COACH Crowd Funding Appeal
Can you help, or do you know any business’s that can help COACH (Centre for Outdoor Activity & Community Hub) raise the last £23,000 (of £891,000 raised already) to complete this project for the benefit of youth, community and local clubs.
We have launched our crowd funding campaign. It’s easy to donate and please don’t forget to Gift Aid it to make your donation go 25% further. Every little bit help meet our target.
Please click the following link to donate towards to this exciting community project http://bit.ly/2bkw8h9
The Trustees of COACH (The Centre for Outdoor Activity & Community Hub) are tendering out a licence to provide outdoor education and community activity from it facilities. We welcome proposals from interested parties
More information about the project can be found on this website
COACH has:
- A large boathouse that contains an extensive range of kayaks, canoes, stand up paddleboards, katakanus and rowing boats. Access to the river is via new access steps above and below the weir.
- Changing Rooms and toilets
- A café
- A large meeting room
- A small meeting room (evening use as a café during the day)
- An indoor “Outdoor” classroom
- An office
COACH has access to a low ropes course at Castle school and has approximately 30 Mountain Bikes at the school as well. Strong links have also been developed with SASP, the County Sports Partnership, who have loaned equipment. The neighbouring 65 acre Longrun Meadow is a rich resource for a wide range of activities: sporting, environmental and team building.
Licence
The Trustees are looking for an outside provider to run a wide range of educational, community and corporate activities. We have strong support from the Taunton Learning Partnership, which consists of the 28 local schools, FE colleges and independent schools. They are keen to use COACH for a wide range of activities, both sporting and environmental. They appreciate and value the impact outdoor learning can have on the personal and social skills of their pupils. Our vision was that COACH would be an educational centre during the day and host a wide range of community activities in the evenings, weekends and holidays. There is also a great potential to tap into the commercial and corporate markets.
It is proposed that whoever is awarded the contract support local apprentices and the host community sports clubs at COACH
Expressions of interest are invited by Friday 23rd September. Your proposals should include your vision, previous experience, your business plan and how you see your organisation working in partnership with COACH. We appreciate that programmes and delivery will evolve over time.
Please email proposals to Dave Bullock – DBullock@sasp.co.uk
Please don’t hesitate to call Dave on 07834 590883 if you require additional information or wish to have a look around the site
COACH Crowd Funding Appeal
Can you help, or do you know anybody that can help COACH (Centre for Outdoor Activity & Community Hub) raise the last £23,000 (of £891,000 raised already) to complete this project for the benefit of youth, community and local clubs.
COACH will be a base for a youth club, a scout group and the 2 park “Friends” groups as well as traditional sports of canoeing, rowing, running, cycling and orienteering and will provide a wide range of opportunities for schools and community gro…ups. Integral to COACH will be a café, a large meeting room and the link – an Inside “Outdoor Classroom”
Working with the Support of SASP (Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership) and Podium Partners (COACH) has launched its crowd funding campaign.
It’s easy to donate and please don’t forget to Gift Aid it to make your donation go further. Every little bit help meet our target.
Please click the following link to donate towards to this exciting community project http://bit.ly/2bkw8h9
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- Floor screeded, layout now clear
In the next few weeks we will see some river access steps created above the weir, the site cleared and the ground workers strip back the site to prepare it ready for piling rigs to pile the foundations for the build
The main path will again be closed, however we are upgrading the alternative path where necessary.
There will be a hive of activity for the next few months and we will post regular photos and news updates
Due to circumstances outside our control construction work has been at a standstill for the past five weeks. This has been due to complications with a legal agreement between Taunton Deane Borough Council and Western Power Distribution whose major underground power cables run straight through the building site and under the river and then across Longrun Meadow. Thankfully the legal paperwork is now resolved and construction work can recommence in the New Year.
Aside the obvious disappointment this long delay has caused there are positives to report and ongoing design development has meant that contractor South West Highways has been able to investigate methods to speed up the build time to help compensate for this unanticipated delay. This week the DM Thomas Foundation for Young People awarded COACH a grant for £9,660. This is to purchase canoe and kayaking equipment that can be used for beginner school groups and for children with Special Educational needs.
In addition to this Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership (SASP) have agreed to fund 2 full time apprentices to work at COACH. They will initially support school and community groups. As they gain qualifications and confidence they will lead activity sessions.
We will announce specific dates when we have them however the Trustees of COACH have made the decision to open up the footpath through the site until work on site recommences in the New Year.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.
COACH is pleased to announce that South West Highway Build our contractor has started on site. The site has been set up and the toilet block has been demolished. In the 1st month we will see the site compound established, the old toilet block demolished, the piles dug for the foundations and the steel work frame starting to be erected. COACH is a charity (Registered Charity No 1154680), that draws together a wide range of community, sports, education and youth interested groups to provide a hub in the centre of Taunton for a range of activities of social benefit. The vision of the founders of COACH is to enable the creation, on French Weir Park, of a dynamic link, encouraging an active lifestyle and community participation, working with key partners to provide a needed facility. It has grown from a synergy between TDBC, Project Taunton and a group of sports, youth and community groups. It is important to stress that this will be an inclusive project, potential users will not be excluded on the basis of cost or access, and the facility will have, as a part of its objects, the requirement to reach out to all groups who could benefit from using COACH 
