Page 37 - BR October 2023 (1)

October 2023 October 2023
and changing rooms is the SPOTLIGHT ON ……..
result of refurbishment
between 2010 and 2013 of
the old building previously Spotlight on the Bere Regis
leased to the Royal British
Legion. Sports Club
Andy: The building was in by Janey Gordon
quite a poor state but we In Bere Regis there are a number of
r a i s e d £ 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 f o r people who give their time and energies
renovation and we now to support and enrich the local
have state of the art community and individuals who live here.
changing rooms for teams They contribute freely to the village either
and officials as well as a as individuals or as groups and teams.
good social area and bar.
We raised money from The parish magazine is running a short series to “Spotlight” some of these and this
several different sources, month we are featuring a ‘team of teams’, the Bere Regis Sports Club, led by the
including a bequest from the Chair Andy Kent and the Treasurer, Peter Cheeseman. I met up with Andy and
estate of Jessie Harvey, (Di Peter at the playing fields and club houses in North Street.
Ventham’s mother). She was Janey: For a village location, Bere Regis seems to have excellent sports facilities!
a keen sports woman all her
life and our pavilion is named How did the Bere Regis Sports Club begin.
Youth Teams
The Jessie Harvey Pavilion. Peter: It all began in 1929 when the land which is now the playing field was gifted
by the Drax estate to the National Playing Fields Association for “…the use of the
Visiting teams do gasp a bit parishioners of Bere Regis.”
when they see our changing
rooms! Not many village The National Playing Fields association is now named Fields in Trust but it still does
teams have such good the same job, which is to protect green spaces from development in perpetuity –
facilities. for ever. The Bere Regis Sports Club is a charity that was set up to manage the
sports facilities on behalf of Fields in Trust. We are two of the charity trustees and
The Bere Regis playing field we’re responsible for the finances, looking after the fields, making sure the club
was given extra protection in runs smoothly and is
2012 when we were there for the local
awarded Queen Elizabeth II community to use.
Trust status. This was to
celebrate the Diamond The biggest change
Jubilee and also the 2012 was in 1984 when the
Olympic Games in London. bypass was due to
The aim was to permanently be built and we were
protect playing fields like ours going to lose a strip
for communities. of the field to the
new road. But we
Recently, in 2019, we were were given an old
able to buy the southern end The old club building is still used - WI meetings and Brownies/Rainbows tractor barn at the
of the playing fields. We had north end of the site in exchange and we converted it into our sports pavilion. It is
been leasing this from the now the smaller of our two buildings. The larger building with the club house, bar
Drax Estate and they wanted

40 37