Good news! Grant awarded by the National Lottery

We have some excellent news!  The National Lottery’s Jubilee Fund has awarded CDF a grant of £10,000 towards the costs of creating a new pedestrian passageway to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  We are grateful to the National Lottery (and the players) for recognising the importance of this initiative to our community, especially our High Street.

The funding will help us to create a new passageway by extending an existing internal covered emergency exit at the side of the Old Police Station, which will provide a valuable link from the High Street to the proposed community garden space at the rear.  To ensure it is accessible to all, the steps at the front of the property will be removed and the floor taken down to pavement level and a gentle slope created (see image to see what the front door looks like today and see why the new passageway will be a great improvement)

The funding will also include a sum to commission artwork/timeline of the Queen’s reign.  This will elevate the passageway beyond the functional to become an additional place of interest on the High Street for both the community and visitors to Cricklade.  We have yet to agree a name for this new passageway, but all suggestions are welcome – providing the name is both polite and includes the word ‘Jubilee!’

This is a first step towards enhancing the community aspects of the Old Police Station.  The renovation will be commencing shortly to create much needed residential flats and commercial units.  Valuable as they are, this project is much more than that.  Fortunately, many of you agree and have helped us to raise a substantial sum towards the purchase and renovation costs of the Old Police Station.  However, although the response has been excellent, more funds are still required to bring all our plans to fruition.  If you like what we are doing and want to be part of this exciting community initiative, please become a member.  To learn more,  please get in touch by emailing us at: contact@crickladefoundation.org.uk or by phoning 07902 421756.

We hope this new pedestrian passageway will serve as a lasting legacy to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – but more importantly, it will be an accessible link to a new social space at the rear for the community to enjoy!