Jameston
Community
Association
Coffee morning 10 a.m.
Emmanuel Church
Saturday October 10th
The story so far...
In March, after 153 years of local children in the local school, Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) voted to close Manorbier VC Primary School at the end of this Summer term, in July.
Since the fire in October 2022 the school had used the Community Hall as its temporary home, waiting for what everyone believed would be its rebuilding.
But that was not to be, and at the end of July the hall was returned to the JCA.
What happens next...
There's a lot of work to do to the hall.
Much of it needed doing before the school moved in, but had to be put on hold while we didn’t have full and unrestricted access.
For instance, even back then the main entrance door and surrounding glass panels were letting in water and warping. And the door to the car park from the small room was leaking and damaging the floor, while the main hall window sashes had given up the ghost, making them draughty and difficult to open.
And although the school did leave the hall in pretty fair condition, four years of children working and playing was bound to take its toll, and on top of the existing problems we have to tackle some things that have deteriorated in the past four years.
For instance, our chairs were stored in the shed and it’s no surprise that after four years they need a lot of attention, and probably replacing.
Then there are other large items, like how to bring the fire doors back up to standard, or replace them, plus major repairs to or replacement of the floor coverings in the entrance area and the main hall. We also need to give the whole place a really professional deep clean, and a fresh coat or three of paint.
On top of all that, there’s a series of slightly smaller jobs that still need tackling professionally… like getting the remnants of BluTack off the walls, repairing or replacing curtains and blinds in various places, and sorting out the damaged worktop and tiling in the kitchen, which wouldn’t meet current food safety standards.
Who pays?
Everything that needed doing before the school moved in is
down to the JCA.
Windows and doors that were leaking before they moved in
are not the school’s fault.
So we have to pay for that work, but at least we have some
healthy reserves now, after four years of rent for the school’s
occupation.
It’s a different story with things the wear and tear over the past four years.
The good news is that the agreement to use the hall specifies that PCC will put right any dilapidation that’s down to the school.
When does it all start?
We’ve already set up a Working Group to get quotes and move everything on,
as soon as we have official confirmation from PCC that they've ratified
the draft agreement we reached with their Property Department.
The problem is that we can’t commit community money to
anything, until we know for sure that we’ll get the funds.
And we’ve made it clear to PCC that we don’t need it in the bank.
We simply need to receive a cast-iron commitment from them.
We're ready for PCC to confirm the agreed dilapidation costs.
But there’s a very frustrating sting in the tail here!
The agreement says that PCC will leave things as they found them.
The trouble is, if they do the work themselves, or contract it out, we’d have no control at all over quality or timing, and could easily slip to the bottom of the priority list.
So when they offered a cash settlement instead – which is the standard way of handling dilapidation payments – we agreed. It’s our community’s hall and we need to be sure it gets the best face-lift possible in the shortest possible time.
It wasn’t easy to get what we feel is a fair settlement. There was some hard bargaining and we managed to get not only the cash needed to carry out the work, but also an agreement that they'll give us the strip of land that runs from the road under the main gate, which we currently rent from PCC for several hundred pounds every few years.
Now, the transfer of the strip of land has to be approved by the Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet – the group of senior County Councillors who oversee all PCC policy.
Don’t worry, we were told. It goes to Cabinet, September 7th, and should be no problem.
Should be no problem is fine, but that's not a guarantee, because Cabinet can ignore the very strong recommendation from PCC Property Department.
We stopped counting chickens a long time ago, but when we watched the meeting broadcast we did not see the Cabinet reject the proposal.
Don't get me wrong, though. They did not approve it. THEY DIDN'T EVEN DISCUSS IT!!
Now we never took it for granted that it would go through, but we did expect them to deliver on at least the first half of their promise, and actually put it to the meeting!
But it wasn’t anywhere on the Cabinet agenda, although our friend Cllr. Phill Kidney was at that meeting to propose an independent inquiry into the Manorbier School closure process, and he did raise the matter quite strongly with the Leader of the Council.
And after the meeting he followed it up and was told, something went wrong.
Anyway, it eventually went to Cabinet on October 5th, with the recommendation that the strip of land is transferred to JCA.
AND IT WAS APPROVED! UNANIMOUSLY!
So we can at last move forward.
However, we're not waiting until the money is in the bank and the land is ours.
That could take weeks.
Instead, we're asking the Property Dept. for a cast-iron assurance that the deal will be completed, and we'll accept that firm commitment as enough to start work!
Once again... watch this space!!
What happens when it's all done?
Once everything is done and the hall back up to standard, we’re thinking about holding a big party, to celebrate getting back, get everyone together and start to find out exactly what you want the hall to do, for you.
