Thetford Meet-up Cafe Project Update 1

Well, today was the first day of my new job managing the Inspiring Communities project in Thetford with the Benjamin Foundation. (Website: www.benjaminfoundation.co.uk) I’ve left the world of Keystone behind, and am now managing this new project in Thetford which will see the redundant community centre on the Redcastle Estate transformed into a community centre, cafe, and learning hub for young people. I intend to record as much about the journey of this project as possible, and day 1 seems a good bit to record! What is the project? In August, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) awarded 15 lots of funding to projects around the UK. See here – http://www.lgcplus.com/children-and-education/latest-childrens-services-and-education-news/inspiring-communities-projects-named/5004789.article The project submitted by the Benjamin Foundation was successful and over £400,000 was allocated. A major achievement! The only project in the whole of East Anglia, and to a town the size of Thetford on top of the other sums of money given to the town (Growth Point, Healthy Towns, SRB, European Objective 2 and others). The project in Thetford will “include running a community café as a social enterprise that will act as a vibrant community focal point and provide training opportunities, voluntary and work experience placements and information and signposting services. Intergenerational gardening programme, a school and community radio station, and skills swaps are some of the other activities on offer”. In short, it is about creating a hub for the community, a vibrant community centre for all sorts of community activities but a specific focus on children and young people and a specific focus on training and skills improvement. The building will host a community cafe which will act as a regular drop-in for young people where they can go to complete their homework, seek advice and support, or just chill-out with friends. Other elements of the project will develop over time including media related activities and community gardening. The project will no doubt benefit the whole of Thetford, but a specific focus will be placed on the three West Thetford Estates – Abbey, Redcastle and Barnham Cross, for it is because of these areas that the funding was awarded. Many of the activities for this project will be located away from the building as well to ensure that as many young people as possible benefit from what it on offer. Today was day one, and the challenge we face was clear. The building was very cold, the heating did not work and much of the plaster-board to the roof inside had collapsed due to the leaky roof, it smelt of damp, and the buckets strategically positioned around the building were full of smelly rain water. Week 1 will see us cleaning as much of the building as possible, and getting to grips with what we need to do. Getting the heating working again is the number 1 priority, getting the roof fixed is also clearly a priority – it is however dependent on the weather as the roof is covered in snow so we are unable to get it sorted. Other tasks will include; Getting the oven working, electrical sockets checked, ordering all new equipment, cleaning – or replacing the carpets in some areas, re-painting the whole building, setting up our office, ordering or, sourcing all kitchen equipment – cutlery, pots, pans, dining tables and chairs, cleaning the windows etc etc The next few weeks, and probably the whole of January and into February will be focused on getting the building fit for purpose.