Dear ‘Save The Sobell Sports Hall Supporters’, As many of you will be aware, ‎GLL have announced the destructive building works in the main arena will start on Tuesday 29 August. There is therefore just over a week before Sobell’s sports hall is decimated by this unwanted, unconsulted change. We have again sent an e mail to all Islington Ward Councillors (47 Labour), asking them to join local MP's Jeremy Corbyn and Catherine West, (who until recently was herself the leader of Islington Council), who have both kindly taken time to support our cause. The handful of Executive Councillors who have taken this ill-considered decision should, as was promised, engage in a meaningful public consultation. A few Ward Councillors such as Paul Convery have also made this request, but without more support, this Council will be responsible for allowing irreversible damage to this well-loved and well used community sports centre. Another letter Barry Hill our tireless Sobell Customer Representative has sent to the press, is here: http://islingtontribune.com/article/only-two-weeks-left-to-save-sobell-sports-hall ‎Adrian Stern, a Sobell trampolinist has also lobbied the Ward Councillors and an article containing his comments is here: http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/health/sobell-leisure-centre-even-trampolinists-don-t-want-the-controversial-new-trampoline-park-1-5153931 As Adrian says: “Trampoline parks are NOT about sport but are entertainment attractions for children and teenagers [who will be] mainly left to their own devices to hurl themselves around”. In addition, ‎Gaie Scouller, who is the granddaughter of philanthropist Sir Michael Sobell who built and gifted the centre to the people of Islington in 1973, has also kindly sent the following letter to the press: “As the grand daughter of Sir Michael Sobell, I add my voice to the campaign to save the Sobell Leisure Centre from being converted into a trampoline park. My grandfather, having made his fortune through radio receivers and television sets, established a charitable foundation in 1977. Among other projects, he provided the funds for the Michael Sobell Sports Centre (later to be called the Sobell Leisure Centre) to provide first-class sporting facilities within the Borough of Islington. His vision was that everyone should have access to affordable sporting facilities. This centre would become a beacon of sporting excellence and attract members and users of its facilities, including Olympic athletes, from far and wide. My grandfather would be appalled that people’s access to these facilities would be hugely limited in favour of a recreational attraction with games areas including a ‘wipe-out trampoline’, a ‘foam pit’ (for jumping into), a ‘dodgeball’ area (throwing balls at each other), ‘slam dunk’ basketball (bouncing up to a basketball net), a ‘battle beam’ (jousting with padded lances on a beam to knock your opponent into a foam pit), balancing on a ‘slackline’ (a webbing tightrope) and climbing a ‘fidget ladder’ (a rope ladder). All indoor football facilities, including male and female, junior and adult sessions, will be ended completely, even though these have been core to the centre since its opening over 40 years ago by The Duke of Edinburgh. Indoor football at the Centre has brought joy to many youngsters and helped so many to develop a healthy exercise habit that benefitted throughout their lives. Since the Centre’s opening, successive generations of Islington youngsters have played at Sobell, benefitting from this taking place in a safe environment unaffected by adverse weather conditions. Many who began using the centre when it first opened over 40 years ago are still regular customers – a testament to its enduring value to the community. Such facilities are so rare in London. Sobell Centre, like all others in Islington is now managed by a GLL/Better, who have little previous sports-provision experience in Islington. The project brief they put to the LBI Council Executive was approved with no public consultation. Campaigners are rightly calling for the project to be halted and for the Council and GLL/Better to consult residents and customers of the Sobell. On behalf of the Sobell Foundation Trustees, I endorse their request and urge LBI to rethink‎". ‎ Our petition currently has 1,293 supporters and our friends in the Sobell squash group have posted your petition comments on their web site here: http://www.sobellsquash.com/colleagues.php All your comments are great but a few that caught my eye are: “Better is meant to be promoting regular sporting activity. It now wants to convert half of its flagship Islington centre’s flexible, multi activity area, into a giant birthday party venue. The courts are busy, used by groups of all ages, for a variety of sports. Why destroy this to leave the place to one single activity? The partnership between Islington and Better is meant to have a strong focus on increasing participation, reducing health inequalities and improving social inclusion. Better should remember it is meant to be non-for-profit and not let the balance sheet direct its decision making.” “This is a unique local resource for ordinary people of all ages who aren't elite athletes but love football and badminton. My partner has played there for 25 years. Now they are forced to travel to a school that has a concrete floor and where the service is unreliable.” "This will reduce the amount of community engagement for all ages and is already causing uproar for a number of parties that already use these courts for local community sessions. There are two trampoline parks within 1 hour from The Sobell, why do we need one more?!" "Proper consultation is a fundamental principle of local government" "It's supposed to be a sports hall, not a bouncy castle. Where's the Olympic legacy in that ?" ‎Finally, if you have read this far well done, but you should also be aware that Islington Council's Leisure Team and GLL have now offered a return to the Sobell Centre for the ‘kicked-out’ indoor 5-a-side footballers using the mobile barrier system we have proposed. Compared however to the 34 hours per week indoor football that was being played, they have only offered a derisory 5.5 hours per week and ridiculously, only between 4 pm to 7 pm on Fridays and 12.30 pm to 3 pm on Sundays! Do they not think we work or have family commitments at weekends? This is clearly impractical, unreasonable and unfair! Our detailed response to ‎their unreasonable proposed times has been circulated separately to the Sobell 5-a-side footballers and is reported in the attached press article. In the meantime, our campaign against this ill thought out and badly planned trampoline park continues! As just one of the 'campaign steering group' comprising myself, Celia Clarke, Jon Barnes, Tamsin Oglesby and Barry Hill, if you have any queries please feel free to contact me on: johnbarberLPA@gmail.com