A really big news day

The webteam think today may have seen the most important set of positive news stories we have yet had the pleasure of publishing in one day.

First, we have the great news from the Big Lottery which has awarded to APHAx a grant of almost £40,000 as the next stage in building an annexe to Audlem's Public Hall.

This meant there was a meeting with the architect yesterday afternoon and detailed implementation plans are now being drawn up for Stage 3 (and the final stage) of the bidding process for funding from The Big Lottery.

This was a vital stage in the Big Lottery grant process and, if all goes to plan, the annexe will provide facilities for the younger members of the community; lunches and coffee mornings for the elderly residents; and better changing and rehearsal facilities for the 5A's group with its programmes of drama and pantomimes which involve many of the village youngsters.

Secondly, Audlem Parish Council has now voted unanimously to apply to Cheshire East Council to take over the car park, playing field, tennis courts and children's playground in the centre of the village, so a big step forward in that project.

Three years ago the village took over the public toilets in the village next to the car park and that has proved to be a big success. Running its own facilities by the village for the village and its many visitors seems to work very well.

Thirdly, we have Kate Parke's story today about the vision for the Youth Club and the news that the club will be getting underway. It's a story well worth reading if only to enjoy the enthusiasm of people really putting an enormous effort into making this an even better community for all age groups.

There is to be a launch evening for the new club on Wednesday 8th July at the Audlem Baptist Chapel meeting room on Woore Road.

Fourthly, and this doesn't happen very often, Audlem even had a mention or two in the House of Commons this week. The village was described as "the wonderful village of Audlem, an independently minded part of the constituency" by our new MP, Antoinette Sandbach, in her maiden speech.

She even mentioned AudlemOnline's spoof referendum seven years ago when the village voted to join Wales, a story that went all round the world. So good to hear Audlem being mentioned in Parliament in London. We have her full speech on AudlemOnline this morning.

There's much else reported today too with a new parish councillor, progress on the neighbourhood plan, a successful cricket tournament and more besides. Our news stories are always, in our view, worth a read. Today, that is particularly true.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.