We’ll certainly keep you posted on that one!
And in the meantime, thanks to everyone who supports our monthly coffee mornings.
Ray Hughes always shares updates there, and it’s a great way to stay in touch and meet new friends and neighbours.
A few bonuses...
While they were there, the school put in an expensive new fence, right round the car park behind the hall. It needs some minor repair but that fence is now ours, at no cost.
We’re also taking over the PortaKabin that Manorbier Community Council put on the site to give the school an extra classroom. We offered the Council the going price recommended by an accountant, and they accepted.
It gives us extra space if we need it, and will store everything currently piled up in the wooden shed, which is pretty close to collapse.
Leaving it in place saves them having to disconnect the mains power, make good the site, hire a low loader to transport the building and then reconnect it in a new location.
And we have a new fridge and microwave. Those that we left in the hall gave up, so Sharon Davies, the Head Teacher, bought new ones, and they’ve left them for us. Thank you!
The move to CIO status...
If you were at the March SGM and AGM you’ll know that the JCA has Charity Commission approval to change from an unincorporated charity, to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
It makes no difference to anyone using the hall, running an activity or organising an event. It’s simply a more professional, effective and efficient way of working. It means we’ll be able to hold property in our own right, instead of having to use Holding Trustees, and also means that the Charity Trustees are not personally liable.
We won’t bore you with all the legal details, but a specialist firm of charity lawyers is guiding us through the transition process, from unincorporated to CIO.
It’s something they’ve done many times, and they’re supporting us at every stage and handling all the details with the Church in Wales (who used to own the hall) and the Charity Commission, who need to see the move to CIO done by the book.
The trouble is… things don’t move quickly in the legal world, and our lawyers have told us for example that it takes months, not weeks, for the Charity Commission to do some of the things they do as part of the process. Their actual words were, ’if we have not heard anything from them by mid-December, we will chase them’.
We’re learning to be very patient!! And we hope you can as well, please.
And finally...
We’re determined to move things forward as quickly as we possibly can.
But there’s no point in building up your hopes and then letting you down.
The fact is, with the recent Cabinet delay, with quotes to organise and builders’ schedules to negotiate, it’s pretty clear that it’ll be early 2027, at least, before we're fully up and running again.
So please bear with us, and we’ll share any more news with you here, on the website.
A very long time ago, the Hall was a cottage... until St James Church took it over as a Mission Room, and held services there on a Sunday afternoon, right up to the turn of the 21st Century; the old bell tower is still on the pine end.
Thanks to the foresight, expertise, and fundraising of the original JCA members, they bought the Mission, and it is now our Community Hall.
In the early 2000s, they set up the JCA as an unincorporated charity —a group of locals working together for the community.
But the suggestion has always been to grow into a CIO: a Charitable Incorporated Organisation - making it easier to own property, and to operate more professionally.
In 2025, the Charity Commission approved our application to become a CIO, so we're working on the transition from old to new.
It won't make any difference to the hall users or JCA members, but it will make life more straightforward.
About us
The trustees
The AGM elects the Charity Trustees, and this was the 2026 election.
Chair Ray Hughes
Vice-Chair Richard Hughes
Secretary & Treasurer Jane George
Other trustees Kai Furlong Andrew John Nicola Hughes
Marie Hamnett Graham Willcocks
Our activities
The regular coffee mornings are a great way for everyone to get together and keep in touch.
Come along and meet old and new friends.
It's all free... even the raffle!
Coffee mornings are on the
2nd Saturday of each month.
From 10 am to midday
at the Emmanuel Church,
just off the main road
towards the train station.
Our next coffee morning is...
Saturday October 10th
and then it's November 14th
Our next
Coffee Morning
Saturday
October 10th
10 am
Emmanuel Church
Over 80 people turned up to the Special General Meeting on March 13th. It was called by 11 JCA members to discuss the current situation and to move to hold a properly constituted AGM.
The meeting unanimously requested Ray Hughes to run a General Meeting, which took place after the SGM.
That meeting received reports on the way forward for JCA and on the finances, before conducting elections for officers and trustees and re-running the proposals from last year's AGM
The admin section - documents and notices
And we're preparing a whole raft of policies and procedures for when the new CIO kicks in.
These are the first few, - more to come!
They're still Work in progress.
So let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.
Click on the policy you want to look at
This is where we post important documents, like the constitution.
Click the link to open it
Get in touch
Our email address
Drop us an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
JamestonCommunityAssoc@gmail.com
JamestonCommunityAssoc@gmail.com