01/04/2026
Committee Update
Reminder of the new committee trustees and leads as voted and discussed in at the last Community Association meeting:
Martin & Dan – Co-Chairmen
Gabby – Secretary
Michael – Treasurer
Xenia – Communications Lead
Beth – Events Lead
Roles are being sorted and defined, and will be available on the website once published.
AWCA Handbook/Roles Update
Dan has drafted a handbook with clear roles and guidance for the Committee. It is about 90% finished, and will be available on the website once complete.
There are a few roles we would be looking to fill: Fundraising Lead, Safeguarding Lead, Volunteer Co-ordinator, and Membership Officer. More details to follow once the handbook has been finalised.
Any events will be documented as a one-pager so there is a better understanding for any future handovers on how events are run and historic detail on who was involved.
Finance Update
Michael will give a finance update in each month’s Community Association meeting.
The main regular income is from Off The Beaten Truck (food trucks outside Co-op).
Current assets (cash) sit at around £2,700, with around £1,000 already allocated for the AWCA Hardship Fund.
In future, we would like to specifically fundraise for each event we run so that the funds are dedicated for them, which is why we will need a Fundraising Lead to help the team.
Hardship Fund
We would like to publicise the Hardship Fund more to allow more residents to be aware of it for themselves or to inform others. It cannot be a direct application for anonymity purposes, the referral must come from a professional, such as the social prescribing team at the GP, or the local school.
There is some details currently available on the website, but we will create a dedicated page with further details on the Hardship Fund for all to access. The AWCA directors will aim to provide a quarterly update on funds and support.
The Hardship Fund team stress the anonymity and confidentiality of this service, they review applications as a team so decisions are not just mde by one individual. If applying individuals meet the criteria, applications would only be turned down in funds were not available, which has not been the case to date. So far, people have been helped with the Hardship Fund through school uniforms, generic Tesco vouchers, and payment for insurance. For long-term support, the team will signpost to relevant bodies.
Development Update – Encore/U&C
Encore
Tracey sends her apologies as she cannot attend due to annual leave.
The pavement near the Hallowes Brook park is unfinished and won’t be completed until adoption.
Potential for a Community Association event to help with trees around the estate – this will be picked up by the Events team.
U&C
The grey boxes on the Alconbury Weald plan map remain undecided as to what will go there, and it will not be decided for roughly another three years. There will be consultations, and it will depend on many factors such as economics, finances, planning, requirements, and availability of housing.
The build for the area in front of the Co-op has begun. There will be an unlicensed cafe, and potentially a pharmacy and hairdressers, leases permitting. The NHS build has not quite started for the temporary GP surgery, but it will be starting imminently.
Query on the speed limit on Heathcote Crescent as residents’ front doors go straight onto the road with no pavement. It was confirmed to be 20mph, if this wants to be reduced it would need to be taken up with Stukeley Parish Council. There has been a lack of speed signs reported, notably Carnaile Road and Swynford Road – these will be checked. The Boulevard is 30mph and will remain at 30mph due to it being a main road that will eventually lead to Tesco’s in Huntingdon.
Speed monitor data has been collected and reviewed, and about 90% are 20mph or under, with only about 1% over 30mph.
Consultation for Key Phase 4 has now closed, the team have received plenty of feedback, which will go to the design team, namely lots of green space.
2026 Events
The Business Meet & Greet was on Sunday, 29th March. It was noted that there was plenty of energy from the businesses in attendance and over 20 businesses did attend, but the footfall was poor – no reflection on the organisers. This could have been due to school holidays and people going away on holiday, so timing could be considered for the next event. It was also suggested that the event came across as solely for business owners, so consideration on advertising for next time. With a newly formed Communications team, we could consider more digital advertising on social media in the future.
The next event is the Beer Festival, running from the 10th to the 12th of April at The Pavillion.
We will also have the Food Festival later in the year.
Events Update & Future Events
In her new role, Beth is still in the process of learning how events have been run and allowing the previous team to support in running the events that are currently planned. However, we will need help, from administration support to volunteering on the day at events, any support is appreciated. If you’re interested, reach out to Beth at beth@ewlegal.co.uk.
Open Gardens is still in discussion. It was previously a popular event, but there was a struggle to get people to open their gardens. There are many suggestions, such as creating a trail or prize aspect to the event. Beth will run a survey with the previous participants to find out more about what they would want the event to look like and build from there.
We have a champion for the Garage Sale, and we will provide an update when available.
If anyone is interested in taking part, or have an idea for an event, please get in touch.
Prize Draw
If you’d like to join the membership to be in with a chance of winning in the Prize Draw, please follow this link to sign up: https://bit.ly/AWCACommunityPrizeDraw. The membership is £25 annually, and there is a monthly prize draw. 50% of membership fees go directly to the Community Association, and 50% goes to the prize draw. The bigger the membership fund gets, the bigger the prize draw gets.
1st place – £14.50 – AWCA0003
2nd place – £8.75 – AWCA0019
3rd place – £5.75 – AWCA0008
AOB
AWCA directors to look at organising prize draw and Hardship Fund leaflets to be displayed at Swynford Coffee.
The noticeboard at the school is run by AWCA. There is still work to be done around setting criteria and protocol for the noticeboard, but generally, advertisements are up for 4 weeks.
There are considerations for having meetings held in other locations around the Weald, but we’d need to consider the technical abilities of the locations.
Regarding hedges on the roundabout, this has been reported and will be actioned.
The next Community Association meeting will be Wednesday, 6th May at 7.30pm: Join with this link.
Any questions, please email us at alconburywealdca@gmail.com.