Dolphins Hall Tetbury

14/05/2026

23/04/2026

Just a quick update and reminder regarding parking at Dolphins Recreation Centre.

As many of you will now be aware, parking charges are in place across both car parks. There is a 10-minute grace period for quick drop-offs and pick-ups. If you stay longer than 10 minutes, you must either pay for parking or register your vehicle. If you are attending an activity at the hall, you can register your vehicle using the tablet in the entrance or via the group you are attending. Please check the on-site signage when you arrive to make sure you follow the correct process.

Over the past months we’ve been working closely with users and Smart Parking to help embed the new system. We recognise this has been a change for many, and during this initial period we’ve been able to support with queries and, in some cases, assist with getting fines cancelled where appropriate

As we now move beyond this bedding-in period (from the end of April), this level of discretion won’t be available going forward. Any parking fines or appeals will need to be directed to Smart Parking directly, as they manage the system on our behalf.

We appreciate that changes like this can take a bit of getting used to, and we’re grateful for everyone’s understanding. The introduction of parking charges helps us cover the ongoing costs of maintaining the facilities which includes the Rec and play area which becomes increasingly difficult year on year and more so this year following the unexpected cancelling of our annual grant from Tetbury Town Council.

If you’re visiting the site, please do take a moment to check the signage and ensure your vehicle is correctly registered if needed or the relevant parking fee paid.

28/03/2026

Latest from the Dolphins Recreation Centre

There’s been plenty happening at the Dolphins Recreation Centre over the past few weeks, and we wanted to share a quick update with the community.

Many of you will have noticed that our new parking system is now in place. This has been a significant project for us, aimed at ensuring fair and consistent use of the car parks for those using the facilities. We’re really pleased with how things have settled in so far. Feedback from hall users and local sports clubs has been supportive, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as the new system beds in. Having been installed at zero cost, and with us retaining 100% of income, this will be a vital income stream for improving our facilities in the years to come.

Behind the scenes, progress continues on the new build. We are now at the stage where we’re waiting on an updated BRUKL (Building Regulations UK Part L) certificate to enable sign-off. If anyone in the local community has experience or expertise in this area and is able to assist, we would be very keen to hear from you.

Alongside this, we’re excited to share that we are nearing completion of a seven year lease agreement on the Dolphins Hall that will provide Tetbury Area Youth and Community Trust (TAYCT) with a dedicated home here in Tetbury. This is a really positive step, both for TAYCT and for the wider community, and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact this will have.

It’s an exciting time for the Dolphins Recreation Centre, with a lot of progress being made and more to come over the coming months. As always, if anyone reading this would like to get more involved in the running of the Dolphins, please do reach out - there’s always plenty to do!

19/03/2026

We’d like to let our community know about an important update regarding parking at the Dolphins Recreation Ground.

Due to increasing costs across the whole site and the continued reductions in grants for the Recreation Ground, we have introduced an ANPR parking system in partnership with Smart Parking. This step has been taken to help ensure we can continue to maintain and improve the facilities for everyone to enjoy.

We want to reassure all genuine hall users that free parking is still available. To access this, simply enter your vehicle registration into the tablet located in the hall. User groups who lease buildings have also been offered a similar facility. This is similar to the system used in many restaurants.

For those dropping off, there is a ten minute grace period.

The system will go live from 20/03/26 across both car parks.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. Every contribution helps us keep the recreation ground running for the whole community.

If you are an existing hall hirer or user group, any questions, please email us at [email protected]

21/02/2026

Important Update: Changes to Car Parking at Dolphins Recreation Centre

We want to let everyone know about an important change coming soon at Dolphins Recreation Centre.

Both of our car parks in March will be moving to a pay and display system.

This has not been an easy decision. However, it is a necessary step to ensure we can continue to provide and maintain the Recreation Ground and play park for everyone to enjoy - free of charge.

Why are we making this change?

