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”.

On Saturday 28th November The Walker Brothers of Norfolk will be singing in North Lodge Park!

This talented group of singers will be entertaining us with songs from the 40’s through to the 70’s, as well as excerpts from well known Musicals. So if you fancy a bit of the Beach Boys, a dose of Dean Martin or a taste of the Temptations then you know where to come!
This is a free event and we do suggest that you wrap up warm as the band will be playing outside in a marquee next to the cafe (where delicious cake awaits!) The fun all starts at 2pm

The clocks have gone back and the autumn half term is underway. With your support (volunteering and consuming) we plan to open the cafe right through the winter; we need to hear what you would like to see to make it your cafe.

Here’s a couple of activities: one this week, and one weekly through the winter. Do let us have other ideas for activities you would like to see.

Voulez-vous parler français?

Merging the cafe culture and our franglais desires we’ll be speaking French in the cafe on Tuesday afternoons from 10th November. Nothing too serious, but a chance for you (and us) to brush up on our language skills. Come along and listen or join in the conversation whether you’re fluent or a beginner. Si vous voulez plus d’informations email comme d’habitude cafe@northlodgepark.org.uk.

To: Cromer Town Councillors
Copy: Julie Chance, John Rest, Hilary Cox, John Lee

Hello

The number and speed of vehicles in North Lodge park continues to be a major concern and risk to the public.

We understand that Cromer Town Council are considering investing in bollards in North Lodge Park at the edge of the land in front of North Lodge, to stop unauthorised parking.

The Friends of North Lodge Park expressed concerns about the proposals to the Policy and Resources Committee before their last meeting. Although our concerns were considered, unfortunately it seems the proposal has moved forward to the next stage.

It is our view that bollards in the Park at the edge of the area in front of North Lodge (where it is proposed to place them) will not reduce the number of vehicles in the Park, nor reduce the speed of vehicles. In addition, it will have the effect of increasing the number of vehicles turning round in the road by the boating lake and move the issue of unauthorised parking to elsewhere in the Park, both of which will cause extra risk to children playing.

The Policy and Resources Committee’s stated priority is the “safety of staff and tenants”. No mention of public safety and the increased risk to the public, including children playing in the Park, has been mentioned in the minutes.

Clearly, as the only beneficiaries of such bollards would be the tenants of North Lodge, funding of any work on such a project – including any preparatory work should be funded by the tenants and not with public money. Feedback we have received from tenants of North Lodge suggests no support for the proposal – in fact the complete opposite – so this funding is unlikely to be forthcoming.

We are very pleased to see that the Policy and Resources Committee agreed to open a dialogue with NNDC to develop a better solution to stop the bigger problem of too many vehicles driving too quickly and fully support this.

Again, we request that you do not further invest time and public money in any short term plan to install bollards, and wait until longer term plans are agreed.

Barry Meadows
Secretary, Friends of North Lodge Park