Lymington Community Centre: heart of the community for 70 years, used by 4,000 weekly
£2 million fundraising campaign underway to meet the needs of the next generation and the next 70 years
Over the 70 years since it opened in 1948 and supported by a huge number of passionate volunteers Lymington Community Centre has contributed enormously to the local area, offering both recreational and educational facilities to all, always vibrant and busy - it's used and enjoyed by up to 4,000 people every week.
A reception was held recently at the Centre to present plans for its future development as part of the “Celebrating 70” appeal.
Community Association Chairman Councillor Anna Rostand supported by appeal patrons the Hon Mary Montagu-Scott and the Centre’s popular dance class leader Kayleigh Sergeant, outlined the need and the proposed solutions.
The planned revamp aims to increase income and decrease maintenance costs by renovating some areas and connecting all the separate buildings together, to simplify getting from one area to another and making all the activities on offer more accessible to everybody.
The plan is to keep the Centre open for as much of the time as possible during the renovations and improvements, and to proceed in self-contained phases as funds become available
How will the funds be raised?
Following the 70th anniversary celebrations, fundraising has already raised over £75,000, including over £2,000 from the recent Strictly Lymington dance event.
The campaign has also had a tremendous boost with a £900,000 grant from Lymington and Pennington Town Council’s windfall fund. This money is dependent on match-funding which it is hoped will come from a number of sources including grants from national, regional and local Trusts & Foundations, personal philanthropic gifts, and corporate contributions and sponsorship as well as direct fundraising by the Centre.
Can you help?
Anybody able to offer help in any capacity with this challenge is warmly invited to contact the Centre!
In the first instance contact Centre Manager Rachel who is in the Centre most days and would be happy to have a preliminary chat, totally in confidence. You can contact Rachel by email:
Anybody who would simply like to make a donation can do so by clicking the Just Giving link: https://www.justgiving.com/lymingtoncommunityassociation
Lymington Community Association - a Charity
Lymington Community Association whcich owns the Community Centre is a Charity, Number 301880.
Read the history of how the Association began and how the Centre came into being and evolved to the current day here.
Facilities on offer at the Centre
Not everybody will know the full extent of the current facilities at the Community Centre.
So please read all about what's on offer here!
The Boutique will be selling preloved ladies and men’s clothing and accessories which will benefit the Lymington Community Centre.
Fiona Pritchard, Colten Care’s Music and Arts Partner, said: “Our residents and team members really enjoy raising money for worthwhile causes. It’s a fantastic feeling to support Children in Need and so help disadvantaged children and young people in our region and across the UK.”
"Throughout the 24 hours it was fantastic to have so much support from the past commodores," said Alex Paton. Past commodores who came along to support included 1962 Commodore Joe Blachford, 1967 Commodore John Claridge, 1973 Commodore Ian Halliday, 1998 Commodore Johnny Clegg and 2000 Commodore Rupert Stock, who was one of the organisers of the first 24 hour sailathon in 1998.
Over night the sailing continued non-stop, with the older children taking it in turns to sail whilst others caught up with 40 winks. It was cold and eerie - but thankfully there was a little wind to keep them moving."The early hours of the morning were tough," shared Alex. "But we kept going by thinking about children less fortunate than us and how we are helping them by raising money."
Every year since, the Salterns Commodores have led their Junior Committee to organising a fantastic Sail-a-thon event and this year will be no exception! 
Other sailing champions who learnt the ropes at Salterns Sailing Club include Robbie Claridge and Richard Mason, both of whom were UK Optimist champions, as well as Sam Batten (29er/49er), Ben Batten (29er) and Ben Paton (Laser Radial). The event is also traditionally supported by a host of local Olympians, including Nick Rogers, Pippa Wilson and Stuart and Ado Jardine.
This year the Children in Need 24 hour Sail-a-thon at Salterns Sailing Club will start at 4.30pm on Friday 16th November. Many of the members and associate members of Salterns will be taking turns sailing on the pond during the 24 hours as there has to be someone out sailing all the time.
On the day entries
Residents and staff have been rehearsing since April under the guidance of Fiona Pritchard, The Music and Arts Partner along with the expert tuition of Helen Hawkins, the performing arts teacher at Ringwood School.
They were joined by relatives, friends, staff and community contacts, all doing their bit for the annual fundraiser in aid of people affected by cancer. 
As well as the cupcake search, homes hosted garden events, live music and even staff-versus-relatives bake-off competitions.
Viv said: “The young people we work with typically juggle school and growing up while acting as a family carer. They may be living with a chronically or terminally ill loved one or a parent with drug, alcohol or mental health issues. We offer long-term support so they have the time and space to be a child. It makes such a difference to know that Woodpeckers residents and their families are doing their best to help our children have their one chance of childhood.”