The first week of February 2024 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Melbourn Hub. What better opportunity to remind ourselves of the Hub story!
An idea is born
Melbourn Hub was truly born out of the community it serves. Residents of Melbourn were consulted in 2009/10 in order to develop a Village Plan, canvassing opinion from every house on every street. It was established from this very successful exercise that the community strongly wanted the local library saved from closure (due to loss of the original venue). Alongside the library an almost equally strong desire was expressed for a “Village Centre’ where people could come together and that offered a range of facilities including a cafe.
The original police site on the High Street was sold to Social Housing developers Hundred Housing Society and an approach was made by the Parish Council asking if a bespoke building could be accommodated on the site to provide the facilities that the community had asked for. The developers agreed and the Parish Council commissioned and purchased the Hub building, leasing it in 2013 to a volunteer management group to run it on their behalf and deliver the services the community had asked for. Therein started the Hub’s journey!
Expanding and improving
The Hub’s potential eventually outgrew the existing building and so began the expansion of the Hub during the Covid lockdown of 2021 to become the unique building you see today. The investment resulted in extra meeting rooms, all beautifully equipped to the latest standards. The outside terrace was extended to provide more outside seating space, along with an updated kitchen and stylish redecoration.
This was a significant moment in the history of the Hub as some important changes were made possible that allowed the present-day Hub to become more efficient and an altogether better venue. Very satisfying too that the upgrade work was done entirely with grant support and at no cost to the community.
For the community, by the community
Our mission throughout this time has never changed – to provide residents of Melbourn and beyond with the services, events and facilities it wants! We are therefore always growing, changing and improving the services we offer. Described in broad headings the Hub offers great value in the following areas:
Activities & Events
We hold concerts, craft fairs and seasonal events in collaboration with other community groups such as Turn on to Christmas, monthly art exhibitions, children’s story time, Hubby Bear children’s character and menu, lunch clubs and information and counselling services such as Citizen’s Advice.
Health
In 2022 the Hub launched its ‘Health at the Hub’ initiative with Meridian Primary Care Network to provide local access to GP practice services and other health support including physiotherapy, blood tests, respiratory and diabetes checks, mental health services and access to general health checks and heath coaches.
Also, since 2022, the Hub has worked closely with the NHS vaccination teams and have hosted regular Covid-19 walk-in vaccination clinics achieving record breaking numbers of people attending the sessions, often many hundreds.
Café
The café has proved to be truly the Hub of the village, bustling with people who enjoy the friendliness and value for money which The Hub has maintained as part of its community ethos of inclusion. The popularity of the café has enabled the Hub to dramatically increase the employment opportunities we are able to give people in addition to extra volunteering and the benefits that this brings to many people wishing to remain active in the community.
Library
The library, which was important to the early planning of the Hub, has gone from strength to strength, with a dedicated volunteer group keeping this vital local resource very much alive. Membership has steadily increased and has recently branched out with regular in-person evenings.
Room Hire
The Hub boasts meeting rooms of quality, priced at rates that allow for both commercial clients and those with less deep pockets, such as local community organisations. This is an important aspect of the facilities on offer, with no other similar options for miles around.
Securing the Hub’s future
The dedicated volunteer team that have run the Hub in recent years set their sights on making the operation as financially sound as is possible. The Hub is a public-facing charity with a hard-wired obligation to provide services at rates everyone can afford.
As we reach our 10-year anniversary it is very satisfying to report that the Hub now routinely operates at a surplus of income over expenses. Grant support from the public purse is not required.
Thanking all those who made it possible
Although we have a fantastic small team of paid staff running the kitchen and cafe, none of what we do at the Hub would be possible without the dedication, loyalty and unwavering support of a wide range of volunteers.
The Hub’s management group, many of its serving staff and all of its administrative and library staff do what they do on an entirely voluntary basis. This, and our partnership with Melbourn Parish Council, mean we can offer this space and service to all who want to use it. We are ever grateful to all of these wonderful people.
So, a very happy birthday to the Hub! We can’t wait to see what the next 10 years have in store.
