The Trustees thank the Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust for this pledge which raises total pledges so far to £330,000. A Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all

Mike Pendock, southern regional planning and estates manager for Lafarge, said: “We are committed to supporting communities close to our operations and the new John Clements Sports and Community Centre is exactly the sort of project we are keen to champion.

“Not only will it provide a fantastic sports facility for local families when completed ,it is also bringing people together now to make sure funds are raised and the project is a success.”

The Trustees of the charity are very grateful to Lafarge for this contribution which is administered via the Derbyshire Environmental Trust and Groundwork Hertfordshire and which increases the amount raised to date to £310,000 .
The Trustees, together with the fund raising specialists Midas who have helped in this successful bid for funds, continue to be very active in the further raising of funds.

Cricket

• promoted for a 4th year in a row and are aiming to make it a 5th
• nominated most improved ground in the county

Football

• the 1st team finished 5^th out of 15 in the Hertfordshire Premier League
• the Reserve team won the Reserve Team Cup
• the U16 team won the Division Cup and were promoted
• the U18’s were second in their league

Table Tennis

• Codicote First Team – 3rd Division champions – winning every match
• provided the 2 best players to contest the league cup final
• Second Team now playing in the League after only two years in existence

Tennis

• Codicote 1  – overall champions in the Datchworth Summer League
• Codicote 3 & 4 – also won divisional championships
• Codicote 2 – also won promotion

This is why we have got to continue to invest in our sporting and community activities .

We dearly wish to thank him
and shake him by the hand,
But God will take good care of him,
His future he has planned.

Please warm your broken, weary hearts
with knowledge that, but for him
my son, and many boys and girls,
would be dead, or have broken limbs.

The tree will flower each Easter time
and I hope its blossom will say
‘Thank you John, you saved our lives,
We’ll never forget that day’

This is very good news , taking our pledges/funds to over £250,000 and demonstrates the support we have for the project at District Council level which we hope will give local people and businesses the confidence to make their donations to a project which will be of great benefit to the village and the surrounding area . Importantly all these donations help greatly in our discussions with the large funders such as the National Lottery so contact Jim Park at 01438 820325 or at parkiejfh@aol.com if YOU would like to make a donation .

So go to Mark’s personal Just Giving web site NOW at http://www.justgiving.com/Mark-Ireland1/ and GIVE GENEROUSLY

A BIG THANKS TO MARK – AND BEST OF LUCK – CODICOTE WILL BE CHEERING FOR YOU ”

Jim Park

Importance of sport in the community – the Queen’s Speech Xmas 2010.

The King James Bible was a major co-operative endeavour that required the efforts of dozens of the day’s leading scholars.The whole enterprise was guided by an interest in reaching agreement for the wider benefit of the Christian church, and to bring harmony to the kingdoms of England and Scotland.

Four hundred years later, it is as important as ever to build communities and create harmony, and one of the most powerful ways of doing this is through sport and games.

During this past year of abundant sporting events, I have seen for myself just how important sport is in bringing people together from all backgrounds, from all walks of life and from all age groups.
In the parks of towns and cities, and on village greens up and down the country, countless thousands of people every week give up their time to participate in sport and exercise of all sorts, or simply encourage others to do so.

These kinds of activity are common throughout the world and play a part in providing a different perspective on life.

Apart from developing physical fitness, sport and games can also teach vital social skills.

None can be enjoyed without abiding by the rules, and no team can hope to succeed without co-operation between the players. This sort of positive team spirit can benefit communities, companies and enterprises of all kinds.

As the success of recent Paralympics bears witness, a love of sport also has the power to help rehabilitate.

One only has to think of the injured men and women of the Armed Forces to see how an interest in games and sport can speed recovery and renew a sense of purpose, enjoyment and comradeship.
Right around the world, people gather to compete under standard rules and, in most cases, in a spirit of friendly rivalry. Competitors know that, to succeed, they must respect their opponents; very often, they like each other too.

King James may not have anticipated quite how important sport and games were to become in promoting harmony and common interests.

Just over one hundred people (and five dogs!) came to meet the Parish Councillors who kindly provided excellent refreshments, John Warwick (who provided moving and comprehensive memories of John Clements himself) and the Project Team who were there to answers questions on the progress of the project.

A history of the project was set out via a poster display from the loss of John in 1976, through the opening of the playing fields and pavilion in 1984 of the Sports and Social Club in 1992 to the market research of the village in 2005 which culminated in full planning permission being granted in 2009.  Governance of the project was shown as agreed between the Project Team and the Parish Council and carried out through a Steering Committee of councillors and representatives from the village.

A business plan was available, put together by the Project Team and endorsed by the Steering Committee and Parish Council in June 2010, and this covered the very flourishing activities of the sports and social clubs, the support from partners both from inside and outside the village and then the design and cost of the new building and likely revenues and costs.

The project timetable was shown for a Q3 2011 start with completion by early 2012. This will depend on our success in raising funds in time – still an ambitious target but with the back up of knowing that whenever we raise the £1.7m required we can complete the project 9 months later.

Since May this year, £200,000 of pledges has been raised locally:

• The Parish Council/Sports and Social Clubs: £30,000
• NHDC Local Strategic Partnership money: £60,000
• The Chris Laing Foundation: £25,000
• The Stefanou Foundation: £30,000
• 3  local individuals /families: £30,000
• Promise of work in kind for the building by locals: £25,000

We also have pledges from people in the village to give funds once a charity is set up and gift aid is granted by HMRC which would give us the possibility of getting another 28% from the government.

We are pleased to announce that a Trust has been set up – The John Clements Sports and Community Trust – which was incorporated as a private limited company on the 16th September and accepted as a charity on 11th November 2010 by the Charity Commission. We are now awaiting a response from HMRC on Gift Aid.

When this is received we shall approach all local families and businesses as well as trusts, foundations and organizations which operate regionally and nationally for their support. In the event of the project not going ahead, all funds would be returned. No money will be spent on the build until the £1.7m is secured.

THE MORE WE CAN RAISE BY OUR OWN EFFORTS, THE BETTER CHANCE THERE IS OF GETTING MAJOR SUPPORT FROM THE BIG FUNDERS SUCH AS THE NATIONAL LOTTERY (VIA SPORT ENGLAND, NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES OF SPORT AND THE BIG LOTTERY). THE SNOWBALL STARTED TO ROLL IN MAY AND HAS ACCUMULATED WELL – WE NEED IT NOW TO ACCELERATE THIS WINTER.

We will also be making an application to a major funder -  the new Sport England Iconic Facilities Fund announced by the Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson, on 17th November 2010 (deadline 16th December, decision on 1st round 24th February , final decision early Q2 2011!!).

HOLD ON FOR AN EXCITING RIDE, FOLKS!

There were 16 entrants for each of the Singles and Doubles tournaments with some fantastic table tennis being played – particularly the Singles Final in which Lewis Andrews beat Tom Parker in a great match – 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-3.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Tom & Lewis were then drawn together in the Doubles tournament and deservedly beat Mark Knapper and Nick Bayston in the Final 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.

Thanks to everyone who entered – next year’s tournaments will be on Sunday 10th April.