Changes at the Forum

[bowenwould]

OK, so I have handed over my 10 quid and got my new membership card, now what? Must say that when I called to hand over my membership form and cheque, the place was not too welcoming but perhaps I just picked a bad time. There should be lots of new members now the subscription has been cut by two thirds so perhaps a friendly welcome to new faces would be a good idea.

Driving past the Forum, I still think it looks dark and forebidding and when we had a Management Company meeting there recently, two visitors turned up at the fire exit because they could not work out the entry arrangements. The building's exterior could be better lit and for my money the entrance from Bardolph Avenue should be re-opened to encourage members to leave their cars at home and walk to have a drink. What do you think?

[tanya]

Yes, I paid for my membership on Sunday and also didn't know how to get in. I also ended up using a fire exit in the hall. There also wasn't a visible sign to point people in the right direction to the new memberships table. Yes the entrance in Bardolph Avenue is visible to everybody and seems like the logical place to have one. I didn't see another main entrance at the carpark either.

I agree it would be a great idea if there were a welcome evening to all the new members. It sounds like the FRA are quite organised and it would be good if they would tell us more on an evening talk, at the same time giving everybody the opportunity to get to know each other over a beer.

Have you ever been for a drink at the forum in the evening? I would be keen to know what the atmosphere is like. I don't have children, but enjoy a quiet drink out with my boyfriend in a nice friendly pub. We wouldn't enjoy an environment where there were hundreds of kids running around or boistrous drunkards screaming and shouting at each other. Would it be worth trying it out?

[militarymartin]

Good morning Bowenwould and Tanya,
Thank you very much for joining the FRA and your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately the current financial situation prevents us from currently implementing the majority of our planned changes, which includes better lighting, better signage, and a better external colour scheme.
Please be patient as we do take suggestions seriously and will accept constructive criticism as an opportunity to provide a better service to the community; however please realise that most changes can't be made over night.
Best regards
Martin

p.s. Tanya, it was a great shame that you didn't make me aware of your difficulties in gaining access to the Community Centre when we spoke on Sunday as following Bowenwould's post we put up additional notices directing people to the entrance in the car park. Obviously we'll have to look at the notices to see if we can make them clearer. Also as mentioned on Sunday we are currently working to get the balance between sport, families, and alternative activities in the right ratios but we don't usually have hundreds of children running around (except at Christmas when we hold the children's party). If you are not a sports fan (like me) major football matches (almost the end of the season, hooray) are probably best avoided if you wanted a quiet night out.

[tanya]

To be honest I didn't realise that other people were having trouble finding the entrance as well until I saw the post by bowenwould, so thought I should mention it as well. I just saw a sign with a big arrow pointing to the right on the front entrance and figured I had to walk around. I didn't see another entrance though and just went through the fire escape door.

We will definitely pick a night to come for a drink when there are no major sport matches on then. At the moment we end up at Wethersthingys up the road on a Friday/Saturday night, which is fine, but it is a bus trip to get there. It would be good to have a local within walking distance, and if it isn't too rowdy or full of kids later on in the evening then it sounds fine.