The Snettisham Memorial Pavilion Fund

I spoke to Edward Stanton, Chairman of The Snettisham Memorial Pavilion Fund, who explained the project.

The Snettisham Memorial Pavilion is a much-loved pavilion that sits in the middle of the village. It has been there for 74 years, built originally by returning veterans, youths of the village and tradesmen that gave their time for free in honour of the 15 men of the village that did not come back from World War Two. The funds were raised through public subscription; local people and local businesses, effectively like a 'DIY Big Build’ before the BBC even thought of it!

The Pavilion became a living monument: for the last 74 years those 15 men have been remembered in every village sporting activity, fete, car boot sale and in every village national celebration.

Q: Why does the Pavilion need refurbishment?

A: Unfortunately, whilst the Pavilion is still much-loved, it is no longer fit for purpose. Since it was built, there has not been any significant investment in it. As things like safeguarding have moved on, the adjacent village school and youth sports clubs cannot effectively use it, for example because of the issues around mixing boys and girls adults and children. The building does not have adequate insulation, meaning it is too hot in summer and too cold in winter, so is environmentally unfriendly and costly to run. The away-visitor changing room is not up to the standards set by Sport England or the English Football Association so it effectively has only one, limiting use of the field. The building has few useable toilets and poor shower facilities that are no longer deemed appropriate for use. There is no proper disability access for spectators or participants and groundworks surveys have identified asbestos in the roof. So, although the building is much-loved and central to village life, it is no longer fit for purpose.

Q: What has been done so far?

A: A decision was taken that something needed doing rapidly because without significant capital investment, there was only one outcome: less sports and less people being able to use the Pavilion now and in the future.

A plan was designed by an award-winning architect from the village and went to the PARISH COUNCIL and the borough planners for consideration. Because it is a major building, in a central location, the conservation officer from the borough was involved and made recommendations. Views from local people were taken on board around the original features and facade of the building. The building is rare: it is one of 63 consecrated war memorial buildings on the national register to have year-round community use. Statutory consultees were involved including Sport England, the English Cricket Board and the English Football Association, who all agreed that the plans will fulfil the purpose of having room for multiple sports and mixed-sex sports, having changing rooms and toilet facilities that meet safeguarding and disability requirements and will be environmentally friendly.

Both the PARISH COUNCIL and Memorial Hall Trustees expressed their formal support for the plan in the planning process and outside of it but noted the significant amount of fundraising needed, and neither had the skillset or the time to do it. This is where the Committee came in - a group of individuals from the village who volunteered to raise the funds.

Since the project began in November 2021 the committee has raised £313,000, which equals a rate of around £10,000 a month! We believe this success is due to the rationale of the plan and the support from independent consultees. We also have the local MP James Wild as an active advocate, we have had support from the Mayor of King’s Lynn, and the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Lady Dannatt MBE, is the patron of the fund. Every time we get a funding application approved, it is a testament that others with expertise and funding feel we are doing the right thing!

We have had groundworks surveys completed and have achieved planning permission in perpetuity.

Q: Tell us about the Plans

A: With the building’s perimeter, you are restricted from extending backwards. Extending the sides or the front would affect the features of the building, including the consecrated stone which was blessed by the Bishop of Norwich when it was opened in 1950. The only way to radically increase the size is to extend upwards. To minimise the intrusion, we are changing the pitch of the roof, but will be reusing the original tiles. The additional loft space will provide a kitchen space, a communal space, additional toilets and also includes a lift for disabled access, whilst freeing up much-needed space downstairs to provide 4 changing-rooms, two changing rooms for adult match officials and modern showers and toilets for teams.

The environment is being considered in every decision. It will have the most up-to-date standard of insulation, solar heating, ground-source heat pumps, LED lights and low-use water systems. If we can buy and deliver local, that cuts down the impact of the build, as does recycling and reusing materials like the roof tiles. The entire building will be Disability Discrimination Act compliant. The whole idea is to make the space as flexible as possible.

In the Pavilion, we have a Roll of Honour for the people who built the original building. However, we have not yet got the life stories of the 15 men who did not return from war. We are looking to do a permanent exhibition of the history of the Pavilion upstairs.

The 75th anniversary of the building is next summer, which coincides with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. There will be national celebrations and we think that there could not be anything better than to have our refreshed Memorial Pavilion open for this celebration.

This will be a pavilion fit for everyone. Anyone who runs a club out of the Pavilion has a constitutional right to sit on the board of the operating committee, The Memorial Hall Trust.

Q: Tell us about the financial and other support

A: The Parish Council have put in £50,000 into the project out of ‘reserve’ funds, which does not affect their other projects or the precept. If we reach our goal of £500,000, it will mean that, for every £1 our village has put into the project, we have gained £10 from elsewhere. This £10 would not have come if it was not an ambitious project, that had passed scrutiny and planning permission, and that delivers major long-term outcomes.

Photographs from the launch of the fund in November 2021

Support from the community serves as a strong signal to potential funders. We have had support over the course of the project, from the initial launch where around 100 villagers turned up, to the 370+ signatures on our change.org petition, to the 100 who attended the Town Hall Dinner and 250 local residents who attended our barn dance this year. Even the primary school children raised an awesome £713 recently by doing a sponsored walk.

Snettisham Memorial Pavilion Fund held a fundraising supper in King's Lynn's Town Hall, jointly hosted by the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, The Lady Dannatt MBE and the Mayor of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Councillor Margaret Wilkinson.

Support from the community serves as a strong signal to potential funders. We have had support over the course of the project, from the initial launch where around 100 villagers turned up, to the 370+ signatures on our change.org petition, to the 100 who attended the Town Hall Dinner and 250 local residents who attended our barn dance this year. Even the primary school children raised an awesome £713 recently by doing a sponsored walk.

Although we are focused on significant funding pots, anything that any community group does not only allows us to evidence community support on our funding applications, but also provides a psychological boost to the fundraising team. Even just letters of support help!