Launch Festival: Full Details

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Ben Pitt

It’s just a few days to go until Love’s Farm House opens its doors for the very first time. Here’s the low-down on activities you can take part in during our Launch Festival week (plus a few that start the week after). A huge thanks to St Neots Town Council and our session providers for helping us offer the majority of Launch Festival events for free.

Saturday 24 October

Saturday 4pm: Love’s Farm Expo
Free

Our first event is your chance to see the building, meet the people who will be hosting activities and find out about the projects Love’s Farm Community Association (LFCA) is running across Love’s Farm. There will be craft activities, a barbecue and we’ll be burying a time capsule in the garden. Please bring your submissions for the time capsule (must fit into a 90x55mm envelope) by 5pm. Please bring a pre-loved item of clothing to turn into bunting to decorate our venue.

At 6pm we’ll be hosting the LFCA AGM. There’ll be a couple of speeches and voting in of the chair, secretary and treasurer. It’s a great opportunity to find out what LFCA does and how you can get involved.

At 6:30pm there’ll be live music from Parson’s Nose followed by the LFCA Community Champion Awards, a barn dance and disco until midnight, so bring your dancing shoes.

Sunday 25 October

Sunday 10-11:30am: Breakfast Church
Always free

come when you can, leave when you need to, come back if you want

Hosted by Helene, the Love’s Farm Community Chaplain, Breakfast Church welcomes all ages to come and eat breakfast, read the papers, explore questions about life, faith and doubt and consider how an ancient story relates today.

www.facebook.com/lovesfarmchaplain
Contact Helene on 07938 803501 or email community.chaplain@yahoo.co.uk

Sunday 2pm: Film screening: Big Hero 6
Free Launch Festival event

An action-packed comedy-adventure from the team behind Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph. This Certificate PG film will be shown for free as part of our launch week festivities.

Seats allocated on first-come-first served basis. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Monday 26 October

Monday 9:30am, 10:30am & 11:30am: Hartbeeps
Free tasters in launch week, £6.50 thereafter (£5.50 in advance)

Multi-sensory, developmentally directed, musical storytelling sessions for small people and their grown ups. Designed by experts, fuelled by magic, delivered with love.

9.30am Happy House – toddlers to five years
10.30am Baby Beeps – sitting to walking
11.30am Baby Bells – newborn to sitting

www.hartbeeps.com
Contact Anna on 07903 142 133, annac@hartbeeps.com to reserve your place.

Monday 3pm: NCT Mother & Baby Yoga
Free taster session in launch week, £10 thereafter (normally at 1:15pm)

Sessions for women from six weeks after birth, gentle yoga-based exercises for mums and babies to do together.

www.jennysclasses.uk
Contact Jenny on 01480 215658 or email jenny@jennysclasses.uk to reserve your place.

Monday 4:45pm: Pop Movers
Free taster session in launch week, £4.50 thereafter (normally at 4:15pm)

A 45-minute dance class for boys and girls aged 5-9. Start with a fun and energetic warm up and then learn a dance routine to your favourite pop songs. Pop Movers is the perfect opportunity for children to have fun, build confidence and make friends.

www.limelightentertainmentuk.com
Contact Amy on 07825 331453 or email amy@limelightentertainmentuk.com to reserve your place.

Monday 7pm: At Peace Yoga
Free taster session in launch week, £7.50 thereafter (booked in nine week blocks, £9 drop-in)

Yoga for everyone, all ages and abilities, incorporating breathing exercises, movement (asana), meditation and relaxation. Taught by a British Wheel of Yoga teacher and Yoga Therapist.

www.facebook.com/AtPeaceYogaTherapy
Contact Rebecca on 07789 175009 or email oakley_rebecca@hotmail.com to reserve your place.

Tuesday 27 October

Tuesday 10am & 11:15am: Baby Sensory
Free tasters in launch week, 9 weeks at £58.50 thereafter (normally 10 at £65)

Baby Sensory introduces you and your baby to a world of rich and varied sensory experiences through a wide range of creative, imagination and exciting activities and tools, all to encourage learning and development in those precious early months.

www.babysensory.com
Contact Sarah Knights on 07921 29937, email Beds@babysensory.co.uk or visit the website to reserve your place.

