Redbourn Recreation Ground · Charitable land, held for the people of Redbourn
Redbourn's pitches were given to Redbourn's children.
Hundreds of local children can no longer get onto the Rec at the times they are able to play. 475 of us signed a petition asking for that to change, and asked to sit down with the trustees. They said no.
-What Happened-
How a village ends up locked out of its own field
Redbourn’s recreation ground is not private land and it is not council land. It is held by a registered charity whose purpose is to provide it for the benefit of the people of Redbourn. The trustees look after it. The village is who it is for.
Over recent seasons it has become steadily harder for the village’s own youth teams to get onto it at the only hours a school-age child is free — weekday evenings and weekend mornings. At the same time, a commercial arrangement was put in place for use of the ground, with no public consultation and no public discussion. The village was not asked. As far as we can establish, the village was not told.
We tried to resolve this quietly first. This is what that looked like.
-Why It Matters-
It's not just a football pitch
The land was given to this village, not lent to it
The Rec is held by a charity on behalf of everyone in Redbourn, which means the trustees look after something belonging to others rather than owning it themselves. The nearest comparison is money left in trust for a child: you can make decisions about it, but it is not yours.
250 local children, and nowhere else to go
Redbourn Rovers is run entirely by volunteers and provides football for more than 250 children from under-sixes to under-seventeens. When they cannot use the Rec, families drive their children out of the village to play, or their children stop playing.
A season is a long time when you are fourteen
These are not administrative inconveniences. A child does not get that year back while adults work out who is entitled to what.
-How You Can Help-
Three ways to make yourself heard
None of them takes long, and every name makes this harder to ignore.
SIGN — Add your name
It takes thirty seconds and it is the clearest evidence of what this village actually wants. Local names carry the most weight, so please include your postcode.
SHARE — Send this to one neighbour
The single most useful thing after signing is sending this page to one person in Redbourn who has not seen it. That is genuinely how this reaches the whole village.
TELL US — Say what you have seen
If your family has been affected, or you have had dealings with the Rec you think we should know about, we would like to hear from you. Nothing is published without your permission and you can talk to us in confidence.
-Touchline-