Rec relaunch leads the way

Verdon Recreation Centre was reopened last weekend by Sports Minister and Sheffield Central MP Richard Caborn. The Lord Mayor came along, saying he was here so often, celebrating the achievements of the community and New Deal, he thought he’d change his title to Mayor of Burngreave. The refurbishment, funded by New Deal in partnership with the Council, is the first of New Deal’s capital projects.

Sporting splendour

John Clark, New Deal Chief Executive, said Verdon Recreation Centre was now a quality facility to be proud of. It has a sports hall and training room so local people can get qualifications, deliver their own sessions and get employment, including jobs at the planned new Sports Centre on Petre Street. New Deal paid for the refurbishment and the Council invested in adaptations to the changing rooms and access, making it the first Council facility in the city to be compliant with the new disabilities access laws.

The centre is being run by Activity Sheffield (formerly known as Com Rec) with support from New Deal and will be open seven days per week for sports and healthy activities. Admin worker Shazia Noor explained the Centre was now taking bookings from groups (Sports Hall £15/hour, training room £10/hour). The office is open from 9am–12 noon and 1–4pm, Monday to Friday, or people can ring her on 249 1626.

Verdon Rec has been a centre for sports, events, meetings and social occasions since it was built by the Sports and Sheffield Councils in 1988. Councillor Steve Jones recalled times when people were fed up that the Rec wasn’t accessible and had become underused and vandalised, but said it was now a state-of-the-art facility. The centre has secure funding from the Council and New Deal for three years, but he explained the long-term plan is for the Rec to be returned to local control.

£6 million plan for Spital Hill

The reopening of Verdon Recreation Centre is the first result of capital spending on New Deal’s Transformational Programme, combining plans for better facilities with plans for better services. The programme includes £2.1 million investment in Spital Hill’s ‘public realm’, £2.3 million to renovate Sorby House and the Vestry Hall, and work at the Adventure Playground, Abbeyfield and Osgathorpe Parks. As this £6 million transformation gets going the New Deal Year Five Plan (April 2005–06) contains £10 million of spending, a big rise from last year. For more detailed information about Year Four spending and the Year Five Plan see pages 4 & 5.

Election year

As well as these major building works, Year Five will see elections for the Community Reps on the New Deal Partnership Board and they want your views on how the elections should be run (see pages 14 & 15). The Partnership Board sets the direction for New Deal and awards the funding. Last year New Deal become a limited company, so the Board members are also directors and New Deal Ltd can run its own projects and own property like Sorby House.

Another change in New Deal last year has been the creation of Theme Strategy Groups (with a closed, nominated membership) who now approve projects in their early stages instead of the Theme Groups (which are public meetings). The Year Five Plan is built on consultation with Theme Groups throughout the year and every resident is having details of the Plan delivered to their homes.

You can comment on the plan until 14th February at the New Deal Information Shop or the Theme Group meetings, by email (infoshop@bndfc.co.uk) or by visiting the New Deal website www.bndfc.co.uk.

by Mark Lankshear