16 November 2015: Beccles Lido’s big fundraiser of the year, the 4th Annual Beccles Beer Festival, takes Beccles by storm! Please click here to read how the Beccles and Bungay Journal reported it.
21 May 2015: BLL’s 2014/15 Annual Report is published together with Financial Statements for each of Beccles Lido, Beccles Public Hall and Big Dog Ferry. Please click here to see our Report & Accounts, where you can also see the accounts for our new trading company (Beccles Lido Trading Limited, or BLT), which now covers some of BLL’s trading operations, principally the Splash Pool Bar at the Lido.
19 April 2015: Beccles Lido publishes this Summer’s prices and timetable. Please click here for more information.
12 April 2015: We have now installed a hearing loop at the Public Hall. Please click here to go to our News page for the full story.
10 April 2015: Second stage of revamp work starts at Public Hall. Please click here to see how the local press covered this exciting news.
28 March 2015: Big Dog Ferry launches for 2015 summer season with discounted weekday tickets outside school holidays. Please click here for this year’s timetable and prices.
7 July 2014: BLL’s 2013/14 Annual Report is published together with Financial Statements for each of Beccles Lido, Beccles Public Hall and Big Dog Ferry. Please click here to see our Report & Accounts. BLL also announces that it has set up a trading company for some of its trading operations, principally the Splash Pool Bar at the Lido.
January 2014: Thanks to the major grants received in 2013, work starts on the Public Hall to remove the asbestos in the roof and to also upgrade the cinema facilities, including a new screen, projector and seats. Tenders have also been received for the roof repairs and it is hoped that this work will also commence shortly. For more information please click here for all the news and pics of the renovation works at the Hall.
6 December 2013: Less than 3 days after registration opens, the 2nd Annual Beccles Triathlon is a sell out! The organisers hope to be able to announce up to 25 additional spaces in early 2014. For more information please visit www.becclestri.com.
November 2013: The Beccles Townlands Charity has awarded the Hall a significant contribution towards the £70,000 needed for work on the outside of the building. Following an in-depth meeting with three of the Feoffees, where the three directors explained what they had to do to put the Hall into good repair, the letter offering the award said that they were delighted to learn of the progress that we were making since taking on the onerous responsibility of running the Hall on behalf of the residents of Beccles and wished to offer a measure of financial support. They added that this contribution is in recognition of the importance of the Hall to the life of the people of Beccles through the rich and varied programme of events now on offer.
1 November 2013: The 2nd Annual Beccles Beer Festival is set to take place at Beccles Public Hall between Friday 8 November and Sunday 10 November. With admission again FREE, we are hoping to build on last year’s event which saw 100s of visitors drink 3,500 pints of real ale and cider! The Beccles Beer Festival is the major annual fundraiser for Beccles Lido. Click here and here to see the full Press Release and Pic of last year’s event, and here to see this year’s Beer & Cider list.
9 September 2013: Beccles Lido closed on Sunday 8 September at the end of a record breaking 2013 summer season. The number of visitors increased from 36,399 to over 46,000 (an increase of 27%). While swim revenues were up by 30%, season ticket sales were up by 34%, so canny regular swimmers again got to swim whenever and as many times as they wanted for the equivalent of as little as 1 swim/week. With this increased footfall, and fuelled by a new Splash Pool Bar menu, food and drink revenues were up by 35% serving 10,000 hot drinks, 18,000 hot meals, with 10,000 portions of chips! The Lido re-opens on Saturday 24 May 2014.
22 August 2013: BLL learned today that WREN has awarded a grant of £70,000 towards the cost of repairing the roof and sorting out the heating at Beccles Public Hall, in their latest round of funding from the Landfill Communities Fund of FCC Environment. This follows the £5,000 recently awarded by Suffolk Community Foundation from the Transforming Suffolk fund towards upgrading the heating system. BLL Director, Terry Dentith said: “We are absolutely delighted and bowled over to hear that our grant from WREN has been successful – I’ve been told it’s the largest they’ve awarded in the county for some time! It will make a huge difference in that we can now make the roof safe and move ahead with the internal changes.” Sarah Gosling, WREN Grant Manager for Norfolk/Suffolk, said. “When we get outstanding projects such as the Beccles Public Hall, we are more than happy to support them with a larger grant.”
