The planned orchard at Hoton playing field should really be planted asap if we are to make it this season.

To that end, I wanted to get a list of interested parties and availability so we can set a date that will guarantee a reasonable turn-out - probably one of the first two weekends in march.

Could you let me know if you are wanting to get involved or not, and whether sat or sun, am or pm is preferable.

It would be great if every household/family got involved so the trees can grow with our families. An added incentive is for every child who plants a tree there will be a FREE WOODLAND TRUST ACTIVITY PACK. We may also put on some refreshments for the workers.

Please pass this on to anyone in the village who may be interested - particularly if they have kids.

Hopefully will be a good day.

Cheers, Cheika

Community Garden

October 2008

Another volunteer day, another excellent turnout at Hoton playing field.

The three raised beds are now fully planted up and the community garden taking shape, thanks to support from Mars, Biffa and East Midlands Airport.

We had a £400 budget for plants, supplemented by many donations from villagers and a mountain of spring bulbs from John Morris of Six Acres nurseries at Costock – many thanks. It already looks great, but we should be rewarded with a riot of colour in Spring and Summer.

The working party have elected not to have a formal management committee to maintain the garden, but rather host a number of volunteer days throughout the year, which are always well supported. Look out for calls for help on the notice boards or provide your email address to be kept informed.

The next phase is the community orchard. As stated before, our old apple trees have fallen foul of honey fungus and we lost a grand tree at the park entrance last Autumn. To provide a true legacy for the village we intend to plant fruit trees that have been donated by villagers – any donations gratefully received.

If you have any comments or suggestions for any aspect of the park project, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Cheika Kennedy, Project Co-ordinator

August 2008

An update on events at the field.

If you have been over in the last week, you will have noticed the flurry of activity with multiple contractors tripping over one another. Apologies to the Searsons, I hope they haven't been too disruptive.

At yesterdays visit, the raised beds are complete and full of soil and ready for planting up. Thanks to Paul Cairns of the adjacent yard for donating over 4000 reclaimed bricks, saving us a considerable sum.

The tarmac surface for the tennis court was well underway and line markings will be sited in a few weeks once the oils have settled. This will soon be followed by the perimeter fence, which we intend to jkeep unlocked.

The toddlers playground is also nearly complete - it looks a little odd at the moment - don't be alarmed by the black matting. This is a specifically designed mesh safety surface that permits the grass to grow through. I am reliably informed that within two weeks (especially given all the rain) the grass will have grown through, and the surfacing will be all but invisible. Hoop topped railings and safety gates will enclose the playground keeping kids in and dogs out. We would reallly appreciate your cooperation in keeping just this area of the park a dog free zone - the thought of scooping out mess from between the mesh does not appeal!

Finally, the pathway will be surfaced with a compact breedon gravel, as will the area around the raised beds. Seating will be sited adjacnet to the beds and a park notice board has been ordered.

TO DO:

LAUNCH DAY: It would be lovely to have an official launch day for the park - I am reticent to set a date until all the work is complete, there have already been multiple delays. If you have any ideas for how this should look, want a stall or have a suggestion eg FREE band, face painting, donations of bunting etc etc etc I would really love to hear from you.

PLANTING: All those with expertise or enthusiasm who would like to help with the beds please contact me. We have a paltry £400 set aside for plants, which given the size of the beds is not going to go very far!! All donations of plants, compost, feed etc gratefully received. Suggestions too would be very welcome. We have a basic scheme that we had to outline at the grant stage, but this of course can be supplemented. A volunteer day is looking likely and would be good before the launch day. I would suggest a day, but could go into labour any minute (I am due 30th August). Would anyone care to lead on this, please?

MEMBERSHIP: Whilst I now have a healthy list of interested parties, there are a number of notable absences on my email list. If I could ask Ian and Margaret to kindly forward this email to your contact lists, with apologies to those who end up with it twice or three times! If you receive it indirectly from Ian or Margaret, but would like to be kept involved could you just send me an email.

