstone Leisure Trust, Serco
Leisure has been awarded a 15 year contract to manage the Maidstone
Leisure Centre. This is fantastic news for Serco Leisure and our
team in Maidstone who have provided an excellent service to the
community dating back to 1994.
The new contract, which was won in open competition,
will commence in June. The next 10 months will be challenging
with over £5m of a £7.3M enhancement and refurbishment
programme to be completed ready for a centre re-launch in January
2010.
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AWARD
WINNING PROGRESS AT DC LEISURE SITES IN WELLINGBOROUGH
At its recent Community Committee meeting, Wellingborough
Borough Council commended the work of Waendel and Redwell Leisure
Centres for their work to broaden their appeal and attract sections
of the community that are typically under-represented within local
sporting and leisure activities. The two centres, which are managed
by DC Leisure, have worked with partner agencies to develop ways
to successfully engage with different target groups in the town.
The ‘Fit as a Fiddle’ campaign was
created in conjunction with Age Concern and Active Ageing. This
six week programme to promote a more active lifestyle among the
50+ age group proved so popular that two additional courses have
since been held. The weekly two hour session incorporated educational
talks and activities linked to three main areas which affect this
age bracket – physical activity, healthy eating and mental
health issues. It not only provided an opportunity to meet and
socialise with other people the same age, but everyone attending
was offered a free swim after each session and a free group induction
in the gym. To encourage continued activity after the course,
Redwell Leisure Centre has introduced a regular weekly session
with activities such as badminton, table tennis, bowls and ‘new
age curling’ on offer.
Working with the Primary Care Trust (PCT), DC
Leisure has launched a MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do It!)
programme designed to reduce childhood obesity. This family-based
initiative provides advice on increasing activity levels, nutrition
and social learning in order to make the whole family fitter,
healthier and happier.
Waendel
Leisure Centre was also praised for achieving the Inclusive Fitness
Mark accreditation recently and ensuring that both facilities
are now fully accessible for disabled and non-disabled people.
The centre was assessed in terms of access, fitness equipment,
staff training and marketing. All staff have received training
in disability equality, with the fitness instructors being awarded
specific disability qualifications in order to provide safe and
effective workouts.
The Council also recognised DC Leisure’s
two prestigious national awards - the Inclusive Fitness Initiative’s
award for Demonstrating Corporate Commitment and The Fitness Industry
Association’s Operator of the Year 2008/09 award.
Councillor Malcolm Waters, Chair of the Community
Committee, stated: “ I am delighted to offer DC Leisure
the Borough Council’s congratulations for achieving these
awards – a recognition of the commitment of the staff at
the centres and the work that they do to engage local communities
to take part in physical activity.”
Richard Millard, Client Relations and Sports
Development Director of DC Leisure, added: “The teams at
both these centres have done an incredible job. They have worked
really hard to extend their reach and better serve the communities
in which they operate, and have fully embraced our philosophy
of getting ’more people, more active, more often’.”
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Olympic Hopeful gets a Boost
Local Olympic hopeful, Joe Hoyes, has received
a massive boost in his quest to compete at the 2012 Olympics as
part of the Great Britain canoeing squad when he received a sponsorship
cheque for £2000 from SERCO Leisure at a recent awards ceremony
held at Market Harborough Leisure Centre in Leicestershire.
The sponsorship came in support from Joe's
previous employer's SERCO Leisure via the John Adams Trust Fund,
an establishment that has been set up as a tribute to the work
and legacy of a former chairman and as a mechanism to raise funds
for the promotion and participation in the development of sport
and active recreation with the SERCO family.
Joe was a fitness instructor at the local Loughborough
Leisure Centre (managed by SERCO Leisure on behalf of the Charnwood
Borough Council) when he initialling applied to an advert asking
for 'relatively fit people who were over 6ft 3 to attempt trials
for rowing'!
The rest as they say is history, and now Joe
is part of 8 canoeists that form the Great Britain Canoe and Kayak
squad.
"I am really grateful for the support shown
to me from SERCO Leisure via the sponsorship as this will be a
great help towards my training costs and will enable me to concentrate
fully on achieving my goal that is to compete at the 2012 Olympics
in London. I still get down to Loughborough Leisure Centre and
really appreciate the local support that I am receiving, and nothing
would give me greater pleasure than to represent my country and
win a medal"
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Mendip Extends Leisure Management Contract
Mendip District Council has extended its Leisure
management Contract with Avalon Leisure and Western Community
Leisure to 2015. Avalon Leisure manages four centres on behalf
of the Council and Western Community Leisure, a leisure trust.