• The cost of maintaining the facilities increases every year, yet they are available free of charge to everyone
• Tetbury Town Council have regularly reduced our annual grant, and although this has not been formally communicated, we understand that it has been cut completely for the forthcoming year, leaving a significant hole in our budget
• Despite previous notices and communications, a number of individuals frequently continue to use our car parks when they are not using our facilities, for example to go into town or shopping, impacting availability of spaces for those using the facilities

As a small charity, we must take responsible steps to protect our long term future.

What this means

Income generated from parking will go directly back into the facilities. For example, money raised from the Hampton Street Car Park will, wherever possible, be allocated towards improvements to the play park.

This move will help us:
• Maintain the recreation ground for general use
• Keep the play park safe and well-maintained
• Continue offering facilities free of charge
• Invest in improvements for the future

We know change can be frustrating, but this decision is about protecting a much-loved and much-needed community space and ensuring it remains available for generations to come.

Our regular user groups will be contacted directly in due course to explain how this will impact their existing agreements with us.

We appreciate your understanding and continued support of Dolphins Recreation Centre. Every penny raised will stay here and be reinvested into the facilities our community uses and values.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

09/01/2026

Hi you will notice some new parking restrictions along side the hall today these are for health and safety reasons as a member of a group nearly got knocked down this week as they couldn’t see any traffic and the driver couldn’t see them thank you

18/12/2025

Notice

08/11/2025

🚗 Need parking in Tetbury? We’ve got good news! 🐬

We’ve recently reviewed our car parking spaces and found that a few have become available - perfect timing if you’ve been struggling to find a regular spot in town!

✅ Spaces are £60 + VAT per month
💳 Payable by Direct Debit
📍 First come, first served!

Please note that our car park is for users of the Dolphins Hall and Recreation Ground only. We’ve noticed a few people using the spaces for other purposes, and we’ll be tightening up on this moving forward to make sure our facilities are available for the community groups and activities they’re meant to support.

We know parking in Tetbury can be tricky, so we’re also exploring ways to expand our parking offering. If you miss out this time, don’t worry - we’ll pop you on our waiting list for future spaces.

If you’re interested, please DM us to register your interest!

13/09/2025

🚧 Dolphins Recreation Centre – New Build Update 🐬✨

The fences are back, and it’s been fantastic to see so many of you taking the chance to stroll around the outside of the building and sneak a peek through the windows - we love your excitement as much as ours!

We’re still in our 4-week period of running test events, helping us learn how the new space works and getting everything ready for a full-scale opening. The first test events have been a real success 🎉 although, as expected, they’ve highlighted a few areas where we need to make some tweaks before we can officially throw open the doors.

We anticipate a short period being required to make these changes, after which we’ll be in a strong position to confirm a full opening date - so stay tuned, it’s getting closer!

We’d also like to address some of the speculation: from the outset of the redevelopment project, space, which was co-designed with them, was allocated in the new build for TAYCT (the youth club). However, they have in recent months requested not to move into the new facility and are instead seeking an agreement to remain in the Dolphins Hall. We are currently reviewing how this would work and what it would mean for our other users, and we’ll keep you updated as soon as we know more.

Thank you for your patience and excitement as we bring this new chapter for Dolphins Recreation Centre to life!

27/06/2025

After well over seven years of hard work and many setbacks yesterday we reached a milestone in the new Community Hall project. The CDC building inspector has approved the Community Hall part of the building can begin opening to the public, and we can now allow people in.

However, don’t get too excited. It is still going to take a few months to get fully up and running as we commission the building, run test events and adapt the booking systems etc but this is still a day to be celebrated.

Up until now we have not been allowed to let people into the building as it was considered a building site. Now we have official approval, even though we are not finished, we thought people might want to come and look at what we have been trying to make happen.

Tonight, Friday, we are having a small thank you event for our funders and contractors. But on Sunday, the 29th, from 11am to 2pm, the doors will be open for anyone who wants to pop in and look around.

The fantastic news is by the end of the summer Tetbury will have an additional, modern, flexible community space that has not cost its residents a single penny.