Finally, I am flattered to have been nominated for a 'Community builder' Leicestershire First Community Award! Obviously, everyone who has helped in any way has ensured the success of the project - every volunteer, every donation, coming to the dinner, buying a raffle ticket, the Parish Council, the Village Hall committee - and I must thank you all for your support. Let's ensure this facility fulfills it's potential and gets the community together regularly.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Cheika

July 2008

Full funding has been achieved for the park. Expect work to be in full flow at the beginning of August. The concrete has already been cleared of weeds and is ready for resurfacing.

But most exciting is the 'wildflower meadow'. The whole area is awash with flowers - corn cockles, poppies, marigolds, daisies and cornflowers. Impressive as the seeds were only sown in March. Go over and see for yourself.
I will keep you up to date with progress. Expect news of the tennis and gardening clubs soon, as well as plans for the proposed launch day upon completeion.

Wild flower meadow

UPDATE APRIL 2008

Progress continues apace at the Hoton Playing Field. The latest development is the creation of the wildflower meadow.

A donation of 100 tonnes of topsoil had been originally made by the builders, William Davis, and delivered to the park in winter. It had remained in a large pile during the worst of the weather, having missed the opportunity to sow the seeds in Autumn.

Last month, another generous donation from local resident Robert Moyle, chairman of North Midland Construction plc, saw the pile of earth transformed into an even, landscaped form and suddenly our vision became a reality.

The ground works took two days and saved the project up to £3 000! Our huge thanks must go to North Midland Construction plc, Robert Moyle and his team; Matt Barney, Richard Colleran and Dennis Gannon – who with good humour shifted all the soil aside to permit breaking up the concrete surface to improve drainage, then redistribute it all back into a landscaped, smooth, tilled form, ready for sowing.

We wasted no time in capitalising on the fine weather and 2kg of wildflower cornfield annuals and cereal seeds were sown within days of the work being completed. By late summer, we should see the area awash with poppies, cornflowers, marigold, corn cockle and chamomile and we hope will be a riot of colour in time for our proposed launch day, upon completion of the playing field project.

Our small, rural village has successfully raised £36.5k from grants and sponsorship for the park equipment, but owes a debt of gratitude to all those who continue to overwhelm us with their generosity and help us keep costs down.

Cheika Kennedy, Project Coordinator

Groundwork in progress

Site of wild flower garden

Fund raising evening

'An evening with Aggers'

On April 26th, 2008, Hoton enjoyed the highlight of its social calendar to date. A complete sell-out three weeks before the event, apologies to those who missed the boat.

A fund-raising dinner to support the playing field redevelopment project was planned, following a pledge of support from then local resident, Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew. A fast-bowler for Leicestershire and England, Aggers has become rather more noted for his smooth commentary as the BBC cricketing correspondent.

We were blessed with the weather and enjoyed cocktails and canapés on the village hall lawn. Everyone looked resplendent in black-tie and evening dress and the hall surpassed itself, looking every bit the prime venue, with a bit of careful dressing from my team – Chris Cassell, Andrea Porter and Ali Scobbie – enhanced by table decorations from Marion Plummer and bay trees, cricket stumps and tea lights from the Isbisters of ‘The worm that turned’.

Catering was provided by Mac & White and was declared universally superb. Bubbly was plentiful and table wine had been provided from a donation of my Nectar points! Individual tortes from North’s of Rothley were served on tiered cake stands and drew gasps from the audience, as did the announcement of the imminent arrival of my third child!

Aggers was a true gent and a real charmer, his speech an interesting mix of cricketing anecdotes and general amusing tales. He mixed with the crowds and was happy to sign autographs and donated a signed book and cricket balls for the raffle and auction.

The evening was rounded off with live music from local band, the Mucky Pups. We raised a total of £2099 from ticket sales, the auction and raffle.

I can’t name everyone here, but would like to thank everyone who supported the evening and those who pledged prizes to auction or raffle and helped make the evening a huge success.

Hoton village hall resplendent and ready for guests

Guests enjoy fine food,wine and the convivial atmosphere

Mr Jonathan'Aggers'Agnew
and project co-ordinator Cheika Kennedy