Knighton and District Community Centre
  • Home
  • Advice from the Hub
  • News / What's On
  • Market
  • Volunteer Hub
  • Job vacancies
  • Knighton Festival
    • About the Festival
    • Programme
    • Authors / Musicians
    • Tickets
  • Weddings
  • Gallery
  • Practicalities
  • Contact Us
  • Map
  • Join our email list

Not beat yet...

10/31/2016

0 Comments

 
The news that our bid for Big Lottery funding to refurbish and redesign the centre had been unsuccessful initially left us stunned and lost for a way forward.  Since then huge amounts of energy have been directed towards seeing if funding previously promised by Powys County Council and the Welsh Assembly could still be used for a much slimmed down renovation, still with the aim of creating a community hub capable of housing the library and other services.
A major source of problems has been the deadline for the spending being the end of the financial year.  How do you scrap one carefully priced up plan and go back to the drawing board to produce an alternative plan, then price it all up building, technical requirements and all, present it to those holding the purse strings and get the building underway with the remotest chance of completion on time?
So, the fight to stay open and give Knighton's Community Centre a future goes on...  As of today, as per our planned timescale, no more major events are booked into the centre, though our regular weekly activities continue until further notice.  It's all rather nerve-wracking: we may have the funding approved and we may be able to sort out the huge complications of costing and getting this mammoth project off the ground, all in a couple of weeks.  If we do, the building will have to close with little notice!  We do have a plan to keep activities going during what could be months of closure - but more of that if and when. 
With so much at stake we're determined to fight on a little longer.
Having said all that it is therefore almost straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back time when we find that someone has been up on the centre's roof in recent days and the exhaust flue from the building's central heating boiler has somehow become seriously bent out of shape. Given the Comm's history of suffering vandalism, youths climbing on the roof, breaking tiles etc, this latest damage seems more likely to be vandalism than a case of the flue buckling under the weight of a particularly heavy pigeon.
Most depressing for us and inconvenient for all our users is the fact that we have been advised that the central heating should not be used until the system's exhaust vent has been thoroughly checked - an expense we can ill afford at this time. An extra woolly might be in order if you're attending tomorrow's meeting on the future of the leisure centre. And any information on who might have been on the roof and caused this damage would be much appreciated.

Picture
0 Comments

Big Lottery

10/12/2016

0 Comments

 
10th October 2016
 
It is with great regret that Knighton and District Community Centre Committee, a registered charity, has to announce that it has been unsuccessful in the final stage application to the Big Lottery Fund to finance the transformation of Knighton and District Community Centre into a community hub to better meet the needs of the local community and to provide the town with an excitingly redesigned venue.
 
The fact that the Big Lottery had already supported the Committee with a grant last year to allow it to work with architects to design the scheme and get planning permission makes the latest decision even more disappointing.
 
The project, which the committee has been working towards since 2010, had already secured conditional funding of £500,000 from the Welsh Assembly towards the full costs, as well as £100,000 from Powys County Council to replace the building’s roof.   Although these are substantial sums of money, they are nowhere near what is needed to achieve the vision of one venue where most of the services the community needs can be centrally located, so that provision of services is coordinated - and not lost to the community altogether, which is the fear of many at this time of austerity and spending cuts. 


The building has had little investment since it was built in 1982 and is in need of a complete overhaul to improve energy efficiency, ensure it meets compliance and is viable long into the future.
 
The bid also included funding for much needed staffing because the centre is currently run almost entirely by hard-pressed volunteers and costs almost £2,500 per month just to keep the doors open.
 
The Chair of the Committee, Karen Plant, stated ‘This news is devastating.  Our main concern now is,  in the short term, to ensure we explore all options on behalf of the community and the many users of the Centre who rely on us week after week to keep the doors open, while ensuring that any public money spent is used to best effect.’
 
This is an unfortunate, heartbreaking outcome after many years of hard work.  However the Committee has pledged to work with its existing funding partners and the professional build team to see whether a contingency plan is salvageable.
 
Karen Plant went on to say ‘The people of Knighton and surrounding district cannot be under any illusion about the future of the Centre and the crisis we find ourselves in.  For some of us this is a seven-day-a-week voluntary commitment to keeping the place open, a situation which is unsustainable. The Big Lottery decision is an added blow for Knighton following recent announcements about other public services – some of which we were planning to co-locate in the renovated building.’
 

0 Comments
    Download the latest Directory

    Archives

    June 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Advice from the Hub
  • News / What's On
  • Market
  • Volunteer Hub
  • Job vacancies
  • Knighton Festival
    • About the Festival
    • Programme
    • Authors / Musicians
    • Tickets
  • Weddings
  • Gallery
  • Practicalities
  • Contact Us
  • Map
  • Join our email list