Sport England’s Chairman, Richard Lewis, handed over the cheque to Centre Manager Mark Murray-Brown (pictured left) who is going to put the fund towards a new safety boat.

In an interview with the Chichester Observer Mark said: “The funding was much needed.

“We have a wide range of young people at the centre and we are upgrading the facilities for them. This includes showers and toilets.

“Hopefully the work will be completed by Easter. We haven’t got quite enough safety cover to do all the range of boat activities so we are getting a five-and-a-half metre RIB.”

Cobnor Activities Centre was just one of 71 sports groups in the South East to benefit from the £135m Places People Play National Lottery-funded legacy programme to make the Olympics part of our local communities this year.

Mr Murray-Brown said: “We are looking forward to the Olympics.

“There are some positive schemes which include a day in July where everyone is encouraged to go afloat.

“We have a programme to involve adults with sailing and we will be starting up a range of programmes from Easter for mountain biking, climbing, canoeing and sailing.”

Sport England’s chairman Richard Lewis said: “For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better.

“We’ve had unprecedented demand for this fund, which has really hit the mark with sports clubs in the southeast. It shows we’re offering the sporting legacy that people want.”

We’re really looking forward to the improvements and the arrival of the new powerboat, which will give a boost to our safety boat fleet and make learning to sail at Cobnor an even better experience.

This creative writing event is taking place at Cobnor over the Bank Holiday weekend, from the evening of Friday August 26^th and all day Saturday and Sunday and it’s a writing retreat with outdoor activities for that little extra creative inspiration…

We are providing the accommodation and facilities for the Writers’ Retreat and as Cobnor is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty writers will not only have the opportunity to take in the stunning surroundings but they’ll also get the chance to get stuck in to some outdoor activities. A powerboat trip, a coastal walk and an informal kayaking lesson are all on the cards for those writers that want to get out from behind their desks and get some inspiration from the Great Outdoors.

The event will kick off with a Pimm’s reception, informal networking, inspirational talks from professional writers and a book signing on Friday evening, designed to give local writers, publishers and creatives the opportunity to meet likeminded people. A writing and publishing panel talk will take place, offering an enlightening discussion between award-winning local writers Gabrielle Kimm (His Last Duchess, Sphere, 2010 and The Courtesan’s Lover, Sphere, 2011) and Isabel Ashdown (Glasshopper, Myriad Editions, 2009 and Hurry Up and Wait, Myriad Editions, 2011) and their editors. There will also be a raffle in aid of charity with some great prizes, including a voucher for half a day sailing donated by Cobnor Activities Centre. While the number of guests on the Writers’ Retreat weekend is limited, so that they get the very best writing experience possible, Friday evening’s event is open to the public for just £15 a ticket and limited tickets are still available.

Aspiring writers will have plenty of opportunity to brush up on their penmanship throughout the weekend. As well as plenty of free time to get pen to paper, Gabrielle Kimm is giving a creative writing workshop and Isabel Ashdown is giving a workshop to help writers develop their characters. There will also be talks from local writers, such as Stewart Ferris (Unusual Character Names for Writers, e-book, 2010; How to Publish Your Own Book, Summersdale, 2008; How to be a Writer, Summersdale, 2005; How to Get Published, Summersdale 2005), on the agenda. Boat trips to local points of natural and historical interest, such as East Head and Bosham Church, are planned too.

An exhibition of art will take place throughout the weekend, including Lorrie Whittington’s Sea Dreams: Exhibition of Paintings and Illustrations. This is a stunning collection in hues of purple, blue and green. The artwork will be on display to inspire the creatives and it will also be on sale so that they can take their inspirations home.

Cobnor Activities Centre’s Bryn Jones is so excited about the prospect of this event that he started getting all creative yesterday. Bryn donned his beret, coined himself a “Famous Welsh Poet”, and came up with this verse that’s loosely related to the haiku:

Water breaks

The sound is heard

I see the beauty

We’ll let you judge this particular literary phenomenon! Don’t be put off though; this “Famous Welsh Poet” is not on the bill. To book tickets for the weekend or for the Friday evening, please contact Katy on: 01243 533421 or email: katy@chichestercopywriter.co.uk.

Seeing as Katy Lassetter of Chichester Copywriter was so inspired to write her first novel by Cobnor’s coastal and countryside landscapes she decided that Cobnor would be the ideal place to hold the Writers’ Retreat. The peace and quiet, the new log cabins, the excellent classroom and full IT facilities all offered by Cobnor Activities Centre, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, provide the complete package to inspire any creative.

The Writers’ Retreat weekend will kick off with an event on the Friday evening including: networking, writing and publishing talks, book signings and art an exhibition of coastal art. Tickets are £15 each for the Friday evening and include a glass of Pimm’s; any local creatives are welcome to come along and enjoy a bit of culture by the water. On the Saturday and Sunday there will be a range of workshops and talks with professional writers based in the Chichester area, including Isabel Ashdown, Gabrielle Kimm and Melanie Penycate. There will also be plenty of free writing time to help guests brush up on their penmanship and get those chapters finished. Weekend places start from £200 and include accommodation, food, workshops, activities and more.

What’s more, this is a writers’ retreat with a difference so wordsmiths will have the opportunity to experience Cobnor Activities Centre’s other facilities and equipment when they take a powerboat trip to either historical Bosham or naturally beautiful East Head; both locations will make excellent creative writing inspirations! There will also be the chance for them to try their delicate writers’ hands at kayaking and even indulge in an aromatherapy massage or a rekei treatment, provided by Cobnor’s own Quintin Macmorland, to help boost their creativity.

Does a Writers’ Retreat at Cobnor sound right up your street?

