The major £1million building and refurbishment project, which completed last April,  has not only seen two fully refurbished residential buildings and a brand new state-of-the-art building but also a large classroom, equipped with the latest data communications. The new residential facilities feature increased sleeping space, two rooms designated to course leaders and improved shower and toilet facilities whereas the new educational facilities are fully equipped with IT facilities and support, a big screen for presentations and WIFI access. 

Cobnor’s new facilities were officially opened by the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Mrs Susan Pyper, and the Bourne Community College Band provided a celebratory vibe to the day. Chairman of Cobnor Activities Centre, Barry Colegate, opened this momentous day’s proceedings by showing appreciation to all those involved in making the refurbishment project happen. His thanks went out to various charities, companies and trusts, West Sussex County Council, Chichester Harbour Conservancy and local schools.

Barry also mentioned the three 100 metre boreholes, which guests were standing on as they listened to his speech.  He told how these, along with solar panelling, are supplying the building’s energy system. This highlights Cobnor’s careful consideration of the environment in the construction of these new facilities that are sure to benefit many local youth groups for years to come. He then handed over to Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex for the official unveiling of Martin Beale’s commemorative plaque.

The Lord Lieutenant told guests how Cobnor is a place she knows and admires; she often walks along Cobnor Point and has seen many changes and developments over the years. Mrs Pyper also noted how lucky we are to have somewhere like Cobnor Activities Centre in our locality:

“What a very happy occasion and a great achievement. We’re so lucky to have such a centre of excellence for our young people (and not so young people) to learn and enjoy outdoor activities and, overall, have fun. It’s a very fitting memorial to Martin Beale.”

Mrs Pyper also gave thanks to those involved in the new development, including the current Chairman Barry and his predecessor Nick Fox. After officially naming the building she handed over to Martin Beale’s daughter, Diana Beale, to say a few words.

Diana was delighted with Cobnor’s dedication to her father, Cobnor’s founder, Martin Beale, and stated that she was: “seriously chuffed with the occasion”. She talked about how her dad’s spirit is still here in his legacy; that he knew so many people and had so many friends from different walks of life and his greatest legacy of all is the network of relationships out of which Cobnor Activities Centre has flourished.

Acknowledgement of how her father would have been delighted with the way things were continuing to run was also given by Diana. She mentioned that her dad would have been thrilled that the official naming event was announced by the Lord Lieutenant, having been a Deputy Lord-Lieutenant himself. She also gave special thanks to Mark Murray-Brown and Liz Wilson, who have been running Cobnor Activities Centre for quite a while now. Diana maintained that Mark and Liz’s connections with the Beale family are more than just those of colleagues and that Martin would be delighted with the way they have continued to run the business he began back in the 1950s with strong family connections.

Certain her father would have approved of a local construction company’s involvement in the project, Diana gave mention to Nutbourne Construction.  Another company involved in the new construction was AES Solar Systems, who provided the solar panelling for the environmentally friendly building. George Goudsmit was delighted to be involved in the project and said this of Cobnor Activities Centre: “Fantastic, it’s a very inspiring and very cared for place. I’m happy to be involved.”

Diana also expressed that Martin would have been pleased, and perhaps somewhat amused, by some of the ways the funds for this exciting project were achieved. For example, the contribution of Cobstock, Cobnor’s annual music festival and very own Glastonbury!

There was even a reference to Pete and Bryn’s quirky staff training emails, which Diana’s children who are now part of the Cobnor Activities Centre staff, regularly receive. She made a request for a Christmas book compiling their witty efforts – hmmm we’ll see about that, shall we lads? Not sure it would make a bestseller’s list!

Overall, Diana willed everyone to keep supporting Cobnor Activities Centre, stating that the day’s event: “was a wonderful reunion for all those involved over the years. My father would be pleased with the excellent work that’s been done here and still continues to be done.” Barry Colegate summed up the formal proceedings beautifully by saying of Martin Beale: “If you’re seeking his monument just look around you.”

Chidham Primary School then read some poetry inspired by their experiences at Cobnor Activities Centre (which will be published in a later blog). Bryn Jones, who has worked at the Centre as a sailing instructor for nine years, commented: “It was a wonderful day. It was especially nice to hear about Chidham Primary School’s experiences.” The children then presented the Lord-Lieutenant with a bouquet of flowers, which was a lovely finishing touch.

