It has become clear that we need to formalise our status as a group so we will are proposing to apply to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Foundation model) which means updating our constitution at the AGM.

To simplify this change we’re adopting as much of our current constitution that we agreed last year, and fitting this into the standard charity commission constitution.

The main points are:

Charity name:

• there is already a charity called North Lodge Park (based in Darlington) so we hope the Charity Commission will allow North Lodge Park, Cromer

Charitable objectives:

• we are proposing these keep as on our current constitution
  1. To protect, enhance and promote North Lodge Park as a place of recreation and enjoyment for the long term benefit of the local community and visitors
  2. To encourage wide community input and participation in improving the Park so that the Park may best serve the local community and visitors
  3. To develop, promote and manage facilities and functions in the Park to provide recreational and social opportunities for the local community and visitors

The rest of the 11 pages are standard ways to operate a charity.

You can read our proposed draft constitution here.

You can see the standard format on the charity commission website: gov.uk/…./FoundationModelConstitution.pdf

from the EDP, 15 March

Cromer’s Friends of North Lodge Park are crossing their fingers that they will be picked to run the café they have revived and made successful.

Their bid comes at a critical time for the much-loved park, owned by North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) which is trying to attract a partner willing to invest in its attractions and facilities after a long period of stagnation.

The Friends believe a trust, in which it is a partner, should be formed to run the park.

Friends’ volunteers re-opened the café, rent-free, with NNDC’s blessing eight months ago. The council has been paying the business rates.

It attracts loyal regulars from the town and further afield, according to Friends’ secretary Barry Meadows.

Now NNDC is advertising for someone to operate it commercially, and pay £3,500 rent for a year from April 1.

“It’s been amazing,” said Mr Meadows. “The community is so grateful and supportive. The café is our focus. It’s where we meet the community and find out what’s going on. If we didn’t have that focus, it would make it much more difficult for us.”

The Friends will hold their annual meeting next week, on Wednesday March 23 at 7.30pm in Cromer Community Hall, Garden Street, when responses to their latest survey will be discussed. They are due to be published on March 18.

Mr Meadows said 364 people had answered a questionnaire asking for their views on suggested ways ahead for the park.

“The message coming across is that the community wants a park which is well maintained; a safe community place, with flowers and lawns – a special place of heritage and memories,” he added.

Respondents were divided over NNDC proposals to convert the former children’s play area into a 55-space pay-and-display car park.

“At the moment we are in limbo, and a bit frustrated,” said Mr Meadows.

“We need the café licence for another year and more information about the car park and the Prior Information Notice (NNDC’s advertisement for a partner to invest in the park).”

The Friends had earmarked money from the café for improvement projects which might include restoring the thatched collectors’ cabins by the sunken garden.

read full story…

Every month during 2016 the Eastern Daily Press in association with the Norfolk Community Foundation will be donating up to £2,500 to charities across Norfolk.

Please help us to be one of those charities to win cash, by cutting out and collecting your tokens each month and bring them into the cafe.

We need to collect 500 tokens in a month to be in with a chance of winning the cash.  Any month we don’t get the required number we’ll work with other local causes to help them reach the goal.

Thank you.

Christmas in the cafe.

On behalf of all the team I’d like to wish you all a jolly Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

To give all our volunteer helpers and bakers time with family and friends the cafe will be closed over the festive period from Christmas eve with the exception of Boxing day, reopening on 1st January. Therefore, over the festive period the opening hours for the cafe will be:

• Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: closed
• Boxing Day: 10-14 (don’t forget the swim at 11)
• Sunday 27th to 31st: closed
• Friday 1st January: 10-18 (fireworks at 17.00)
• Saturday 2nd January back to normal.

Time for a cafe co-ordinator

In our discussions with the District Council over the future for the Park they have floated the idea of extending our licence for a further 12 months to March 2017. This is really encouraging, but we feel we cannot expect those volunteers who took on the responsibility of setting up and running the café at such short notice to keep smiling whilst putting in quite so many hours on an open-ended basis.

With your help, we want to ensure the café continues to play its part in the community of Cromer and would like to use this opportunity to develop the role of a paid café co-ordinator for the remainder of our current term. We would do this without changing the way the café operates. With the support of the café management team, the café coordinator will build on the success of the special character you have helped create in the café.

We want to be flexible in our appointment, but would expect the position (which could be a job share) to be 20-25 hours a week, including several sessions running the café and taking on the ‘behind the scenes’ work of organising the volunteers and stock management. For the right person this could extend into a further (at least) 12 month opportunity.
Before we advertise this position wider, we wanted you all to know about this change, and to give you the opportunity to come forward for the position. If you want to know more details please get in touch cafe@northlodgepark.org.uk, or pop into the cafe and speak to one of the team.

Children’s Play Area

In anticipation of the survey confirming our thinking that the children’s play area will still be your top priority, we will be setting up a working group in the new year to develop and implement a plan for this project so we can have something in place for next summer.

To widen the involvement of the community, to make sure we have the right people on the project and to make sure we are working on the right project we want your help. If you have the skills, ideas and time to actively help with the project please let us know. There will be lots to do: defining what we want, drawing up specifications, talking to suppliers, fund raising and lots of practice drinking coffee in the cafe (there has to be some reward for all that hard work!). There will be a project kick-off meeting the first week in January.

We’re keeping the survey open to the end of January to give you the opportunity to discuss with your family and friends over the Christmas dinner, As well as completing the survey, if you have ideas and thoughts do send them to us, either by email, post, or fill in the ideas book in the cafe.

Hope to see you soon
Barry Meadows

The icing on the cake!

Responding to the community, North Norfolk District Council has awarded a second 4 month licence to the Friends of North Lodge Park to enable the café to stay open through the winter. “Since we opened in August the community has been great – helping in the café, baking cakes and as customers”, Emma Dale, vice-chair of the Friends said, “so when Norman Lamb said he would come to support us, we thought it was an opportunity to get the volunteers together to celebrate the extension to our licence.”

“The way the community has responded to the drawn out saga in North Lodge Park shows what can be achieved when all parties have a common goal,” said Norman Lamb, “I really hope the Friends group can build on their success in the café, and the district council recognises what an asset the Park and this community are to North Norfolk.”
The café was packed with volunteers on Friday afternoon to welcome Norman Lamb to Cromer, “These home made cakes are much better than those served in the House of Commons”, Norman said between mouthfuls of carrot cake, “and the quality of the coffee is superb – the rumours about it being the best in Cromer are spot on”.

Lizzie Knight, who made the carrot cake, said “It’s a real honour to be able to cook cakes for the café, but to have such praise from Norman really is the icing on the cake!”

The Friends have just published proposals for the development of the Park, with a questionnaire to give the community a chance to comment on the proposals. “If these proposals get the green light North Lodge Park could once again bring life to Cromer, showing it can be a park for all ages”, said Norman. “I will be watching closely how these plans develop over the coming months and will encourage the district council to listen to what the community wants”.