The History

The Stradbroke Sports and Community Centre opened in 1994, having been built in conjunction with the Parish Council under the chairmanship of Nick Stones. Loans were applied for from Suffolk County Council, MSDC and the Sports and Arts Foundation. These together with money raised by the community and some generous private donations from people who lived in the village, enabled the project to proceed.

The new 1994 aluminium and brick building replaced a pre-fabricated construction, which only had a temporary planning consent, that had come to the end of its useful life. The decision to build the new centre caused some considerable heartache and distress within the village, because it was strongly felt by many that we couldn’t afford it. A great deal of voluntary labour and love had gone into the construction of the previous building but, alas, it was still only a “temporary structure”. The brick-built Sports Club was already on site, and during the building of the new Community Centre, the Sports Pavilion had a major re-fit and was integrated with the new buiilding to create the Sports and Community Centre. At its opening, this was considered state-of-the-art for what was a ‘Village Hall’. Since its inauguration volunteers within the Stradbroke community have worked hard to negotiate additional grants and gifts, thus enabling the incorporation of the suspended ceiling, a storage annex, projector and sound systems, wi-fi connection, an up to date kitchen and new furniture as well as a complete re-surfacing of the floor.

We must never forget the efforts of those who had gone before who made sure there would always be a ‘Village Hall’ in Stradbroke.

For a more detailed history of the Community Centre the reader is referred to a booklet produced by Gerald Jenkins (£2) called “The History of the Community Centre Site”.