Wheel House

Our best asset

'THE WHEEL HOUSE' and How to book it

The Rotary Club of Fareham’s Wheel House at Hill Head will now be even better for the charities and community it supports. Thousands of pounds have been invested in the building during the lockdown to carry out essential upgrades. The Club is very grateful to Fareham Borough Council for their financial assistance along with the Hammond Memorial Hall Trust that supports the social welfare of those in the Stubbington and Hill Head area. The work completed at the Wheel House includes new kitchen fixtures and fittings, damp proofing, redecoration, new lighting, and efficient shutters. As President of the Rotary Club of Fareham, Norman Chapman, says “Lockdown gave us an opportunity to do these improvements to our facilities in the Wheel House. We are very proud of what we offer to charity and community groups who enjoy using this seaside facility only 9 steps from the beach and annual bookings now exceed 130 groups each year.” Those using the Wheel House include groups and schools for those who have disabilities (with their carers) giving much-needed respite with the sea air and promenade just outside. Many others benefit too from days at the seaside - Guiding, WI, MS Society, daycare centres, church organisations, and community groups are just a few of those who have booked and enjoyed our Wheel House. You can contact Rotarian Terry Dowland, Wheel House Lead, on 01329 663998 or email him for further details at wheelhousefarehamrotary@gmail.com.

The Wheel House is well appointed with a toilet, a fully equipped kitchen, a hearing loop, tables, and chairs. It can accommodate 42 people comfortably, of all ages, and has disabled access as you would expect. It’s not just for community groups and charities, you can even celebrate birthdays and anniversaries here too!

If this sounds appealing, and you would like to know more about membership with us, do email farehamrotary.pr@gmail.com, or look for the Rotary Club of Fareham on the Internet and Facebook too. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Rotary Club of Fareham was chartered in 1946 and within months the club took under its wing a local orphanage called St Edith's. The Club decided to provide a beach house for use by the orphanage which was erected by the members using their various skills and was officially opened in 1948. In later years it became known as "The Wheelhouse". The building was used by various charitable organisations over the years and no charge was made for this use.

By the 1980s, the Wheelhouse was in a terrible state of repair, mainly due to its age and its location by the sea and this was costing the club a considerable amount of money. After high tides, the building flooded and had to be cleared and cleaned of things such as dead crabs, etc. before it could be used again.

In 1991, Ben Benstead became President of the Club, and his project for that year was to raise funds to enable the Wheelhouse to be demolished and rebuilt which seemed to be the only solution to the ongoing problem. Other Rotary clubs were asked to contribute to the rebuilding costs but, sadly, all declined. Ben then decided to give the club an interest-free loan and carry out the work at cost with several other members also giving interest-free loans. The Club decided to proceed and shelved all other projects until the loans were repaid. This was achieved in less than 3 years!

Fareham Borough Council provides the land at a peppercorn rent and has fully supported various alterations to assist with disabled access to the building.

It is run on behalf of the club by a small group of Trustees with a committee to oversee the daily running.

If your club would like to bring a group to the Wheelhouse,

then contact Terry Dowland at 01329 663 998 or wheelhousefarehamrotary@gmail.com

The Wheelhouse - Directions