Stoke Mandeville summary thread.

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My view of the same day.

"Well, today really opened my eyes.

Met Pete, as posted above, its great to meet people that we talk to so often.

The contrast between the on-site facilities cannot be over-emphasised.

The look on Rosie's face when the range was dry inside was a great start to the day, and made me realise how small improvements can make life more bearable and facilities more welcoming.

The ditch was dug, and a repair made to the guttering to keep the water away from the building, not earth shattering stuff, but moving toward keeping the place watertight.

The toilets and sinks are in desperate need of replacement, yet all the way around Rosie was telling us what's going where, and how its going to be once its done. It certainly has loads of potential!

Watching Di shoot was awe inspiring, the level of concentration and discipline required to shoot that well was clear, watching Pete shoot at a similar target he showed how far she is ahead of us!
I chickened out due to my fear of making myself look a complete Berk!"

Pete shooting at 10m, with Diane in the background

Look at Pete's score, not the hat!

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Skip forward to 07.01.08

Rosie posted the following announcement,

" Great News
Hi everyone hope you’ve all had a good Christmas and New Year.
DTSGB has had a great Christmas. Our first present was to hear that we have been adopted by Countryman Fairs as their Charity for 2008. So this means that some of our members will be at the Fairs to help with the fund raising and hopefully meeting more of you. Thank you Country Fairs.
Our second present arrived when Bob Nichols MD at Air Arms heard through Bill Sanders that we had been let down by Mears for the materials to replace the back wall of the range. He has sent us a cheque for £5,000 to cover the cost of all the materials needed. Thank you Bob and Bill. Our third present was a cheque for £500 from the Ryan Cockbill Trust. Ryan came to his first training weekend at the beging of December with his Dad and his carer and heard about the repairs and refurb. Thank you Ryan and all your family.
2008 is going to be a great year with so many people willing to help us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Can’t wait for the weather to improve so that we can get started.
Rosie "

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Weekend of May 4th 2008 saw a work party to clear gutters, seal gullies, painting and general brightening up take place, a good weekend was had by all.

Photos

Sadly rumours about snoring circulated for some weeks after this event.

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06.07.08 another work party went ahead, Baxterbasics summed it up better than I could.

I can thoroughly reccomend getting involved in this project lads-more like fun than work Great banter all weekend with plenty of good natured pi$$taking all round A lot was acomplished this weekend, but there is still a massive amount to do to get the centre into a respectable state.
What an incredible women Rosie (club secretary) is-a real ray of sunshine-I don't think you could meet a more positive attitude anywhere. Her enthusiasm is contagious-she worked tirelessly all weekend plus kept us fed and watered-enough tea to sink a battleship
Watching the wheelchair rugby was very humbling-these guys get maximum respect from me-showing a level of courage and determination that made me feel ashamed of myself. A couple of the lads looked a bit misty eyed as we trooped back to the shooting range.
We all sat down to a Chinese meal last night, had a few-Cough!- drinks, a great atmosphere all weekend and I for one will be back there for the next weekend

If you ever got a chance to watch wheelchair rugby (its on youtube, but better live) do so. Total commitment from the players, and totally engrossing for the spectators.

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Lobberman posted a few photos that gave a feeling of how it went for some of those present.

This years must have accessory the MANBAG !

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2307/pic017ld7.jpg

One usually has one's servants do this !

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5335/pic020wh1.jpg

I am not a mornings person

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8269/pic016rs8.jpg

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The next project was going to be the biggest yet, the back walls.

(Rotten) timber framed, and clad with asbestos, there was no way they were repairable, they had to go.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/DSC00304.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/DSC00305.jpg

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Rikki, the DTSGB chairman was kind enough to take the tiem to register and post, to give his thoughts on works so far.

"Dear All

Sorry it's taken me to long to get on here and write. I really want to say that you are all a great bunch of people.

You will probably never realise how much we at DTSGB owe you for all your kindness, generosity and hard work. I know that you those of you who came down a couple of weekends ago said you felt humble watching the wheelchair rugby etc - but you can't believe how humble we all feel when we see the work you are all doing for us. I really think that we will have a shooting range to be proud of. The the work you have done so far has already made so much difference. Whenever I speak to Rosie (THE BOSS!), we spend most of our time talking about how good the range is looking and how grateful we are to you all.

Sorry I couldn't be there for there for the last weekend, but the day job was calling and I couldn't get out of it! Sadly, I can't be there for the next one as I'm picking up my new car and getting the hand controls fitted.
Anyway, enough of this rambling b*########*s (Ha - I'm not putting any money in the Rosie swear box!).
Once again, can I just say THANKS to you all and one day I will meet you and have a beer (or 5) with you.

Thanks again.

Rikki
CHAIRMAN (BUT NOT THE BOSS) - DTSGB"