The election dust settles and the warm weather arrives just in time for peak trading!
New member welcome:
Rye Leisure Centre - fundraising, questionnaire
On Saturday 27th July, Rye Leisure Centre CIO held a community engagement morning. It was the launch of their new website and facebook page and a chance to hear about the progress they are making with plans and fundraising.
They are appealing for as many people as possible to complete their feedback survey to determine what the local community wants the Leisure Centre to provide. You can access the survey here - it takes two minutes to complete.
Once again we were all reminded that for the size of our town it is a remarkable asset to have and having secured its reopening the onus is on the community now to use it to its fullest potential in order to safeguard its future.
While an enormous amount of work has been put into getting the project this far, there are still some mountains to climb, not least with fundraising. They urgently need working capital to get cracking on the next phase of the project. They have some big donations pledged but need a further £50K raised by the beginning of September. To that end we’d like to see if we can come up with an easy fundraising idea that our town’s businesses could get behind in order to show our support. We’ll be polling Chamber Members on the WhatsApp group with some ideas asap.
We recognise its the busiest time of year for most of our businesses so what we’re trying to come up with is an easy, effortless way to raise the profile of the project, help them get some PR coverage and raise some funds in the process. All ideas considered!
General Election
Following the election of Helena Dollimore as the new MP for Hastings & Rye we have been in touch with her office and will be meeting with her as soon as possible to discuss the business priorities for Rye going forward and to enlist her support.
Levelling Up / Public toilets
The pressure has been unrelenting on this subject for the last month. The Chamber has attended all of the emergency town council meetings to discuss the matter of getting the second of the closed facilities in town reopened for the remainder of the summer season. Thanks once again to the hard work of Cllr Andi Rivett who took on the repair work himself, the Gun Gardens public conveniences reopened last Saturday (27th July). With all facilities now open once again in the town, our attention remains focused on strategies that will keep them open and in good condition.
The Chamber are exploring the possibility of using the £25K capital levelling up fund that we have been awarded on refurbishing the Station Approach loos but we can only consider doing this if we can partner with a third party to take on the revenue costs of running the facilities (cleaning etc). We are pleased to report we are making good progress in our negotiations with RDC who are considering whether they could commit to the revenue costs for the next three years in return for the Chamber funding the refurbishment of the premises.
This strategy would be with a view to the Chamber and / or the Town Council taking on the lease of the toilets themselves in three years time, giving us time enough to come up with a plan for funding the facility beyond that window - possibly through the BID should that be successful in combination with introducing paid use of the facilities to help cover costs.
BID Update
We’re conscious that many of you may be frustrated at the pace of this project. I’m afraid it is largely beyond our control but we are doing our best to push forward as rapidly as possible. The legal contract for our funding from the Levelling Up Partnership was stalled, during the period leading up to the election because of the period of ‘heightened sensitivity’. We now have some movement on this and are awaiting our final contract imminently. Meantime, that has meant the agency we’ve appointed to undertake our feasibility study has been waiting patiently on the sidelines for the green light to start work as soon as funds are available. In readiness we have assembled a great deal of background information on Rye and the surrounding area when it comes to businesses, tourism, planning and development all of which will help inform the study.
We are currently waiting on data from Rother District Council pertaining to all of the businesses in the area that have a business rateable value for us to be able to begin further work. Over the coming weeks you may be called or visited by Sue or Mo - from the Mosaic Partnership who are carrying out the feasibility study for the BID. They will be asking questions about your priorities for the town and the things that are important to you. Please note that only a small number of businesses will be contacted in this initial stage. That isn’t because the rest of you aren’t important, in due course all of you will be contacted, it’s simply that to begin with the study looks to establish a baseline of information and that means just a sample of businesses of different sectors and sizes are needed at this early stage.
Taxi Drivers Protest
Rye Chamber is facilitating a meeting between Rye Taxis Association and Rother Councillor Simon McGurk early next month in order to challenge some of the licencing changes to be introduced in October. The Taxi Drivers say these new policies are being executed without consultation, are cost prohibitive and lack a sensible a grandfathering policy.
National Probation Service
An early prison release programme was announced by the Government earlier this month due to prison overcrowding.
