Community Association - Bellingdon and Asheridge Community Website

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TOMORROW: Sunday March 17th 3-5pm Bellingdon & Asheridge Village Hall Afternoon TeaMarch 16, 2024
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What is BAACA?| Who is on the committee? | What does it do? | Where does the money go? | How can I help? | Data Protection | Keep in touch – newsletters etc | Past AGMs

What is the Community Association?

Bellingdon and Asheridge Community Association (BAACA) was formed in 2018 by changing the name of the old Bellingdon and Asheridge Village Hall and Recreation Ground charity.

Although BAACA will continue to be primarily responsible for the running and upkeep of the village hall, we felt that there was space for a forum to try and bring together the various village activities and share our knowledge and expertise. Most volunteer-led operations are struggling with lack of personnel so it makes sense to share our skills and time where we can.

Who is on the committee?

The BAACA committee of Trustees meets monthly on the third Tuesday of the month, usually in the Annex at the Village Hall. The current (July 2021) committee is:

Chair: Alf Field
Treasurer: Peter Watson
Secretary: Helen Harding
Other trustees: Hugh Griffiths, Gary Woodley, Emma Eckersley, Kirsty Fiddes and Helen Valvona

The role of bookings secretary (taking bookings for the hall and grounds) is carried out by Jo Richardson.

Currently all the trustees are Bellingdon residents. We’d welcome any representatives from Asheridge.

Several other community bodies are represented when necessary by:

St John’s Church : Jane Edmunds
Hort Soc: Tracey Ryan
Short mat bowls: Brian Latham

What does BAACA do?

The charity is primarily responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the hall and grounds for the benefit of residents of Bellingdon and Asheridge.

We let out the hall and grounds to provide revenue and organise fundraising events for the same purpose, such as our annual village fête and regular community pub nights. More information on recent projects at the hall can be found below.

In recent years we have let the hall and grounds out for Forró and Rumble Fests, both Brazilian dance festivals. While these have required a certain amount of investment from us in improving the facilities, they also provide a substantial and regular boost to our finances.

We maintain the bellingdon.com community website and produce a monthly e-news plus a quarterly print newsletter.

We run several events annually, at the hall and other locations, for the benefit of residents. Recent examples include the Children’s Christmas Party, Seniors’ Christmas Lunch and the Hall’s 70th Birthday Party in November 2018. We hope to run events of this type more regularly in the future.

Where does all the money go?

We are very grateful for all the support we receive from the community, especially for the village fête which is an established part of village life and a highlight of the summer. It is also our major fundraising event of the year, which enables us to move forward with many of the improvement projects that we have carried out over the last few years – above and beyond general maintenance. We try, wherever possible, to obtain additional grant funding to complement our own reserves.

2019 (planned) – repairs to the roof, replacement of the posts at the side of the main field, ongoing maintenance of the hall and playground. Review of car park arrangements to try and create more space.
2018 – hall redecoration, kitchen and bar refurbishment, floor maintenance. We obtained £12,000 in grants from the National Lottery and Chiltern District Council to assist with these costs.
2017 – installed wifi in the hall.
2016 – moved the heater to enable hall users to be warm and hear each other!
2015 – built the new annex and improved the sports changing facilities as well as accessible toilets in the main hall. With funding from Sport England.
2011 – installed and officially opened the community playground, with funding from the government’s Playbuilder Fund.

How can I help?

There are various ways you can contribute – from becoming a trustee, to helping at one of our regular working parties or at the fête, to simply turning up to the AGM and taking an interest in what the committee has been up to on your behalf. All adult residents of the village are automatically members and entitled to vote at the AGM.