The two-year extension was awarded after the
Company came up with a series of operating and financial efficiencies
that will significantly reduce the Council’s subsidy payments,
without sacrificing the excellent standard of service to customers.
Two of the centres have achieved ‘highly commended’
Quest scores.
This follows a successful capital investment
and service improvement strategy completed in 2006 that has seen
attendances rise by over 10% per annum for the past three years
– considerably above the Sport England target of 1%. Annual
customer satisfaction scores for the Council’s leisure facilities
have also improved.
Stuart Cave, the Council’s Group Manager
for Economy and Community, said: “At a time when many Councils
are faced with some tough decisions, extending our contract with
Western Community Leisure and Avalon Leisure was an easy one as
we get excellent service and value for money – a winning
combination”.
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Exciting News
at Swallows Leisure Centre
Swale Community Leisure
Ltd, Swale Borough Council and Serco Leisure Operating Limited
have agreed to undertake a £500,000.00 improvement programme
at the Swallows Leisure Centre.
The works are focused on two key areas: -
- Refurbishment of the village change.
- Adding some fun and interaction in to the
pool.
The following enhancement works programme will
commence on Wednesday 13th May and be complete by Friday 17th
July 2009.
1. Changing Village Refurbishment
- New changing cubicles
- Additional lockers
- Improved shower area
- All walls will be retiled
- New lighting throughout
- Re-decorated ceiling and walls (where they
are not tiled)
- Two new private shower cubicles
- Refurbished disabled changing area.
- Refurbished male and female toilets and washrooms
- Refurbished stairwell access corridor from
reception to changing village
- Re-siting of the existing lockers
- New branding and signage.
- New handrails allowing easier access from changing
village to poolside.
- Overhaul of the air movement system in the
village change to provide a more comfortable changing environment.
- Double glazed screen to the pool viewing area
adjacent to the lift behind reception to improve the environment
and safety in that area.
2. Fun and interaction in the pool
- A complete overhaul of the wave machine.
- A new interactive water feature aimed at toddlers,
this will be created in the form of a pirate ship and will be
situated in the beach area. This is the only ship of its kind
in the area.
- A new 3 lane multi slide will be built on the
pool surround adjacent to the deep end of the pool. This is the
only one of its kind in the area.
- The pool hall will be given a face lift, we
are currently in discussion with various local and national artists
as to how best we can “lift” the internal façade
of the pool hall.
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Government
Free Swim Initiative
Leisure
Connection has worked with their clients to guide them through
the Government’s Free Swim process that will not only benefit
them but also encourage more people from the target groups into
the pools each week. During the first six weeks of the launch
an additional 90,000 users have registered for free swimming offered
at Leisure Connection pools.
Leisure Connection continues to deliver its
extremely successful swimming programme – Harpers SwimSchool.
Each week approximately 40,000 children swim in our pools and
following a strategic review in 2008, we are at 90% occupancy.
Photo: Mark Foster with Leisure Connection customers
at the launch of free swimming.
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National Benchmarking Conference
At the end of April The Moutbatten Centre hosted
the National Benchmarking Conference. The National Benchmarking
scheme is part of an annual survey that assesses how well Leisure
Facilities perform and meet the expectations of our customers.
From a National Sample of over 100 Leisure Centres, the top 5
in each of the 4 categories are recognised at the National Conference.
Some of the awards were presented to Leisure
Connection sites including: Great Dunmow, Lord Butler and Harpenden
Leisure Centre who achieved places in the top 5 best performers
in the country in the following categories; Great Dunmow and Lord
Butler ‘Access to all Awards’ and Best Financial Performance
to Harpenden Leisure Centre.
Business Managers Lyn Fisher, Phil Wallis and
Charles Smith accepted the awards on behalf of their teams. Quality
Manager, Brian Gray, was also on hand to congratulate the winners.
Leisure Connection has 22 sites within the National Benchmarking
Scheme.

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Vale Farm Sports
Centre - Inclusive Fitness Initiative accredited
On Friday 8th May Vale Farm Sports Centre qualified
for the Inclusive Fitness Initiative accreditation after an extensive
inspection by the IFI.