Tuesday 1:30pm & 2:15pm: 4SF Bootcamp
Free tasters in launch week, £5 thereafter on Thursdays at 1:30pm (6th session is free)

4 Seasons Fitness will be bringing a Bootcamp to Love’s Farm. The session will always be challenging but the instructor will cater for all abilities and help you work towards any goals.

www.4seasonsfitness.co.uk
Contact Max on 07862 726276 or email max@4seasonsfitness.co.uk to reserve your place.

Starting Tuesday 10 November, 1:30pm:
Everyone Health Adult Weight Management
Free (book in advance through your GP or self-referral)

Nutrition and exercise based group session for overweight adults looking to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.

www.everyonehealth.co.uk
Call Vicki on 01223 941150 / 07834 173726 or email victoriawhite@everyonehealth.co.uk for more information.

Tuesday 7pm & 8pm: Pilates Professional
First class free (must be booked in advance), £78 for 12 classes thereafter

Annie Morton’s Pilates classes will help you to reduce back, neck and shoulder pain, improve your posture, flexibility and strengthen your abdominal core muscles.

www.pilates-professional.com
Contact Annie on 01480 474 363 or email annie@pilates-professional.com to reserve your place.

Wednesday 28 October

Wednesday 9am-12pm: Farm House Coffee Morning

Pop in for tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cake, lovingly baked and served in the foyer by our team of volunteers.

Wednesday 9:30am & 10:30am: Music For Little People
Free tasters in launch week, £7:50 thereafter (normally at 9:45-10:45am and 10:45-11:30am)

Award winning classes build the foundations of learning through music with colourful props and puppets. Delivered by qualified teachers.

www.musicforlittlepeople.co.uk
Call Karen on 01480 812469 or email karen@mflp.co.uk to reserve your place.

Wednesday 10:30am: At Peace Yoga
Free taster session in launch week, £7.50 thereafter (booked in nine week blocks, £9 drop-in)

Yoga for everyone, all ages and abilities, incorporating breathing exercises, movement (asana), meditation and relaxation. Taught by a British Wheel of Yoga teacher and Yoga Therapist.

www.facebook.com/AtPeaceYogaTherapy
Contact Rebecca on 07789 175009 or email oakley_rebecca@hotmail.com to reserve your place.

Wednesday 1:30pm: Love’s Farm Starlings
Always free

A drop-in session with play based activities that change weekly, regular baby weighing with a Health Visitor and monthly visits from JobCentrePlus.

www.cambridgeshirechildrenscentres.org.uk
Contact St Neots Rural Childrens Centre, 01480 357540, stneotsruralchildrenscentre@cambridgeshire.gov.uk for more information.

Starting Wednesday 4 November 6:30pm: Youth Club

A new youth club for school years 8 to 11 (ages 12-16). Watch this space for more information.

Wednesday 7pm: Film screening: Mad Max Fury Road
Free Launch Festival event

The 2015 reboot of George Miller’s deranged post-apocalyptic saga, starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. This Certificate 15 film will be shown for free as part of our launch week festivities.

Seats allocated on first-come-first served basis.

Thursday 29 October

Thursday 11:30am & 2:30pm: My Pet Monster and Me!
£2 in advance

Sophie Bucket lives on a farm with her Dad. She spends all of her time day-dreaming, but most of her time alone. If only she had a little friend to share her adventures. One day, Sophie finds an egg. She keeps it warm, and out pops a cuddly, toothy, burpy, baby MONSTER! And so, the fun begins…

Brought to life by acclaimed Blunderbus Theatre, this is a very funny show especially for little monsters aged 3-7 and their grown-ups.

Thanks to the generous support from St Neots Town Council, we’re able to bring you this fabulous show for just £2 per person. Last remaining tickets available in person from Love’s Farm House (2:30pm show only) – please call 01480 262626. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Starting Thursday 5 November 6pm and 7:30pm

Love’s Farm Brownies and Guides move into their new home.

Email guides@lovesfarmguiding.org.uk for more information.

Friday 30 October

Starting Friday 6 November 9:30am: Switch Now

Switch Now aims to provide young adults with learning difficulties / disabilities supported training and work experience to develop employment skills, with the objective to be ‘work ready’. We aim to work collaboratively with the local community and partner organisations to identify the opportunities for employment, aiming for inclusive places of work, with a mutual benefit to both employer and employee.

www.switchnow.org.uk
Contact Mark on 07518 795301, markhawking@switchnow.org.uk or Catherine on 07518 795370, catherinefairholm@swithnow.org.uk for more information.

