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St Margaret’s Community Trust is currently securing funding for a £1m project to turn the church located on a multi-cultural council estate into a centre for all the community. Funding is being split into different areas for the adaptation of the Georgian Grade II listed building.
The project began in 2006 following a conversation between officers from Birmingham City Council, the local ward councillor and the vicar – about putting the heart back into the community. The community development worker did a needs assessment around the local streets on “what do you like about the area?” The general response revealed a fragmented community spirit with comments like ‘there is nothing for me in the area, I used to like living here but now I don’t”
The project was kick-started in 2007 with a £5,000 grant from the Council’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund matched funded with a Church Urban Fund Mustard Seed Grant. This paid for a technical feasibility study and number of design options.
At the same time funding was sourced from ESF European Social Fund for a community development consultant who was appointed to produce a business plan in to using the Church for the community. This enabled them to link the needs in the area with what could be delivered in the church? As well as begin to address the issues of what sort of governance would be needed and how the project could become economically viable.
During 2008, the charitable trust was formed which brought together the community and the church with local stakeholders. Through extensive local consultation, the trust put forward a number of options for the church, which soon became whittled down to one. It was important to have these different options to enable a conversation and to allow the project to emerge and develop a clear sense of local ownership.
So what has emerged?
Phase One
1. The Church is a Grade 2 Listed building with historic stained glass windows (Burne Jones) and a memorial to the 19th Century local historian William Hutton in Church. In consultation with the local history group, Victorian Society and others about putting together a heritage hall based in the Church to celebrate the local area which would also be educational about the local history and could be used for adult education classes. The trust is in discussion with Heritage Lottery Fund to fund this area.
2. The original sanctuary of the church will be screened off for private prayer area and opened up to all a focus for worship on a Sunday.
3. As Ward End is a deprived area, struggling and 186 on index of deprivation (in top 5% of nationally deprived areas) it suffers from all usual problems of high unemployment (LDV is just round the corner), low educational background. It has been decided to create two confidential information advice and guidance suites where local support agencies could offer services with its own kitchen and servery. The trust is in a local partnership seeking to deliver the Working Neighbourhood Fund and sees the new advice suite as crucial to delivering this.
This phase will provide public access and better utilize the old church, however the business case shows it to be unviable as a social enterprise in the long term as there will be insufficient funds to pay for on going heating, lighting and maintenance as well salaries for management and cleaning.
The trust has therefore proposed a second phase to ensure viability.
Phase Two
This necessitates the demolition and relocation of the neighbouring children’s play centre, currently housed in a not fit for purpose former tenants’ hall.
The Council are backing this a project to extend the Church and build a purpose built children’s and youth centre with upstairs area for recording, computers, multi-media etc to provide training and experience for young people who may not have access at home. The trust hopes to tap into lottery funds and other trust funds for this work.
In 2009, things began to move forward on the revenue side with funds secured to employ two additional workers to help move this project forward.
First, £95,000 (over three years) was secured from the Tudor Trust to pay for a project development manager to deliver the project on the ground.
Second, funds were secured from the local council Community Chest and Home Office (anti-gang/knife crime) funds to employ a local detached youth worker who will be mentored and trained by the national youth charity Worth Unlimited to work with 14-25 year olds on the local estate to feed into the proposed youth programme.
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Building Unity in the Community www.stmargaretscommunitytrust.co.uk |