Whilst Covid has brought many challenges for the Hub we have managed to be resilient as a business, keeping ourselves and our staff and volunteers safe during the various open and closed periods we have had to endure over the last year. We are sincerely grateful to our staff and volunteers who have continued supporting us and being flexible throughout a challenging time, now we find ourselves a full year from when it all started.
However, we’ve some news that we wanted to share with you.
What is happening?
While we have been all suffering with Covid restrictions, we have been given a silver lining in the form of some gifted money to fund much-needed building improvements. The funding has come together at a somewhat fortuitous time as the building is closed due to government Covid restrictions, making building access more straightforward.
Why is it happening?
The improvements will significantly improve the customer experience, while also providing better facilities for staff and enabling the Hub to offer more and better meeting room spaces to serve local residents and businesses..
As you may know, the Hub building is owned by the Parish Council and leased to the Melbourn Community Hub Management Group in its entirety. The Hub’s lease and charitable charter are to provide benefits and services to the village and nearby communities. The Hub has had to operate with regular grant support to do this. This is not ideal or desirable. An important objective of the changes is also to create a community operation that is self-sustaining.
How is it made possible?
We have been seeking and applying for various funds for some time to support our plans and have been talking to staff, volunteers and customers, seeking feedback and ideas on making the Hub an even better place.
‘S106’ money was designated by TTP specifically for the Hub. It is not available or intended for anything else and does not displace any other funding that might otherwise be coming from TTP in support of the community as a result of their site development.
The Hub also successfully applied for a Cambridgeshire County Council capital grant fund, set up specifically to finance the development and enhancement of distributed and decentralised community support – precisely what the Hub is about! Therefore we are delighted that the local community will benefit from The Hub’s improved facilities, while we remain completely independent of all Melbourn parish council or other precept monies for the project.
The allocation of funds and the approval of building contractors were confirmed at the Parish Council meeting on Monday 22nd February. We are really grateful to The Technology Partnership (TTP) and Cambridge County Council for coming forward and supporting us with the funds we need.
It is providing us opportunities to support growing services and to meet the changing needs of the community required additional and more flexible space.
When is it taking place?
Work is planned to start on 8th March 2021, with the digging of footings. Steps have already been taken to clear rooms inside the building that are affected by the changes, both upstairs and downstairs, and we have arranged for secure storage of all the necessary equipment etc. So don’t be surprised if you see activity on-site, as this is what is happening!
It is expected that the build will take about four months to complete and some work may still be ongoing after we re-open, depending on the relaxation of the lockdown rules for hospitality venues. We will keep everyone informed on this website page and on our Facebook page. We should also shout out big thanks to Norbury’s builders in Melbourn for providing off-site storage for us and a welcome close partnership with building supplies.
Next steps and communication
As you can imagine, we are very excited about this project. We hope that it will provide some much-needed light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel for everyone who works at the Hub and who enjoy the facilities we offer..
We look forward to coming back better and stronger from the break and welcoming everyone back as soon as we possibly can, serving the community, That is is what we are here to do.
If anyone has questions, please contact centremanager@melbournhub.co.uk in the first instance.
The Hub Management Team
