Chairs Report
October 2008
You may have heard via the media that we were unsuccessful in getting funding from the Big Lottery for the Community Centre. We were asking for a sum of just under £300k. This funding stream, for Community Buildings, was very popular. They had funding requests worth just over £600m but a maximum budget of £50m. Our business case was strong enough to get through the initial stages but in the final stages we were beaten by other community groups who evidenced a stronger case.
The Trustees have met since this decision was made and are content that the Big Lottery decision was fair. The Business Plan will be amended ready for the next time. Unfortunately it may not be until late 2009 before any substantial funding is available again.
Between November 2008 and February 2009 the Big Lottery Fund will enter a large-scale consultation process with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK. Amongst other things, the consultation will aim to discover what the priorities for the available funds are, and how people can access funding. It seems likely that their public website would act as a forum to gather views, so I advise checking out www.biglotteryfund.org.uk in November to check for an update. It may be that we could express our views twice - once as a group and once as individuals. Following the consultation exercise, their policy makers will work on new programmes for announcement later in 2009.
The trustees would like to thank those that supported our bid, either with financial pledges or with mountains of advice and other support. To strengthen our Business Plan we are planning to come back to you for your input by way of a survey later this year. The last survey we have is dated 2003/4 which will not be relevant enough if we apply in 2009/10. We need to know if the demand for a Community Centre is still there and if there are any other activities that we should be considering in the meantime.
The trustees also agreed that there was a positive outcome to the outings that we have run this year, however, there were limitations on the numbers that could be included. Our future focus therefore needs to be more localised with activities happening in the park for instance. Planning is already under way for an activity in April next year. That said, lets not forget, of course, about the remainder of this year – we hope to see you at the Lancing Late night shopping event on Thursday November 27th in North Road.
Our next meeting is Thursday 16th October , Room 4L, at Boundstone Community College, starting at 7 pm, when the main agenda items will be the survey and preparations for the Lancing Late Night Shopping Event. All are welcome.
