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.

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.

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 volunteers, representatives from the town, district and county councils, the design and construction teams and BPHA gathered today to mark the beginning of construction of our community centre. The first spade in the ground was placed by Natasha Gregson with help from her mum (and our charity secretary) Caroline and Cllr Barry Chapman.

This day has been a long time in coming, but it’s wonderful to see things starting to happen on the site. Building begins in earnest on 5 January, and we should start to see the structure take a recognisable shape in late February.

I took the opportunity (and will do so again here) to thank HDC for its perseverance in seeing this project through, and Cambridgeshire County Council for funding the new pre-school. Huge thanks too to St Neots Town Council and BPHA for their generous support offered to our community group so we can unlock the full potential of this fabulous building. I also want to say a massive thanks to the dedicated, talented and inspiring team of volunteers that has come together to bring Love’s Farm House into existence.

2014 has been an exciting year for me, meeting and working with lots of people, learning masses of new things and, despite the ups and downs, really enjoying the whole experience. Thanks to the community centre, Love’s Farm has changed from a place where I happen to live to a place that truly feels like home. I hope that Love’s Farm House has the same effect on lots of other residents, whether it’s through volunteering, running groups or simply using its facilities. This centre belongs to all of us, and I can’t wait for us to move in.