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THE ASSOCIATION'S AIM AND PURPOSE
The Writtle Community Association exists to promote and strengthen the sense of community in Writtle and, to that end,it undertakes
the responsibility for providing and managing the village's Community Centre at Longmeads House, which it leases from Essex
County Council.
The Story So Far. . .
In the 1960's, when Writtle was beginning to expand, the newcomers were able to join the existing community of villagers born
and bred and to find all their needs supplied by the traditional village shops on the Green, from the village newsagent and
hardware chandler to the several butchers, greengrocers and general stores. Coming into being at this stage, both the Community
Association and Longmeads Community Centre were able to involve the developing community in a variety of well supported events
and activities that reflected the changes that were taking place while retaining the sense of everyone being part of a local
community.
SINCE THEN . . .
In the following decades Writtle, like every other community in the country, has been subject to the rapid and developing
changes that have (and are) taking place in the modern world. Here, the continuing influx of new residents along with the
increasing need to commute further distances for work and the disappearance of our village shops following the advent of out
of town superstores have combined to blur our collective 'sense of place'. Added to this, the car culture and proliferation
of stay-at-home media entertainment have, as everywhere, tended for us to become more isolated from those around us and for
society to become increasingly atomised. As a result of these and many other developments, our sense of community has become
increasingly fragile and, consequently, during this period, the Community Association has found it increasingly difficult
to fulfil its purpose.
HOWEVER. . .
Despite having to weather all these wider changes, and due in no small part to the Writtle Parish Council and Writtle
Society, Writtle still retains its village character and status and, surrounded as we are by open countryside, all of us living
here must surely value the fact that Writtle has withstood the threat of becoming absorbed into the homogenous suburbia of
the growing commuter belt. Recognising this, surely each and all of us should now look to regenerating that sense of community
in which all of us share and from which each of us can only benefit.
AND RIGHT NOW. . . .
In keeping with the purpose for which it came into being, the Writtle Community Association is now setting itself forward
to provide the opportunity for all Writtle residents to help regenerate that active, participatory village community life
that we have been at risk of letting go.
To that end, and following the recent village Public Meeting, several working groups of residents have come together to
rejuvenate the Longmeads House and grounds, replenish its funding and prepare a programme of events and activities in which
all residents, old and young can come together. If you'd like to give a hand, leave a message via the Home Page on this website.
It has been said that a community is a tapestry in which each individual is a thread. That being so, with such a rich mix
and variety of residents, modern Writtle should be an astonishingly vibrant tapestry - so. . .
LET'S GET WEAVING!
OUR CURRENT PROGRAMME OF IMPROVEMENTS
AT LONGMEADS HOUSE
We are currently in the midst of a major programme of renovating
the House and its surrounding grounds.
REDECORATION:
We have almost completed redecorating and furnishing the entrance lobby, foyer and ground
floor corridor and will shortly complete the work in the main function hall, committee room and 1st floor corridor and
Meeting Room. Plans are also in hand for a complete redo of the Heron Bar and Pool Room.
RENOVATING THE GROUNDS:
Having already made and planted new border beds along the House frontage, we will
soon renovate those to the rear and clear and replant the beds surrounding the rear lawn.
THIS IS A MAJOR PROJECT -
The size of Longmeads, plus the fact that it needs fresh TLC throughout, makes
this a costly project. The fact that we have to raise the funding for each stage of the work is a difficulty we are
continually facing in achieving our aim of getting all the work done by this coming Summer/Autumn.
DONATIONS TO HELP WITH THIS WORK, HOWEVER SMALL, WILL BE EAGERLY AND GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED.
JUST RING JIMMY ON 01245 420178
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