Heath Park Consortium is a new idea to run a hyper-local community centre through a truly genuine partnership-based model. Now that the model has been co-designed, we’re looking for more organisations to join.
Overview
Heath Park Community Centre is located at the heart of a residential community in Heath Ward. The building has two large self-contained spaces, an open plan café and a separate kitchen, as well as secure outdoor space and plenty of storage.
Partnership Opportunity
A brand new, pioneering, partnership model has been co-designed by six local social enterprises over the past three months. The model priorities a diverse mix of partners to co-curate services that aim to heal the wounds of people in the area – with ideas ranging from warm-space provision to collaborative employability training, and a whole lot more.
In a nutshell – how it will work:
- Lease Holder – BEC will manage the lease relationship with the council (covering health and
safety, maintenance, cleaning, and all utility providers). - Consortium Partners – will be responsible for all activity/service provision in the centre
and for generating revenue to cover the running costs. - Partnership Tiers – to help manage the financial risk, we have created two 6ers of
partnership:
a. Lead Partners who’ll act as financial guarantors (up to £6-10k per year), gaining a
dedicated allocation of free weekly access to use the centre.
b. Associate Partners who’ll have access to the space on a pay-as-you-go basis as well
as contributing to the governance, planning, and be included in funded projects
(without the same financial liabilities of Lead Partners).
Activity Provision
The partnership is very clear that the space will be 100% about service delivery – not being used for office or administration purposes. Instead, the programme will be a mix of partner provision, codesigned services, and activities from local community partners. It is hoped that a mix of hires through community partners and funded projects will make Heath Park Community Centre a self-financing initiative.
Launching in February 2024, we’re looking for a few more Lead Partners to join the consortium and are open to applications from Associate Partners.
To apply, please send an Expression of Interest (around 500 words) which outlines:
- Why you want to be part of the consortium.
- What you might use the centre for (activities, age group, etc)
- What could you offer to the consortium (admin, co-ordination, comms support)
- Confirm your availability to take part in pre-launch meetings in January and February 2024
(approx. 4 meetings)
Please send this to sarah@bdcollective.co.uk by 4th January 2024.
Other information:
Current Partners
• Independent Living Agency
• True Cadence
• Red Cross
• Green Shoes Arts
• Kiera’s Kitchen
• Brennan & Burch
Video Tour
Use this link to watch a short video tour of Heath Park Community Centre https://bit.ly/Heath_Park_Video
Floor Plan of Heath Park Community Centre
PDF of all the information above: https://bdcollective.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Heath-Park-Opportunity.pdf
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