This is going to have a significant impact in the following services; probation, housing and homelessness, mental and physical health provision, drug & alcohol dependency, the Police service, and may spill over to affect the street community and anti-social behaviour in our towns, with a knock on effect on our local economy.
It is important that we are prepared to manage the ex-offenders who will no doubt need assistance. Failure to look after these people may cause them to re-offend which will not solve the overcrowding issue.
To that end a weekly meeting to prepare for Early Custody Supervised Licence, Fixed Term Recall, Probation Reset, SDS40 is being held for all agencies / partners to work together as necessary. Rye Chamber is attending these meetings.
Rother Anti Social Behaviour - feedback wanted
Rather aptly before the floodgates open, Rother District Council is reviewing the current public space protection order that finishes in April 2025. They have asked Rye Chamber of Commerce to take part in their research on the current order and anti-social behaviour.
The current order covers public drinking, aggressive begging and rough sleeping. They would like to know if:
a) the current order is working or not,
b) the current provisions should remain as written or be changed,
c) if there is any evidence of any other anti-social behaviour that you would like to be considered for a new public space protection order.
We invite you to read the current anti-social behaviour space protection order and email us at info@ryechamber.org with your thoughts and comments so we can collate our response.
Report on events in July
Bowls Club Fundraiser
On Saturday 6th July we worked alongside Rye Bowls Club to host a much needed fundraiser to help with their ongoing efforts to safeguard the club’s future. We raised over £300 and the event was well received, we were kept busy on the BBQ and at the Pimms tent all afternoon and a good many people took the opportunity to learn the basics of the game from club regulars and have a go on the bowling green.
Our leisure and sports clubs are a vital part of the character of our town, with an important role to play; a busy town is a thriving one and the Chamber is wholly committed to encouraging and supporting all initiatives that help Rye to be the best it can. Knowing that the club’s future is under threat we wanted to help them by holding a fun event to encourage people of any age to come along and give bowls a try.
We recognise that the club will likely need to explore a number of alternatives to help safeguard its future including perhaps being more commercially-minded when it comes to uses for their wonderful clubhouse and we will of course continue to provide our guidance and support where it is appropriate to do so. We hope it’s just the beginning for the club to build on its ambitions for the future.
PPP / Green Drinks
Our People Planet Pint event was held in conjunction with Transition Rye’s Green Drinks this month which meant more people had a chance to swap ideas and make new contacts. We know we say this every month - but the events really are for everyone and we’ve found that even the most skeptical attendees leave feeling it was worthwhile - and remember that the events are sponsored by Krystal the green web hosting company, and that means your first drink is on the house. Details on our next PPP coming soon!
Rye News - Appeal
Rye News held a ‘meet the team’ event earlier this month which was full of folk keen to discover more about Rye’s local paper. There was plenty of discussion about what Rye News could and should do. If you missed the event but you’d like to get involved then editor James Stewart encourages you to get in touch via info@ryenews.org.uk
The publication needs people to write stories, contribute ideas, preview and review events and follow up news items. You don’t have to be a regular contributor if you don’t have the time - ad hoc contributions are welcome. Rye News has ambitions to be the UK’s best local newspaper and it needs local support to do that.
Preview / Dates for Your Diaries:
Save the date! Rye Chamber AGM - Thursday 21 November in the ballroom of the George.
We’re entering festival season here in Rye, here's direct links to the hottest tickets in town!
August 9th - Bat and Trap Evening (rescheduled)
Bad weather lead to the July date being cancelled for the Rye Cricket Club's famous Bat and Trap evening. Our fingers are crossed that the sun shines for them for the 9th August! It runs from 6.30pm to 9pm and there will be a bar and BBQ. The event is free for existing cricket club sponsors AND CHAMBER MEMBERS!!
Teams of six are needed to play but the club will pair you up to form a team if you can’t make one yourself - that’s where most of the fun lies! The Cricket Club would really love to show you what they are doing off the field so if you can join them for this fun evening please email Martin on blincsfamily@aol.com or text 07535 5482006
And if you don’t know what Bat and Trap is - then where have you been?! Check out this video from Shepherd Neame.
SPOTLIGHT: Rye Food Bank
This month we shine a light on a charity that is run with precision and skill. Bob Harper's operation is a masterclass in Lean Methodology! Read the spotlight here. Watch the instagram reel here
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See you next month!
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