The IFI is a programme supporting the fitness
industry to become more inclusive. It ensures that its facilities
cater for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people, raising
physical activity participation levels. The model is built around
developments in four key areas, Accessible Facilities, Inclusive
Fitness Equipment, Staff Training, Inclusive Marketing Strategies.
Alterations had to be made in order to the building to qualify,
such as painting the grab rails in the toilets for people with
visually impairment, ensuring the facilities equipment was IFI
acceptable including CV, strength and weight equipment, markings
on windows, grab rails in lifts, lowering of door handles and
other equipment.
Training was also attended by the Harpers Gym,
reception and management team on level 1 and Level 2 Inclusive
Fitness training. This award will allow Vale Farm to include on
all literature the IFI mark, as well as the IFI advertising the
sports centre through their extensive mediums.
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SLM PASSES
FIA CODE OF PRACTICE
SLM
have passed the FIA Code of Practice. The Code is designed to
ensure that health and fitness operators maintain a basic level
of practice to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their customers.
The Code is externally audited by Central YMCA
Qualifications (CYQ), an established awarding body, with Government
approval via the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA).
Drawing on its specialist knowledge of the industry, CYQ is ideally
placed to be the assessor of the FIA Code of Practice.
Compliance with the Code communicates your commitment
to standards, quality and customer welfare. It is an important
statement to Government and other regulatory bodies that the health
and fitness sector is a professional industry that takes its operation
and duty of care seriously.
Four of our centres were assessed in order to
gain this accreditation: Grimsby Swimming Pool, Hucknall Leisure
Centre, Southam Leisure Centre and Dolphin Swimming Pool.
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DC LEISURE
APPOINTS NEW GROUP FITNESS MANAGER
DC Leisure has appointed Sarah Leonie to the
position of Group Fitness Manager. Sarah, who has been with the
company for seven years, was originally Fitness Manager at Wyre
Forest Glades Leisure Centre in Worcestershire. Her career path
within DC Leisure has included roles as a Regional Support Trainer
and most recently Regional Fitness Manager.
Sarah has worked in the leisure industry since
1995 and has a wealth of operational experience both in the gym
and as a group exercise instructor. Prior to her promotion, she
has been pivotal in developing a Quality Management System for
Group Exercise Programming within the business. The manual, which
is being launched next month, is a support document for all DC
Leisure’s sites to help them run and manage a successful
and profitable class timetable.
On her new role, Sarah says: “Having worked
my way up through the company, I feel I have a good grounding
and a true understanding of the day to day challenges of operating
a centre. I am looking forward to helping the business grow, sharing
best practice across the group and continuing to lead the field
with new ideas and products.”
Steve Philpott, Chief Executive of DC Leisure,
adds: “I am always pleased to see people promoted from within,
and I am delighted to welcome Sarah into her new position. During
her time with the company, Sarah has always been willing to get
involved and take on more responsibility. She is an excellent
communicator and has a true passion and enthusiasm for the industry
and DC Leisure. I have no doubt that she will do an excellent
job.”
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THE KINGFISHER
LEISURE CENTRE CELEBRATES QUEST SCORE
The Kingfisher Leisure Centre in Kingston-upon-Thames
has been awarded 79% for its recent Quest assessment, putting
it in the highly commended category and making it one of the top
performing sites in the DC Leisure portfolio.
At its last Quest assessment two years ago,
the Centre scored just 68% making this result even more impressive.
Mark Learnihan is DC Leisure’s Contract Manager for Kingston
and a huge supporter of the Quest process. He says: “I think
it’s really important to be able to benchmark against other
facilities both within the company and externally as well. We
have been able to share best practice not only between the sites
in the Kingston contract, but have also benefitted from the experiences
of other DC Leisure facilities.”
He continues: “Improved communication
has been a key factor in boosting the Kingfisher Centre’s
score. The team has really bought into the new processes and is
definitely taking greater ownership of the different areas around
the facility. Our aim now is to maintain this high standard, whilst
still continuing to focus and show improvement at the next assessment.”
The Kingfisher Leisure Centre is one of four
centres managed by DC Leisure on behalf of The Royal Borough of
Kingston. The other sites within the contract are The Malden Centre,
Tolworth Recreation Centre and Kingsmeadow Fitness and Athletic.
The facilities at the Kingfisher Leisure Centre include a leisure
pool with wave machine, 60 station fitness studio, dance studio,
health suite including a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi, two squash
courts, crèche and a café.
