Help us make a new community space for Ulverston

Ulverston's lost too much, it's time for something new...

It's time to create The Spot!

We’re a diverse crew of volunteers who’ve come together to transform The Old Mart on Victoria Road into a community hub.
This former kitchen showroom is a brilliantly-accessible building all on one level, by our bus stops & near the train station too.

The big plan is to create...

A Spot for SUPPORT with space for services including the Ulverston Food Project and other support groups providing help, care and friendship for anyone who needs it. 

A Spot for HEALTH & WELLBEING with room for a multi-purpose hall for things like dance and circus skills… anything that needs a bit of space and height. 

A Spot for MAKING with workshop space for our festival town. 

And a ONE-STOP Spot - having different types of support and activities in one place will mean it's more than the sum of its parts. 

We think it’s all do-able with help from Ulverston company Digital  Woodoo, an expanding business who hope to be a founding tenant. They plan to create interior ‘pods’ within the Mart that are affordable to heat and maintain as an innovative way to bring this big old building back to life.

What about the money?!

We came together in 2023 to submit a Community Ownership Fund bid, a Government pot for buying community assets. Our group - including members of the Ulverston Food Project, Lantern Festival and the Resilience Group, put together a bid for £440,000 with a further £110,000 in match funding to both buy the building and begin renovations. Then the election came and the fund paused just as we were about to submit. This sent us entirely into a spin BUT thanks to fabulous support and a determination to get this town a new community building, we’re still on track.
Our offer to buy the building has been accepted, we’re now proceeding to completion we hope, by Christmas.

This part has been made possible with fabulous help from High Winds, the energy co-operative that runs five community owned wind turbines above Ulverston & demonstrate just what community-owned renewable energy can achieve.

And CGP, the Broughton-based educational publishers who support so many local good causes.  Plus backing from Ulverston BID, Ulverston Town Council and of course YOU via this Crowdfunder, with pledges that demonstrate a belief that this town deserves a new place to make and be. 

THANK-YOU from the bottom of our hearts to every business, group and individual who has already contributed.

WE'RE NOT DONE YET THOUGH!

Without the COF grant we are short of funds for refurbishments. And without the refurbishments, we can’t get the building fully open for business. 

SO if you can help tip us to our £5,000 target and even beyond, that would be immense. The more we have, the more we can do.

£1, £5, £10... more - truly it will all help get us to the finish. 

If we pull this off, each donor will get their name on our Spot of Good Cheer,  a wall of welcome for users of our community Spot - hopefully including YOU!  

We also want and need you to become Friends of The Spot - our membership group to show your support for a new space for the town. Friends will get updates and - we hope - get involved in many ways. Please click the box as you pledge and pop in your email so we can keep in touch.

It's a bold plan but with your help, there's every chance we can transform this building. And have something bought by the community, for the community. Our Spot.