5 June 2013: BLL today published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for financial year ending 31 January 2013. These show a healthy profit and bank balance for each of the Lido and Public Hall. Shaun Crowley, CEO: “I am delighted to present another strong set of accounts for the Lido and the Public Hall, which we have been running since 1 April 2012 and now own. These show that under BLL control and community management they can each thrive and we look forward to them doing so for many years.“
23 May 2013: Beccles Lido opens this weekend with 3 major new attractions set to wow visitors! A new dual lane Aquarun, bought with proceeds from the Lido Lottery, replaces the old giant inflatable. There is also a new springboard, which means the chance of seeing better dives than ever before, purchased with a grant from The Mason Trust who were particularly impressed by the fact that the Lido is community owned and run and does so much for local young people. Even more impressive is an all-weather awning, so even if it’s raining there is now plenty of room to shelter and enjoy hot snacks and drinks from the Splash Pool Bar. The awning is another major investment by Beccles Lido Limited and Director Suzanne Gibbons, who is responsible for grant applications at the Lido, was delighted to announce: “Our project was made possible when it received £9,500 funding from Viridor Credits Environmental Company, through the Landfill Communities Fund.” Click here to see the press release.
29 March 2013: The Big Dog Ferry is re-launched in time for the Easter holidays. Co-skippers Paul Temple and Carl Murray are keen to try an even longer season for 2013 and build upon last year’s success. And what better weekend to do so, as it coincided with the Locks Inn Easter Beer Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so passengers could avoid the need to drive and instead enjoy a relaxing boat journey along the River Waveney with the opportunity to enjoy the wildlife en-route; and then enjoy the many local beers and ciders on offer, together with a great line up of local bands. Click here to see the press release.
24 February 2013: BLL held an open day for all the Lido and Hall volunteers today at the Public Hall to thank them for all their hard work over the last year, to present the major events of the year and year to come, and to formally announce that it had FINALLY BOUGHT the Public Hall from Waveney District Council on Friday 15th February. Finally acquring the freehold will not impact the running of the Hall, which has been under BLL management since 1 April 2012 (and is now running at a healthy profit), but it will allow us to apply for the major grants that we need to carry out the substantial repairs to the roof and balcony that are required to secure the future of the Hall.
26 August 2012: Beccles Lido’s 3rd summer season is drawing to a close (9th September) and is set to be it’s best ever. After a disappointing early summer, the weather improved for the school holidays, and with it the number of visitors, who this year have included many tourists. Total visitor numbers are forecast to exceed 30,000 (compared with 28,667 in 2011, and less than 10,000 in 2008, the year it was closed by the Council). Click here to see how the local press reported our best ever start to the school holidays.
8 June 2012: The Big Dog Ferry was re-launched from Beccles Lido in 2011 by skipper Paul Aldis, but when BLL learned that due to ill health Paul was unable to continue the service, we stepped in. We acquired the Ferry and, with the help of the Broads Authority and Waveney District Councillor for the Green Party, Graham Elliott, we re-launched the service in June 2012 under skippers Paul Temple and Carl Murray. Click here to see pictures of the official launch on 6th June, which was attended by, among others, Broads Authority Chief Executive Dr John Packer and Kay Billig, South Norfolk Councillor for the Gillingham Ward.
1 April 2012: Following Waveney District Council’s decision to transfer ownership and management of Beccles Public Hall to BLL, the Council handed the keys over to us on 1 April. Whilst the freehold transfer will take a while longer to go through due process, both BLL and the Council were keen that we should begin to manage the Public Hall as soon as possible. We are looking forward to putting on lots of events in the coming months. Click here to see pictures of one of the fundraising events we put on last year while we were campaigning to save the Hall and convince the Council we could successfully run it.