Rookery View Hall, situated in Benfleet, has become a hub of community spirit and cohesion. Involved Projects have developed this space to provide a wide range of opportunities for activity, movement and life skills!
Through Active Essex and London Marathon Foundation support, they have been able to make crucial improvements to the hall that will and has already increased activity for locals! Following the success of Ford RideLondon – Essex, funding was made available for Places and Spaces in Essex and Involved have received this support.
Places and Spaces funding develops community assets to support Essex projects who want to support inactive residents to lead active, healthy lives.
On a visit to Benfleet we spoke to Hayley Meagher, trustee of Involved Projects, who passionately told us how important the hall is for the young people and adults in the community. Rookery View Hall has become much more than a space for groups to hire and host classes.
Essex Marching Corps use Rookery View Hall as their base and training facility and they’re an amazing example of an arts based activity group who combine movement with an art form, welcoming up to 50 members weekly.
When speaking to Hayley, who assists in the running of the group, she explained;
“In their 30 minute training session they would march with heavy instruments at 120 paces per minute and complete up to 2 miles of marching! Children as young as 8 years old attend and join in with the musical marching and from seeing the large drums and heavy brass instruments . “
We tip our hats to them for how physically exerting it is!
Inside the building, there is enough open, light space to invite a range of activity groups. However, there was a lack of ventilation which became a barrier for people to get moving comfortably. Funding was therefore used to install an air conditioning system as well as studio mirrors to enable it to be cool enough for fun, community activity!
Since the installation, there has been an increase in yoga, dance and martial arts classes utilising the hall and helping the residents of Castle Point find their active within the safety of a group setting. The marching band have also made use of the studio mirrors and air conditioning for their training sessions!
It’s taken hard work and community dedication to create this space however. Both adults and young people from the Castlepoint community assembled to build something they could be proud of and maintain for years to come. Hayley reflected on the journey they have had at Rookery View Hall and was proud of how the young people rallied together to learn new skills like gardening and building and other handy life skills that made them a key element in the creation of the outdoor spaces. Life skills and lessons that were offered through this community project have without a doubt enabled the young people to learn skills they would not be able to in school as well as feeling a sense of achievement.
Listening to the journey of the hall so far was inspiring, the volunteers who attend and maintain the building have a genuine passion for helping people find an activity or movement that is right for them. Young people have been offered life changing lessons and skills that they can take into adulthood, and it’s clear they see the hall as a hub which should be protected.
Dedication, funding and a passion for activity has married together to create a space Castlepoint residents should be proud of.
We hope that we can visit and reflect soon on other places and spaces that have benefitted from this funding and have brought positive change to their community.
