Pippins Community Centre needs weather-proofing!

Here at Pippins, the local community is at the heart of everything we do. Currently a registered charity (no. 1178447), and soon to be a Community Interest Organisation (CIO), all proceeds generated from hiring out our rooms are reinvested back into the centre and lots of really important initiatives that serve the people in our town and beyond.

Pippins was ‘born’ as a dedicated Community Centre in 2016, and has come a long way since, growing its usage from just two community user groups to the 40+ initiatives that are now based out of the centre, each doing amazing work in the community.

We aim to keep our building a warm, welcoming and safe place for all – and to keep our room hire prices very accessible so that financing should never be a barrier to good things happening in our town. All whilst on a shoe-string budget ourselves!

Here’s just a small sample of some of the initiatives we house or support:

• Community Café to help combat loneliness and isolation in the community
• Nourish – a community initiative set up to provide access to nourishing food when support is needed
• Job Club – a completely free service to help local jobseekers including Citizens Advice and East Devon Benefits Service
• Together Devon - The Hub Drug & Alcohol recovery service
• Two wonderful baby and toddler groups
• Headlight Mental Health Services for young people
• Adult learning opportunities – Learn Devon mathematics and Conversational English lessons
• United Response cookery sessions - supporting people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism and mental health support needs
• Axminster Memory Café – supporting individuals with dementia, and their carers
• Axminster New Youth Club for children and teens aged 11+
• Axminster Home Educators
• Singing Matters singing group – singing for wellbeing
• Axminster Methodist Church congregation
• The LIFE Community Christian community

During the COVID-19 lockdown period, Pippins provided food support to 200 people who are connected to our work here at Pippins, from the end of March until August. We worked closely with Axminster Foodbank, ACER, Nourish, Exeter Food Action and FareShares South West in Bristol, and was something we were proud to be a part of.

Why are we launching our first Crowdfunder?

We’ve been lucky to recently secure the Pippins building as our own permanent home, but as one of Axminster’s most prominent grade 11 listed Georgian buildings there’s lots to do to keep it watertight, windproof, safe and welcoming. In order to do this, Pippins needs your help!

Pippins is in desperate need of a full exterior and interior re-paint, with additional mending and repairs (including our many beautiful sash windows) along the way.

Funds are needed to foot the cost of painting, scaffolding and essential works so that we can secure our building not just for the winter ahead, but for the future too, to safeguard our vital community facility for years to come!

Our first crowdfunding campaign focusses on the exterior painting project – with potential to extend to repairs to our windows, fascias, guttering and some interior areas if we hit our target.

We’ve been blessed with a mighty fine building – with a lot of walls, requiring a lot of lovely (and very chic) grey paint! 

Donations and Matchfunding

If we raise a minimum 25% of our £10,000* target (£2500), we are hopeful that our campaign will be considered for matchfunding from East Devon District Council’s #crowdfunddevon project, meaning that anything we raise could be matched with additional funding from the council.

Please note: at the end of October, we reduced our overall target from £10,000 to £7000. 

So let’s dig deep, and donate if you possibly can – help give Pippins the facelift and renovations our treasured community facility deserves!