Case Studies

St Sidwell's Centre - Exemplar Community Hub

The Challenge:

Before St. Sidwell’s was set up there were a number of challenges facing our community. People were socially excluded, there were poor levels of health and well-being, a lack of dedicated community facilities, limited access to computers and the internet, a lack of activities for an area that has become multi-cultural and a number of people living in poverty and experiencing other forms of deprivation.  

We set about tackling these issues through providing affordable food through the café; creating affordable community facilities; creating volunteering opportunities; enabling access to a wide range of activities including social groups, education, support groups health and well-being groups and support for families. We also provided computers for community access and offered training to the community.  

Our main ethos is to offer services and activities that can improve the lives of our local residents and the wider community.

We are considered an information hub and a place where local people can gain knowledge of further services available to them.

We have been serving the community for 10 years now and have seen an average of 20,000 people per year through these various activities.

Developing the idea:

The initial idea for the centre evolved from a community consultation which was undertaken by Exeter Community Initiatives (ECI) in 1998.

The findings of the consultation highlighted the need for a traditional community centre for the old Rougemont ward of Exeter that could provide a range of services and activities for the local community.

Part of the St Sidwell’s  Church was earmarked for conversion into a community centre. Funding was obtained through the New Opportunities Fund to make this happen and to set St. Sidwell’s up as a healthy living centre.

Making it happen:

St Sidwell’s opened in 2001 as a Health Living Centre with a team of staff who were able to drive forward the vision of the centre.  

Since it began the Centre has grown and changed: supporting the needs of local community through a range of activities and services.

It was originally a project of Exeter Community Initiatives and was sufficiently successful enough to become a charitable company in it’s own right in 2008.

The centre is run by a board of trustees who employ a Centre Manager to oversee the day to day running of the centre. There are also administration workers, a volunteer co-ordinator and a team of volunteers who help to run the activities each day.

Keeping it going:

St Sidwell’s is able to generate a substantial amount of it’s running costs through income from room hire and sales from the volunteer run café. The shortfall is made up through grant funding.

Looking towards the future, it will be necessary to secure further funding to keep the centre going and to explore other options for generating sustainable additional income. We will also be exploring opportunities for collaboration and undertaking commissioned work.

We are in the process of re-evaluating our business plan to make sure that we are offering services that are relevant to our community.

Consultations have recently been undertaken so will be added into our new business plan. The end goal will be a robust plan for the next 5 years.

Top Tips:

• Value the work of your volunteers  
• Remain relevant to the community that you serve
• Develop a supportive and representative board of Trustees
• Establish a culture of transparency with users, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders
• Build contacts and relationships across a wide range of agencies
• Have robust policies
• Have a structured marketing and fundraising plan

Click here to view St Sidwell's Centre's website
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Wonford Community & Learning Centre - 
Exemplar Community Hub

The Challenge:

Wonford is an area with a high level of needs locally. Wonford Community Association was originally set up to represent people, get voices heard and run the community centre. At that time the centre facilities were out of date and the venue unused.

A Government funded project ran in the area called ‘The Valley Regeneration Scheme’ (TVRS). TVRS provided support to the association – and helped get greater use of the
centre for activities for local people, re-vamp the building, develop future plans for the centre and support the association to become a Company Limited by Guarantee with Charitable status.

Since having the redevelopment of the centre the number of people using the facility has gone up a lot and the reports from the users are excellent.

The people in the area hire the centre for wedding parties, children’s parties and to run groups. Many of the groups are now full to capacity which shows that the centre is successful in getting people through the door. The people of Wonford now have a community centre that they can use and appreciate.

People in the community can now access support and assistance and we have helped to reduce isolation in the area.

Developing the idea:

Wonford Community Association was established 30 years ago. The idea for developing an association came from local people and councillors.

When the TVRS project was set up they undertook a community consultation. The results of this showed that the community wanted to see the area improved and updated and part of this was a desire to see the Wonford Community Hall up-dated too. This led to plans being drawn up for the re-vamp.

Making it happen:

The key to making it happen was Wonford Community Association and local residents working closely with the multi-agency partnership board that had been set up to oversee the TVRS project.

As TVRS had employees  they had the capacity to  undertake a community consultation and to support the Association and residents throughout the process.

A plan was made and firstly taken to the RDA and then to the landlords (Exeter City Council) for comments. This was followed by open days at the centre where local people had the opportunity to look over the plans and express their views about the plans.

Architects were appointed to draw up detailed plans and send it out to tender. This process was overseen by TVRS.

Keeping it going:

At the present time the project is very successful in letting the centre and we are enabling a wide variety of activities to happen for the benefit of the community. The groups that use the centre are very pleased with the facilities that are available. We are very fortunate in having an active centre manager who oversees bookings and keeps the place running.

We also have a good band of volunteers that help keep things running. We are also fortunate in having 2 new trustees with new ideas which will help develop the centre for the future. We have recently had to increase prices at the centre to cover the ever increasing costs we are facing. We will be looking to apply for funding in the near future to sustain the centre for the use of local residents.

Top Tips:

• Consult local people
• Make sure your users are happy and do not take them for granted
• Make sure you have the right staff
• Ensure your Trustees are committed to your project
• Ensure that your volunteers are trained to do the job being asked of them
• Make your group is a Company Limited by Guarantee to protect your Trustees
• Have someone who is responsible for Health and Safety
• Have policies and procedures in place
• When doing your budget for the future make sure it is fact not fiction