After the formalities it was time for the guests to enjoy sandwiches and refreshments while taking a look around the new facilities. Brian and Moira Strickland and Christopher and Annette Whitmorejones, who were involved in Cobnor Activities Centre’s early days, were delighted to have this opportunity to come back and see how things have developed, and said: “Amazing! It’s lovely to see how far the Centre’s come over the last 40 years.”

For more photos please visit: http://www.facebook.com/CobnorActivitiesCentre.

Last Friday Cobnor Activities Centre held a launch event to present its new residential and educational facilities to teachers and youth leaders from local organisations.

The major £1million building and refurbishment project has not only seen two fully refurbished residential buildings and a brand new state- of-the-art building but also a large classroom, equipped with the latest data communications.

This relaunch was our opportunity to show representatives from youth groups who have used Cobnor Activities Centre’s outdoor education resources before what we now have on offer and also show new customers what we’re all about.

Staff gave tours of the new residential facilities with increased sleeping space, two rooms designated to course leaders and improved shower and toilet facilities. Guests were also shown our 2 classrooms offering full IT facilities and support, a big screen for presentations and WIFI access to broadband.  

The Adur Activities Centre, Shoreham, were impressed that we have made “very good improvements all round.” In fact, the general consensus was that Cobnor Activities Centre is looking great and that teachers and youth leaders are very much looking forward to making use of the new facilities when visiting us for sailing, canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, archery and climbing with their youth groups in the future.

Climping School’s thoughts on the new-look Cobnor Activities Centre were:

“It all looks very good. It’s great to have everything in one place so that the teachers can stay with the kids and the kitchenette being close by is very handy too.

“The new classroom facilities are great as well. I love the idea that space is available for hire out of season for revision etc.”

We also received praise from a former member of staff, Dan Jaspers, who now works for the International Sailing Federation:

“It was great to see how far Cobnor Activities Centre has come and the vision of so many people realised. West Sussex now has an excellent resource for training young people in outdoor education activities.”

The major building and refurbishment project, costing almost £1million, has not only seen two fully refurbished residential buildings and a brand new state- of-the-art building but also a large classroom, equipped with the latest data communications.

These new educational facilities make Cobnor Activities Centre even better as a base for outdoor education. They offer increased sleeping space, with two rooms designated to course leaders, as well as improved shower and toilet facilities. The facilities also have enhanced educational and meeting rooms as well as a quiet space for revision, courses and workshops. This makes them ideal for teachers and students, all year round.

What’s new at Cobnor Activities Centre?

• Large meeting spaces
• 2 Classrooms with full IT facilities and support
• Big screen for presentations and films
• WIFI access to broadband
• Separate facilities for teachers on request
• Quiet space to use as revision location out of season – October-April
• Tea/Coffee facilities on request

All those teachers and youth workers who received an invitation to our launch event are welcome to come along, have a glass of wine and take a wander around our new facilities where our staff will be on hand to answer any questions. We hope to see you there!

For more information or to book our educational facilities please call: 01243 572791 or email: sail@cobnor.com.

We post a brochure to our regular customers every year that gives details about the outdoor activities and courses we offer, including dates, costs and other booking information.  But this year, with the help of Katy Lassetter Copywriting Services and Outside the Box Creative, the creative forces joined and we’ve seen our visions for a professional looking brochure really come to life.

Up until now the brochure has been designed and written in the office by Pete Alner who offers us IT support. But while Pete is a talented IT technician and a skilled sailing instructor, he’s not really a designer. So, this year we opted to seek out some professionals who could reflect Cobnor Activities Centre as a business through images and words. You can download your copy of the 2010 brochure here.

As well as our 2010 brochure, and besides the website, we decided that a way to get more detailed information about who we are and what we offer would be to create a folder that could be filled with interchangeable inserts on specific types of Cobnor Activities Centre information.

For example, for schools we are now able to make up a folder to include sheets detailing the range of outdoor activities and equipment available; camps, courses, sessions and trips on offer; our residential facilities, including those for educational purposes; and local attractions and amenities suitable for both education and recreation. If you’re a school who’d like to find out more about what we offer at Cobnor Activities Centre, please contact us today.