Friday 10:30am: Baby and Toddler Rhymetime
Free taster session in launch week, £1 thereafter (first Thursday of the month at 2:15pm)

Action rhymes and songs for babies and toddlers to enjoy, courtesy of our friends at St Neots Library.

Contact St Neots Library on 0345 045 5225 for more information.

Friday 6:15pm: Burlesque Fitness
Free taster session in launch week, £5 thereafter

A fun and mischievous exercise class combining a cardio work out and burlesque tease.

Friday 7:30pm: Farm House Bar

Good beer, fine wine and the finest company you could hope for, every Friday in the foyer.

Friday 8pm: Love’s Farm Quiz
£1 per person

The LFCA monthly quiz returns in its new home at the Farm House Bar. Emma is your quizmaster this month, so it’s probably worth brushing up on Eastenders plots. The bar will be open so no more bring-your-own-bottle.

Saturday 31 October

Saturday 9:30am: Rosettes Dance Class
Free taster session in launch week, £4 thereafter

Street/Pop dance mixed with ballroom and Latin for kids ages 4-6 years.

www.katynorthdanceacademy.com
Contact Katy on 07500 875060 or email katynorth.danceacademy@gmail.com to reserve your place.

Saturday 10am: Junior Street Dance
Free taster session in launch week, £5.50 thereafter

Street dance for kids aged 7-10 years.

www.katynorthdanceacademy.com
Contact Katy on 07500 875060 or email katynorth.danceacademy@gmail.com to reserve your place.

Saturday 6-10pm: Halloween Family Disco
£1 in advance

Get ready for an evening of spooky fun and ghoulish goings on at the Farm House. There’ll be games for younger children from 6pm and a chance for kids and adults of all ages to strut their freakiest moves from 7pm. Fancy dress encouraged but not essential.

Tickets cost £1 and are available in advance from Love’s Farm House throughout launch week (from 24 October). Children must be accompanied by an adult.

We are hiring: Community Centre Caretaker

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Ben Pitt

Love’s Farm House requires a part-time caretaker to assist the trustees to run the centre.

We are looking for someone with the following skills and qualities:

a willingness to work flexibly and the ability to self-manage workload
may be required to respond quickly to incidents so preferably resident near Love’s Farm House
practical DIY skills to carry out minor repairs
the ability to supervise cleaning staff and manage contractors
awareness of health, safety, security and hygiene issues
good problem solving skills
good communication skills

Approximately 10 hours per week (including weekends) though may vary depending upon booking schedules. £8 per hour.

To apply for this position please send a brief CV and covering letter setting out why you believe you would be suitable for this role to jobs@lovesfarmhouse.co.uk.

If you do not receive a reply within two weeks please assume that your application has not been successful.

My Pet Monster and Me! – tickets on sale now

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Ben Pitt

Join us down on the farm for adventures with Sophie and her new friend George, the most lovable baby monster in the land! But when a little monster just keeps on GROWING, there’s big trouble ahead! With puppetry, music and songs, this hilarious new show promises plenty of laughs for kids aged 3-7 and their grown ups.

We’re hosting two performances of this magical theatre performance at Love’s Farm House on Thursday 29 October at 11:30am and 2:30pm.

Tickets costs £2 per person (a subsidised price as part of our launch celebrations). Babies on laps are free.

Update… just a few tickets remaining for 2:30pm only. Please call 01480 262626 or email bookings@lovesfarmhouse.co.uk to arrange collection in person.

Launch Festival Announced

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Ben Pitt

Love’s Farm House will open its doors in October with a week of celebrations.

We start on Saturday 24th October 2015 at 4pm with the Love’s Farm Expo. It’s your chance to see the building, meet the people who will be hosting activities and find out about all the projects LFCA is running across Love’s Farm. There’ll be craft activities, a barbecue, face painting and we’ll be burying a time capsule in the garden. From 6:30pm there’ll be live music, the LFCA Community Champion Awards, a barn dance and disco, so wear your dancing shoes!

On Sunday 25th at 2pm we’ll be screening Big Hero 6, an action-packed comedy-adventure from the team behind Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph. This will be free to attend as part of launch celebrations.

There will be free taster classes throughout the week, showcasing activities that will be available at Love’s Farm House. On Monday we have Hartbeeps and Yoga. Tuesday is Baby Sensory and the Love’s Farm Youth Club. Wednesday will be the first of our coffee mornings in the foyer, plus more Yoga and Little Starlings under-5s drop in.