Contact Katy@ChichesterCopywriter.co.uk or call: 01243 533421 to book a place on the weekend or to purchase a ticket for the Friday evening. Find the full schedule for the weekend here.

This beautiful and constantly evolving sand and shingle spit, one of only two sand dune systems in West Sussex, is home to wide range of wildlife and has been a National Trust property since the 1960s. One of the National Trust’s current projects is to protect the rare Silver Spiny Digger Wasp.  At the moment, a piece of the beach is condoned off to keep visitors from disturbing the wasps’ habitats and signs are in place to describe the creatures’ behaviour. Each wasp has a burrow in the sand and for two summer months the adult wasp emerges to feed on sand flies. At the end of this period it paralyses 10 sand flies, dragging them into the burrow and laying eggs on the first. When the eggs hatch the larvae feeds on one sand fly a month emerging as Digger Wasps the following summer – isn’t nature an incredible thing?

While walking among the dunes in the glow of early spring the bird song is magical as sky larks and sand martins pay heed to the sunshine. It’s popular with walkers and last weekend there were a lot of families and dog-walkers making their way through the different landscapes on offer. The different landscapes really are fascinating – there are marshy mud flats, grassy sand dunes and flat, seaweed and shell strewn shingle beaches. The dunes are created when wind-blown sand is trapped by marram grass, driftwood and seaweed. But as fast as new dunes grow in one place, the sea claims old dunes back, meaning East Head is always changing.

East Head is located around a 30 minute powerboat ride away from Cobnor Activities Centre and the water shelf is so steep just off the shore that it’s rarely a problem to land boats close to the beach, giving easy access regardless of the tide. In fact, East Head’s somewhat easier to get to by boat during the summer months as it’s such a popular holiday destination that the roads on their way to the Witterings and the beaches’ car parks can get jam-packed.

We urge those that haven’t experienced the delights of East Head to make a visit soon. Even if you’re not taking part in any of our outdoor activities that include a trip to East Head groups can talk to us about hiring the Chairboat and driver, or a powerboat and driver, and the driver could take you on a pre-organised trip, just contact sail@cobnor.com for details and availability.

Royal Yachting Association (RYA) qualifications are known and respected the world over and designed for all ages and abilities. Cobnor Activities Centre is an RYA recognised centre, specialising in both RYA sailing and RYA powerboat courses including:  RYA Dinghy Instructors and pre-entry assessment, RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Level 1- 4, RYA Powerboat Instructors and pre-entry assessment and Level 2 and RYA Safety Boat RYA. Read more about Cobnor as an RYA recognised centre.

Cobnor Activities Centre is also a British Canoe Union (BCU) centre, meaning that it’s affiliated with the lead body for canoeing and kayaking in the UK.  With Cobnor’s chief instructor Andy Hall you can brush up on your paddle sport skills or gain new qualifications through our list of BCU approved courses, including: BCU 1 Star and 2 Star, BCU 3 Star Sea Kayak and BCU 3 Star White Water Kayak, UKCC BCU Level 1 Coach Training & Assessment and UKCC BCU Level 2 Coach Training & Assessment.  Read more about Cobnor as a BCU centre.

British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the national governing body for cycle sport in the UK. The organisation is known for encouraging and developing children’s cycling talents and Cobnor Activities Centre offers British Schools Cycling Association – Mountain Bike/Off Road Leaders’ Course, in affiliation with British Cycling over a range of dates.  Read more about Cobnor as a British Cycling centre.

Please see our Scheduled Courses for availability on any of our courses and contact us to make a booking or find out more.

The Royal Observatory is home of the Prime Meridian of the World and of Greenwich Mean Time, both essential to planning and coordinating sailing trips. Here Pete got to learn more about longitude, latitude and how sailors used to navigate with the stars. He saw the world famous Meridian Line; the red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed house, one of the world’s earliest public time signals that still falls at 13.00 every day; the 28-inch refracting telescope, the largest of its kind in the UK; a meteorite that is over 4.5 million years old and John Harrison’s invention of a timekeeper that could withstand the unstable motions of sea going vessels. Pete also attended two planetarium shows: Secrets of the Sun and Visions of Saturn.

Secrets of the Sun involved a look at the role the sun plays in the life of our solar system. From the nuclear forces churning at the heart of the sun to the mass ejections of solar material in to surrounding space, experiencing the power of the sun and its impact on the planets and ultimately life on Earth. The show also revealed the life cycle of the sun itself, going back to its beginnings and moving forward in time to its eventual death. This was accompanied by Solar Story, an exhibition of striking images that help us to understand the nature of our closest star and its effects on Earth.

Visions of Saturn followed the Cassini spacecraft by taking a virtual trip to Saturn and discovering the amazing secrets of its clouds, rings and moons. This was a fascinating visual spectacular, which actually made you feel like you were on Saturn and gave insight into the planet that has been so easily valuable from the South Coast just lately.

Then after a spot of lunch it was off to the National Maritime Museum where the highlights included antique sea vessels to modern maritime marvels. On the ground floor Pete enjoyed the exquisitely-gilded Prince Frederick’s barge, built for King George II’s eldest son and used for royal occasions on the Thames until 1846 as well as Miss Britain III, the first single-engine powerboat to exceed 100mph on open water and for several years remained the fastest in the world.

There was even a touch of interactivity to be enjoyed, such as taking control of the Bridge Gallery where it was possible to steer a ship into port using a state-of-the-art simulator. But the queues were quite lengthy and Pete was more than satisfied with having real boats to steer around Chichester Harbour when he returned home.

Pete says, “The Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum make a great family day out and I could see a number of the people who attend sailing courses and activity camps at Cobnor Activities Centre really appreciating the fun activities and educational resources available there.”