Always on
This project successfully funded on 26th December 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
A New Life for Derbyshire Eco Centre
Matlock, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
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Aim
We have an exciting opportunity to breathe new life into the Derbyshire Eco Centre and make a thriving community hub for everyone to enjoy!
March 2026 Update:
In early February we were very pleased, and excited, to receive the good news that Derbyshire County Council had accepted us, with the Institute of Quarrying, as the preferred group to lease the Eco Centre.
There has been lots happening behind the scenes to prepare for re-opening later in the spring.
March has now arrived and we reach another landmark! The Derbyshire Eco Centre CIC group has launched its brand-new website. Do take a look!
You can find us here www.derbyshireecocentre.co.uk or search for Eco Centre in Google.
Derbyshire Eco Centre closed in July 2025. It is being offered for lease by Derbyshire County Council.
We know its potential, and we need £70,000 for essential resources and start-up funding. The initial focus for the Crowdfunder is to raise £25,000 by Christmas.
- The Eco Centre can change lives with new skills, friends, inspiration and support
- The Eco Centre showcases sustainable building design minimising energy costs on a site abundant with wildlife
- The community, social enterprises, education providers and local businesses want to work with us
- The local community has formed a social enterprise to bid for the lease, working in partnership with the Institute of Quarrying who run the National Stone Centre.
With your help and support we can make the Eco Centre better than ever!
Help us raise £25,000 by Christmas!
Your donation will help us to achieve our Vision that the Eco Centre will be a Centre of Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development, focusing on:
- Inclusive learning for communities of all ages and backgrounds
- Supporting people to get into and progress at work
- Growing children's connection with nature and helping them thrive in the outdoors
- Creating an inspiring focus for sustainable lifestyles
Can you help? Any donation, however small will help us raise vital funds and show your support for the Derbyshire Eco Centre.
WANT A BIT MORE DETAIL?
The Opportunities
We know that the Eco Centre can change lives. New skills for a greener life, for making friends, having help to get back to work, being inspired to live healthier lives, and enjoying community events that bring joy can all happen again. In our plan, these things and more will be shared with more people from Derbyshire and beyond.
Derbyshire Eco Centre showcases sustainable building design. Materials and construction have minimised energy costs and the site is a haven for wildlife. The building has a series of beautiful, inspirational learning spaces, both indoor and out, ready and waiting to be utilized.
We have a sound proposal. The Institute of Quarrying (who run the National Stone Centre) has agreed to finance the lease, and we, the Derbyshire Eco Centre CIC, will lead on what happens there. Other partners intend to rent out the space for regular groups and events. This crowdfunding campaign will provide initial start-up costs to help us get going.
The community recognises the potential. Do you? Social enterprises, education providers, and local businesses want to work with us to make sure the Eco Centre is not lost to the community. An incredible amount of time, expertise and resources have already been invested and with your help we have a strong chance of success. With community help we have successfully applied to nominate the site as an Asset of Community Value.
Who will benefit if I donate to this campaign?
People from right across Derbyshire and the East Midlands will be able to share in the Eco Centre’s new life. Your donation will help the Eco Centre become a Centre of Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development, focusing on four strands of activity:
- Inclusive learning for communities: Our highly skilled tutors, will offer community courses for people of all ages and backgrounds. The inspirational settings will keep heritage and rural crafts alive, encourage sustainable lifestyle skills and promote wellbeing and nature connectedness.
- Supporting people to get into and progress at work: The Eco Centre has great facilities for training new entrants and workforces in sectors like quarrying, horticulture, dry stone walling, and tourism. Business partnerships will also provide stable rental income, as we grow our own offering.
- We know that children and young people thrive in the outdoors and with time away from screens. The Eco Centre will grow children's connection with nature whether they are very young or on the way to adult life choices. We'll provide support for those who find school tricky, through hands-on experiences in sustainable building, natural crafts, conservation, food growing, and horticulture.
- The Eco Centre will create an inspiring focus for sustainable lifestyles: We’re excited to develop a programme of events, celebrations, and seminars to inspire the wider community. Social enterprises and community groups will also be able to book the Eco Centre for their own groups and events.
Why was the Derbyshire Eco Centre closed by Derbyshire County Council (DCC)?
Changes in funding for adult education closed the Derbyshire Eco Centre at Middleton-by-Wirksworth at very short notice at the end of July. Other centres were also closed. This is because the funding that DCC depend on to run courses was being redirected elsewhere.
