Co-op Warm Spaces Funding Boost has provided £3,397 of match funding
The Ribble Valley Community & Sports Hub
Clitheroe, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Aim
Upgrading our facility for use by local community & visiting clubs as a hub for warmth, food, health & mental wellbeing events & activities
Who are we?
We are a small, unique, not for profit, community hub, with a cafe, meeting facilities, a workshop with qualified cycling mechanics & apprentices carrying out maintenance repairs / upgrades, who also provides mental health first aid by qualified staff and volunteers, with a Defib with CPR trained members.
Initially hosting cycling, running & tri clubs, who provide repairs, advice and refreshments for other clubs & tourists, who organise and host events for sports, health & fitness and other interesting related topics.
As tends to happen, especially during times of trauma, such as the pandemic & now the cost of living crisis, some of our local community decided that we were a safe, warm & welcoming venue to have a cheap "brew" & healthy bite to eat and "a natter" or just a safe warm space to use.
As a result, we want to expand our community offerings, to warm & feed people who need it, not only to look after them / signpost them for help, but also to encourage them to take up some physical activity again.
We have raised significant funds for Prostate Cancer, North West Ambulance Service Charity and crowdfunded a Defib, Registered on "The Circuit" for emergency public use, CPR and Defib training for staff and have 8 x trained mental first aiders.
We aren't just a local hub, we are a venue for many regional clubs in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and tourists from further afield.
We act as a hub for blind tandem rides and are involved in a number of community related cycling (of all types) initiatives
We support regular rides to people of all ages and regardless of their experience, including mental health initiatives on road & a local track under the initiative called "Mindful miles"
Community Impact:
We provide not only a service, but a sanctuary, its why our staff, hub users and guests voted to provide mental health first aider training for example.
During the pandemic, the local community needed a venue for some quiet time, or a chat with staff or visitors in a safe, warm location, telling us that they didn't feel they could relax / or be safe, anywhere else.
As a result, we then started to uptick our community based work, creating an official "Warm Space" under Lancashire County Council's scheme, we are now busy raising funds, seeking partners, sponsorship and grants to provide this facility for more days and longer hours, to provide a healthy hot food & drink(s)
We employ 2 fully qualified teachers, which we will use to encourage local school age children to take up cycling (of any type) irrespective of bike ownership or experience / cost.
We support regular rides to people of all ages and regardless of their experience, including mental health initiatives on road & a local track under the initiative called "Mindful miles"
We transit children from the club in a van and trailer (With food & drink) to Gisburn Forest for 2 hour slots with a qualified teacher & mechanic, so that young people can access the forest for it's MTB tracks, especially when they don't have transport to this remote area.
We host a cycling clothing recycling, as we appreciate cycling clothing is expensive and we repair schools bikes, often pro bono, and often recycling bikes / parts, for use by people who don't have one (Or a suitable one for the purpose)
We feel we are a unique community hub that offers sanctuary and mental and physical health improvements to its community and we want to retain and grow it.
Why are we crowdfunding?
Like many local businesses, austerity, the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis has continually challenged it, often with no "play book" as to how to survive it. It's been really tough, especially in an industry that you do not go into for the money, after all, how many local bike shop owning millionaires do you know? The answer will be zero!
We created a community hub, not just for cycling, but for all sports and to support it's local community, we've raised funds and provided a safe warm place, jobs, training, life skills and support, as well as emergency equipment to our community, and we want to retain and build on that.
We provide basic maintenance courses, mental well being rides, bike-ability rides, employment opportunities, speaker events, support for youth racing teams and clubs, partially sighted rides and more support disabled riders.
In simple terms, all the above needs people, time, expertise, support, multi faceted teamwork and funding!
How we’ll spend the money raised
As a not for profit, any funds raised will be used to fund the community activities mentioned above, upgrading the facilities / infrastructure as we have to cope with the additional demand, opening days and times, and paying for staff / volunteer expenses / insurance / food and fuel costs etc.
As a Community Interest Company we are regulated, and through our accountants and Companies House returns, we will be fully auditable and accountable for anything we raise.
As a result of the above, we will be very transparent and fully auditable in how all our money is spent, we hope to supplement this fundraising with additional local business sponsorship/ assistance, grant applications and matched grant funding to ensure we make whatever we do, sustainable for the longer term.
How you can play your part?
There are six simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success! Please check out our rewards!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!
5. Volunteer to help us, we need your unique skills to help us succeed.
6. Be a Corporate sponsor and help us shape what we offer the community!
This project successfully funded on 16th February 2023