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Stoke Mandeville
Institute of Sport and Education launched at home of British Wheelchair
Sport
A
brand new facility which united education with disability sports
was launched last week at Stoke Mandeville. The centre will provide
a unique programme of sports education and training opportunities
for disabled people and those working in disability sport, which
will contribute to the legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
The institute is a partnership between Bucks
New University, Bucks & Milton Keynes Sports Partnership,
Leisure Connection and WheelPower – British Wheelchair Sport,
and it was launched during the Inter Spinal Unit Games in the
company of distinguished guests from across the region’s
sporting organisations. The Institute is committed to enabling
disabled people to become involved in sport as athletes, coaches,
administrators or officials, and to increasing the number of qualified
coaches, officials, volunteers and classifiers. Courses scheduled
to be offered at the Institute this year include: An Introduction
to Disability Sport; Running Sport: A Club For All; Certificate
in Sports Leadership; and Wheelchair Basketball Grade 1 Coaching
Assistant. If you are interested in arranging or undertaking disability
sports education, please contact info@smise.org.uk or visit www.smise.org.uk
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DC LEISURE
AWARDED SWIMATHON FOUNDATION GRANT
DC Leisure has been awarded a £5000 operator
grant by the Swimathon Foundation to support swimming related
training and education. The money will be used to fund a scheme
to train and support 25 aquatic coaches across the company’s
71 swimming facilities.
To date, 38 training and education grants have
been awarded to staff at Swimathon 2008 pools and leisure centres
across the UK. Last year’s pilot scheme proved so successful
that Swimathon Foundation grants of up to £1000 will be
offered again to pools participating in or acting as a host pool
for Swimathon 2009. Centres delivering the highest swimmer recruitment
will also be able to apply for enhanced grants.
Mark Haslam, Group Swimming Manager for DC Leisure,
explains: “The Swimathon event is a key driver of swimmer
recruitment for our pools. Not only are we keen to top the national
and regional league tables, we also have are own internal challenge
running between the sites to enrol the highest number of participants.”
The 23rd annual Swimathon in aid of Marie Curie
Cancer Care will take place between April 16-19, 2009. During
its time, the event has attracted over 500,000 participants and
raised over £30m for charity. DC Leisure has always been
a huge supporter of the Swimathon and was the largest single operator
hosting the event in 2008 with 59 of its sites involved.
The Swimathon Foundation is an independent registered
charity which owns the Swimathon event. Originally devised as
a swimmer recruitment and retention programme for local authority
pools, the Swimathon challenges participants to swim further,
faster or for longer than they have done before. The Swimathon
Foundation grants are intended to support the training and education
of leisure centre staff and volunteers to become more involved
and qualified in swimming. By enabling the best pools to access
this development funding, it is hoped that they will promote their
facilities and services to an even wider audience and deliver
excellent Swimathon events.
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Exhibition
and concerts win local award
The
Hub and artsNK, managed by Leisure Connection on behalf of North
Kesteven DC, have won a local award for the excellent Guitars
exhibition and accompanying concert series that took place at
the National Centre for Craft and design in Sleaford.
Phil Cosker and Dave Groom were presented with
the 2009 Visual Arts Award as part of Sleaford Awards night. The
ceremony, which was jointly sponsored by Sleaford Town Council
and the Sleaford Target newspaper, was held in recognition of
people who have made a difference in the community and deserve
to be recognised for their efforts.
The awards were the result of a public nomination,
which opened in January and ran for several weeks. "We are
very fortunate here in Sleaford to have such a wealth of artistic
talent and now an investment by public bodies, private and voluntary
effort to nurture that talent," said Windham Hime, of the
Carre Street Gallery Arts Trust Ltd, who sponsored the category.
Phil and Dave brought together more than 50 British guitar makers
for the Hub’s exhibition ‘Guitars: Made in Britain,
Played the World Over’, which ran from last November through
to January.
Alongside the exhibition, a series of concerts
with the likes of Newton Faulkner, Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap
took place. Phil said: "It is a real privilege and honour
to have this award. "The Guitars exhibition was a great event
and brought lots of people into the Hub.” Dave added: "How
lucky we were to get the artists involved to come to this event.
The reason they came is because they were so enthusiastic and
supportive of the venture. "Artists including Newton Faulkner
were very generous with their time because they wanted to be part
of this event.” This is an excellent example of connecting
the community to leisure activities – well done to everyone
at artsNK and the Hub for putting on a wonderful exhibition and
concert series!
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