On Thursday 29th we bring you
My Pet Monster and Me! Brought to life by acclaimed Blunderbus Theatre, this show is especially for little monsters aged 3-7 and their grown-ups. Performances are at 11:30am and 2:30pm. Tickets are £2 and will be available shortly.

On Friday morning St Neots Library brings Baby and Toddler Rhymetime to Love’s Farm. Later that day we have a Burlesque Fitness free taster class, and the LFCA Love’s Farm Quiz takes up its new residency at the Farm House Bar, which will be open every Friday evening.

On Saturday morning there are taster Street Dance classes for 4-6 and 7-10 year olds. And on Saturday evening we round up our launch week with a Family Halloween Disco. Tickets cost £1 and will be available throughout launch week. Start planning your costumes now!

We’ll be open for business as usual from Monday 2 November – full calendar of events coming soon. Get in touch at bookings@lovesfarmhouse.co.uk to enquire about private hire for parties.

Taking Stock

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Ben Pitt

We’ve just taken delivery of our coffee cups. That might not seem very exciting to people reading this blog but for us it’s another checkpoint on our journey from having an idea about a community centre to the reality of being open for business. Meanwhile, construction of the building is coming along nicely. It looks pretty much complete from the outside. Inside, the under-floor heating and concrete screed are down, internal walls are going up, wiring and ventilation are going in. We’ve been told there may be a delay to the connection of the electric and gas supply but we’re really hoping this won’t upset our plans to be open in September. It’s likely that activity on site will quieten down over July and August, but please be assured that we’re doing everything we can to be open as soon as possible. A few people have asked what’s happening with the new preschool. This will be managed entirely separately to Love’s Farm House, and we’re still waiting to hear who our neighbours will be. The tender is being managed by Cambridgeshire County Council and a decision is due imminently. There’s a huge amount going on behind the scenes with our trustees and other volunteers. We’re working on our website and marketing strategy, planning the launch festival, applying for licenses and dozens of other tasks in anticipation of launch. We now have a busy calendar of events with 28 weekly sessions pencilled in, and we’re in the process of turning these into confirmed bookings. We’re looking forward to sharing details with everyone soon. It’s not too late to get in touch if you’re interested in running a session, or know someone who might be – please email chair@lovesfarmhouse.co.uk. We’re placing orders for furniture, kitchen equipment, garden supplies, AV and IT equipment, cleaning equipment, signage… our shopping list currently runs to over 350 orders. A huge thanks to St Neots Town Council for their financial support with this. It would simply be impossible to do it without them. A big thanks to BPHA, our local housing association that has always been a key supporter of Love’s Farm Community Association and Love’s Farm House. We’ve just received funding from BPHA to continue the Love’s Farm Youth Club at the Farm House, and also to launch a new youth project for 14- to 18-year-olds. Watch this space for more details. And big thanks too to HDC, which owns the freehold to Love’s Farm House and is overseeing its construction. We’ve had our ups and downs over the months and years as both parties have struggled to make the community centre a reality, but we’re hugely grateful that HDC has stuck with it and that we’re finally in sight of the finishing line.

Hire fees

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Ben Pitt

After many months of research and discussion by our trustees, we’re finally ready to publish our hire fees.

Sorry, we know it’s a bit complicated! We’ve done our best to set prices in line with our mission statement and without completely confusing everyone. Non-profit means events that are open to the public where no profit is generated by the hirer or where any profits go to charity. Commercial means events that are open to the public and run to generate a profit. Private means business use, parties and so on where the event is not open to the public. Exclusive use means use of the hall and foyer, plus (at the discretion of trustees) the kitchen, garden and meeting room.

There will also be special prices for private parties at weekends:

£50 for a children’s party, 2 hours with 30 minutes set-up and clear-away either side. This will be available on Saturday 11am-2pm, 2-5pm and on Sunday 12-3pm, 3-6pm.

£200 for a Saturday night event, 6pm-12am.

£350 for a Saturday all day event, 11am-12am.

There will be a few other costs, such as for the kitchen and for events that require security staff. Further details will be published shortly along with our full terms and conditions for hire.

We have already had a lot of interest from both groups and individuals wanting to hire Love’s Farm House and will be in touch with all those people in the next few weeks to confirm bookings and take deposits. If you’re interested in running an activity (or know someone who does) please get in touch as soon as possible and we’ll try to fit you in.

