New lease of life for the Old Dairy

7/28/2009

Timberscombe was buzzing with activity for the official opening of the Old Dairy following its transformation into a social centre for people living in the village.

The Old Dairy, which many will remember as barn buildings which had been converted into offices, has been subject to a two year campaign to get change of use. Residents of Timberscome desperately wanted a community room and the Old Dairy now fulfils that function.

John Goodall, Chairman of the Timberscombe social committee, was very instrumental in seeing the project through to its completion. He says, “I am so pleased that we have finally got this up and running. Timberscombe really needed a place for us to hold social events, particuarly for the residents in sheltered housing. I think it is a real feather in our caps and I look forward to holding lots of events.”

He adds, “We already have plans to hold massage classes and meditation groups as well as the more usual coffee mornings and whist drives and look forward to all Timberscombe residents being involved.”

The project will run as a 12 month pilot initially, with funding from sheltered housing residents as well as funding from Magna. The hope is that the owners will extend the lease after this time and the future of the building as a community room will be more certain.

Neil Bliss, who managed the project on behalf of Magna, said, “Magna felt it was really important that our sheltered housing residents had somewhere to meet up socially. It has been a long time coming, but I am really pleased with the result and would like to thank everyone who has been involved.”