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Welcome to the FOBS - Friends of Burgh
Schoolroom website |
News! - We now have a working standpipe in
the churchyard near to the Schoolroom.
Friends of Burgh Schoolrom - FOBS - was set up to:
- encourage social cohesion and combat rural isolation in a
parish with a scattered population
- use the old Burgh Schoolroom as both a venue and a focus for
this activity
Since Burgh school closed in 1875, the
Schoolroom has been maintained by its immediate neighbour, the
Parish Church of St Botolph’s. The Church and Parish Meeting (cf.
Parish Council) together created FOBS and aim to:
- develop the Schoolroom as a community resource in a parish that
has no public building, in particular by providing running water,
toilet, kitchen and disabled access, to enable the elderly,
disabled and people with young children to use it
- undertake the development in a way that meets the needs of the
whole community while (a) maintaining its historic value and (b)
being an exemplar ‘green’ restoration with water saving and energy
efficiency measures, ‘green’ building materials (e.g. hemp bricks)
and appropriate micro-generation
This is no pipe-dream. Over the past 18 months the schoolroom
has been used for over two dozen village events,
attracting more than 800 people through its doors. In
2007, 81% of households in the parish answered a questionnaire on
it. All but one of the respondents were in favour of the proposed
development. Furthermore, 20 clubs (sewing groups, book clubs,
meditation groups, gardeners plant swaps etc) expressed interest in
using the space – but only when it has been modernised.
On the ‘green’ front, we have calculated that our proposed measures
will save over 2 tonnes of carbon per year in comparison with
continuing to use the existing heating system.
Additionally ‘fuel miles’ will be saved by offering
people a local resource instead of their current journey outside
the parish for a venue for clubs and other activities.
It has taken a long time to get to a firm proposal
for extending and modernising the Schoolroom, but the
journey – with its enlightenment and information dissemination – is
very much part of the
project.
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