Seahouses Development Trust
When Jon Riley began the Places for Everyone programme in July 2009, he was already six years into a capital development project. As Trust Manager for Seahouses Development Trust, Jon was working on a project to refurbish Seahouses’ sports centre. The centre had not been updated since 1975 and was, as Jon explains, “virtually unusable.” Noting one of its key objectives as “developing community assets,” Jon and the Trust decided to “bring the building back to life.”
“We had to balance the needs of all the community groups who used the building."
The project hit its first major obstacle in March 2009 when the Big Lottery Fund rejected the Trust’s application for funding. Unfortunately, this setback fuelled ill feeling within the community towards the project leaders. As Jon remembers: “We had to balance the needs of all the community groups who used the building. Some of these groups were very frustrated as we had failed to get the original grant bid, when they had been waiting for four years.”
"We realised that we could do the project far more quickly and cheaper than we originally thought.”
However, with support from the Places for Everyone programme, Jon persevered: “We were starting again. The programme seemed a really good opportunity to talk with someone who had experience of capital development for the voluntary sector and understood the obstacles we faced. It hit just the right note.”
“The programme gave us fresh impetus and reinforced that we were doing the right thing."
Reinvigorated by the programme, Jon drew up a new budget for his project: “We had drawn up grandiose plans of knocking the building down and starting again but without the Lottery money this was too expensive. We talked to our Places for Everyone architect and decided to refurbish one third of the building instead with a budget of £130,000. We realised that we could do the project far more quickly and cheaper than we originally thought.”
"The programme helped us feel positive again and within six months we were actually starting the building work! The project has been a pleasure.”
After securing a grant of £140,000, Phase One began. As Jon notes: “The programme gave us fresh impetus and reinforced that we were doing the right thing. We came off the back of a huge disappointment when we lost the Lottery bid and were feeling very negative. We had wasted a lot of money on extra fees, such as quantity surveyor fees, but we learned from these previous mistakes and moved forward. The programme helped us feel positive again and within six months we were actually starting the building work! The project has been a pleasure.”
With advice, support and expertise from his Places for Everyone architect, Tim Mosedale (Mosedale Gillatt Architects), Jon has secured further funding of £200,000 and is preparing to start Phase Two of the project in the Spring of 2011. The Trust will renovate the rest of the sports centre including dividing up the large hall into more flexible spaces.
"It is so hard to find support like that provided by Places for Everyone."
What excites Jon is the way in which the community of Seahouses is benefitting from the project already: “The perception of people in the village is gradually changing and groups who left because of the building’s state are coming back. Volunteers are getting involved and people are genuinely excited!”
Due to the positive reaction of the community, the Trust is considering providing a library service in the newly refurbished building: “The Library Service came to see the building and said ‘wow, it’s really great!’ That’s what I originally hoped would happen.”
"The programme is set up really well and understands what groups require when they are just starting a capital development project. It exceeded my expectations.”
As the project continues to grow, Jon reflects on how hard it was to get started and how much support the Places for Everyone programme provided: “Nobody will believe in you during the early stages of a project. Someone has to have faith in you and let you get started. It is so hard to find support like that provided by Places for Everyone. The programme is set up really well and understands what groups require when they are just starting a capital development project. It exceeded my expectations.”