New trustees

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Ben Pitt

It’s been a busy month for the volunteers of Love’s Farm House. We now have a logo, Mission Statement and updated business plan, and have been making good progress on our policies and procedures. We’ve had meetings with HomeStart and St Neots Children’s Centre to discuss how Love’s Farm House can support young families. We’ve been talking to lots of other service providers, and our provisional weekly schedule of activities is already looking pretty packed.

On 12 March the number of trustees for our charity increased from three to 13, the maximum allowed under our constitution. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to since we first registered our charity in June last year, and it’s wonderful to have such a talented, hardworking team in place. There are lots of other brilliant volunteers working towards the launch of Love’s Farm House, with more joining every month. It’s a good job too, as there’s masses to do before we open: web development, marketing and PR, plans for the café area, confirming hire prices and accepting bookings, buying equipment, obtaining licenses and permits, planning the launch festival, landscaping the garden… the list goes on.

The WREN application, ready to post.

We’ve submitted an application to WREN, which provides funding for community projects. We’ve requested money for furniture, kitchen appliances and music, lighting and projection systems. We’ll hear in August whether we’ve been successful. This application and the supporting documents are the work of a dozen volunteers and have taken 10 months to complete – a huge thanks to everyone involved.

Construction is on schedule. There’s now a concrete floor, scaffolding has been erected and breeze block walls are going up. There’s a satisfying parallel between the building slowly taking shape and the way that our project is moving from getting ourselves organised to making concrete plans.

Steel structure is up

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Ben Pitt

The building site at Kester Way now has something resembling a building – and it looks big! The right half (with a higher roof) will be the main hall. The left half will house the foyer, kitchen, meeting room, toilets and office, plus a pre-school facility that will be managed separately. Compare the photo above with the artist’s impression below and you can already see where the glass wall to the foyer seating area will be, plus the windows that encircle the hall just below the roof.

No doubt there will be lots of milestones over the next few months, but this one feels particularly exciting.

Town Council funding secured

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Ben Pitt

St Neots Town Council has pledged to support Love’s Farm House to the tune of £55,000. The money will be critical in helping us turn an empty building into a fully fledged community centre. £45,000 goes towards fixtures and fittings, including furniture, kitchen, office and IT equipment. The money will also be used to upgrade certain elements of the building’s specification, such as improving the quality of the flooring and installing additional power sockets and light fittings.

There’s a further £10,000 for our pre-launch costs, including professional fees, licenses, deposits and starting inventory. The Council has also offered to contribute towards marketing and our launch festival, and to provide manpower for garden landscaping.

It’s a tremendous show of support, and one that we feel reflects the Town Council’s commitment to supporting our community centre and Love’s Farm in general. We still have some further fundraising to do, but this generous funding means we can now be confident that we’ll be ready to take on the management of the building when construction is complete. We’d like to say a huge thank you to all the councillors and staff at St Neots Town Council for their support.

Meanwhile, we have signed an agreement to lease with Huntingdonshire District Council, which ties both parties into entering into a 30-year lease once the building is complete. There’s no going back now!

Construction underway

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Ben Pitt

At long last, construction has now commenced on Kester Way. Diggers, excavators and dumper trucks have been ferrying mud around and off the site in preparation for foundations to be laid. We’ve been told that it’s only a matter of weeks before the steelwork starts to go up. For those who said that they’ll believe it when they see it, there’s finally some solid proof.

Digging trenches

Our volunteers have been busier than ever, too. Our garden subteam have come up with a fantastic design for the garden. The interior design team are picking out furniture, paint colours and floor finishes. We’ve worked on our hire policies, held meetings with AV installation companies, talked to service providers and worked incredibly hard on fundraising applications. We’ve attended numerous meetings with St Neots Town Council, who have generously agreed to assist us with fixtures and fittings and other set-up costs (more info on this soon).

Today we had our long-awaited meeting with the construction project managers, contractors and subcontractors to discuss various changes we’ve requested to the building specification. It looks like we’ve caught them in the nick of time. We’re hoping that HDC can help with the cost of these changes – watch this space. We’ve also welcomed some new volunteers in the last couple of weeks. It’s the residents of Love’s Farm and St Neots who will be the making of this building, and it’s great to see support for this project grow week by week. But that’s enough heart-warming messages. It’s time for a song.

Love's Farm House

The hub of the Love's Farm community