The building had suffered years of poor maintenance and neglect, our first job was to remove asbestos which is now all clear. We had just 4 Community groups to start with, the Youth Club, a Parent and Toddler group, the 729 group for adults with additional needs and a creative art group for adults with extra needs, we now have ten groups and occasional hires from the community. In March 2022 a lower roof blew off and had to be replaced, then in March 2023 we discovered our upper roof had deteriorated badly. In spring and summer 2023 we raised £90,000 to do the roof, replace an old expensive heating system, refurbish our loos and replace an old fire alarm system with a state of the art L2 fire safety alarm. Things were looking good until September 2023 when our lower hall flooded with sewerage, it ruined the whole kitchen including the flooring and had to be replaced. Fortunately our insurance covered most of the cost but it left us closed for almost three months, it was devastating for our community group, some had nowhere large enough to meet. We reopened late December in time to host Operation Rudolph who provide free Christmas lunches to lonely isolated folk and give presents to the not so well off families. The closure meant we lost a couple of groups but we soon filled the gaps. In 2024 we have fitted a new intruder alarm, both that and fire alarm are monitored 2/7 We have also created a new fire escape which has replaced an old regime of using heavy mental ramps to get wheelchair users out in case of fire. Our buildings interior is now warm and welcoming but the rendering on the outside north, west facing is falling off, we have been advised to insulate it and cladding ill future proof the front. We also have replaced 80? of the old single glazed windows but still have 6 more to do.
With the front insulated and cladded, new windows in our kitchen hall and the rest of the building repainted Our Community Building built in the late sixties will be set for the future to be home for Honiton's community groups to use at a very low cost.