A campaign by Redbourn residents
Nobody sets out to form a campaign group
This is how it happened, and what we are asking for.
-The Rec-
What is the Rec, actually?
Everyone in Redbourn calls it the Rec. It is where the village plays football on a Saturday morning, where children learn to ride bikes without stabilisers, where the fair comes, and where a good part of the village has at some point stood on a touchline in the cold holding somebody else’s coat.
It is [description of the site to be confirmed]. Generations of Redbourn children have grown up on it, and most of us have never had reason to ask who it belongs to. The answer turns out to be unusual. The Rec is not private land, and it belongs to neither the parish nor the district council — it is held by a registered charity whose sole purpose is to provide it for the benefit of the people of Redbourn. [How the village came to have the Rec, to be confirmed — if it was gifted, bought by public subscription, or set aside at some moment in the village’s history, this is the strongest paragraph on the site.]
-What We’re Asking For-
Five things that would settle this
None of them costs the charity money, none requires anyone to admit anything, and all are things a well-run charity would expect to be doing anyway.
Show how pitch time is decided
Before each season, publish how much pitch time exists, how it has been divided, who applied, who was granted what, and who decided. Clubs plan a year ahead and cannot plan against a process nobody outside the room can see.
Put Redbourn's children first on Redbourn's land
Adopt a written policy giving priority to youth teams whose players mostly live in Redbourn, at the times children can actually play. This is not about shutting anyone out — there is room for more than one club.
Manage conflicts of interest openly
Adopt and publish a conflicts policy of the kind the Charity Commission expects, keep a register of trustees’ interests, and record when a trustee steps out of a decision. This protects trustees as much as anyone else.
Ask the village
Hold an open, properly advertised public meeting in Redbourn before further decisions are taken about the ground, and publish the minutes. People should be able to walk into a hall and say what they think.
Publish the accounts
File and publish accounts on time, including any payments to trustees or to organisations in which a trustee has an interest. Openness here would answer a great many questions before they are asked.
-How We’re Organised-
Three working groups, one campaign
Nobody here does this full-time. Everyone here does more than they planned to.
Evidence & Records
Requests governance documents, keeps a written record of what has been asked and refused, and makes sure every public claim on this site can be backed up.
Outreach & Petition
Runs the petition, knocks on doors around the village, and keeps the sign-up numbers moving.
Trustee Correspondence & Comms
Writes to the trustees, keeps this website updated, and organises any public meeting.
-Common Questions-
What people usually ask us
No. This is not about any one club or user of the Rec. It is about how pitch time is decided, and whether that decision is open and fair to the village’s own children.
Nobody but us. We’ve covered our own printing and running costs. We don’t take donations from clubs, businesses, or political parties, and we’re not planning to start.
We’d look at what formal options are open to us, but our focus right now is making sure the trustees have heard from the whole village, clearly and in writing, before anything else.
The petition and mailing list are open to anyone who cares about the outcome, but local names carry the most weight, so if you live in or near Redbourn, please say so when you sign.
No. This is an independent residents’ campaign, not affiliated with Redbourn Parish Council, St Albans City and District Council, or any political party.
What We Stand For
The ground rules we've set ourselves
Independent
Evidence-led
Civil, not shouty
Open to everyone
We are residents, not opponents
Thank you. You are on the list, and Redbourn is a little louder than it was a minute ago.