Why are we partners with Institute of Quarrying (IQ)?
- Together we make a good case to DCC. The council will know that we can afford the rent, and that the community is really behind the Eco Centre.
- The Eco Centre and National Stone Centre (NSC) have worked together successfully in the past, for events and festivals, so we know we can get along. IQ have a track record of supporting the arts and our community.
- The quarrying industry is vital for our green local economy. Training people who work in the quarrying industry will help it to become a more sustainable industry. Recycling products, landscaping for wildlife and bringing local people reliable jobs is high on their agenda.
What will happen if our bid to take over the Eco Centre fails?
It will be leased to another organisation, and the public may never be able to enjoy its facilities again, or even walk through the grounds. The gardens, woods, meadow and scrubland which are a haven for wildlife, rural skills building and contemplation will be developed for another use.
A community hub that has changed lives may be lost, devastating those who protested and petitioned to save the Eco Centre from closure.
Why do we want to save the Eco Centre?
We want to make sure that this inspiring building and its site isn’t lost to the community. Our goal is that the Eco Centre remains a viable and vibrant asset for the people of Derbyshire and the East Midlands long into the future.
If it wasn’t viable before, how will this be different?
- The Derbyshire Eco Centre CIC will have a wider remit and more flexibility about how the Centre can be used.
- Our marketing will be more focused on those who care about sustainability and across a wider area.
- We will work with more partners, to attract funding and customers.
- We won’t be able to offer use of the building or courses for free, but we will work to keep our offer affordable.
- We’ll involve the community by having a ‘Friends of the Eco Centre’ scheme
- We’ll work with a host of self-employed tutors and invite independent tutors to rent spaces to run their courses.
- It won’t be easy, times are hard, but with your support and IQ behind us we will get off to a good start.
We don’t want the Eco Centre to stand empty for long. At only 15 years old and built to a highly sustainable design, the centre’s work has only just begun. Please donate today.
Who are we?
We are the Derbyshire Eco Centre CIC. Although we are a new organisation our founding members have a long history. We are:
- Grassroots Wirksworth (formerly Wirksworth Transition group)
- The Institute of Quarrying and the National Stone Centre
We are the community. We have letters of support from other organisations, both large and small, that are hoping to join us. A host of letters have been received from people in the community, encouraging us to fight for a new future for the Eco Centre.
Have we got the skills to do this?
Grassroots Wirksworth takes positive action to support the community to thrive in a healthy environment with a vibrant local economy. We include adult education, community and business professionals in our membership. We have just researched and written the Business Plan for the Eco Centre CIC, investing over £30,000 in professional volunteer time to do this. We have successfully applied to nominate the site as an Asset of Community Value with Derbyshire Dales District Council. We are registering the CIC with Companies House.
The Institute of Quarrying (IQ) is the professional body of the quarrying industry, which is Derbyshire’s largest industry. It is based at and runs the National Stone Centre. IQ works with the industry to make it future proof and to promote the science of quarrying.
Our combined skills and experience will make the Eco Centre viable in the long term.
What is the history of the Derbyshire Eco Centre?
Derbyshire Eco Centre was built in 2010 using sustainable building methods, materials and technology to create an all-weather training facility for sustainable development education. The centre and its surrounding landscape were designed and built to gain an 'excellent' standard from the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Measure.
What is a CIC or Community Interest Company?
A Community Interest Company or CIC is a type of limited company in the UK designed for social enterprises that aim to benefit the community rather than private shareholders.
What is Sustainable Development?
The term ‘sustainable development’ has been used since the 1980s and broadly means,
‘Making decisions today that do not compromise the ability of future generations to make decisions.’
Sustainability is achieved, and the needs of future generations are met, where the economy, community and environment are all taken into account.
What happens if we raise more than our target?
If we are successful and raise more than our target, we will use the funds to develop the Eco Centre and site to offer more benefit to the community.
What happens if we raise less than our target?
If we are not successful in our bid to lease the Eco Centre, then your donations will be refunded to you via the Crowdfunder platform. In this way you are protected should the campaign be unsuccessful.
Why have you set up the campaign as 'Keep what you raise'?
We have set the campaign up as a 'Keep what you raise' because some large pledges may be made outside of the Crowdfunder fundraising platform.
We have also set the project end date to give us time to see if we have been successful and perform the necessary administration.
However, rest assured, if we are not successful in getting the lease for the Eco Centre then we will return your donations to you.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made