ThisIsChurch.com St Mark's Press Release

 

BEDFORD COMMUNITY CENTRE MAKES ITS MARK!

 

 

Bedford St Marks Centre has been the beating heart of its community for over 30 years and it’s set to grow substantially after being named as a finalist in a prestigious national challenge

It’s a surgery, a school, a nursery, a college, a police station and a church as well as the host venue for nearly fifty community organisations. Bedford St Marks Centre is a facility that is the very definition of community and it’s just about to get bigger!

Situated on the northern edge of Bedford and supporting an ever growing population that currently numbers 16,0000, the superbly run resource has just been named as one of five finalists in the £1 million Waste Recycling Group Village Hall & Community Centre Challenge.

Three of the five finalists will each receive £250,000 towards a new or refurbished hall with the remaining two collecting £125,000 each from the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme money of Waste Recycling Group distributed by Environmental Body WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd).

The Centre is shortly due to add a new two tier structure to satisfy the rapidly growing demand for space and replace an old temporary portakabin structure. The funding from the challenge, whatever the financial outcome, has helped to realise their dreams.

The Reverend Charles Royden, Vicar at St Marks, explained: “There is very little funding around these days for projects such as this. We approached over 200 charitable trusts and only heard back from two, so to have got to this stage in a major national challenge is fantastic news!”

“When I was working in Liverpool in the early 80s there was money around to help fund community resources, but we’ve seen a big squeeze since then and that’s where the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme can fill the void. Without WREN we were facing an impossible task but this grant means that we can start work in May, regardless of how much we collect. The building project will be completed within 16 weeks. We are a community centre that goes ahead and does things, as opposed to just talking, and it’s led to the creation of a fine resource enjoyed by many thousands of local people,” added Royden who has been based at the church for over 15 years.

The centre, which already contains a number of meeting rooms and offices, is stretched to the max and is a perfect lesson in how best to utilise space!

Centre Manager Wendy Rider MBE said: “We currently accommodate Clubhouse, a project funded by the European Social Fund for people with learning disabilities and also Autism Bedfordshire a well established charity has been based here for over a decade, and we will soon become the county’s base for multi denomination religious education resources. We estimate that the new resource will allow for a further 70,000 people every year to use the centre.”

“During the past year Bedfordshire Police have established a police station here and now five police officers have been stationed at St Mark’s. This is now the busiest public police surgery station in Bedfordshire, with people dropping in to report crime or ask for help. Soon the police will be launching a dedicated youth club to service for our area which has more than its share of social problems. We host slimming clubs and an all day nursery with classes right up to pre-school. There really is something for everybody”

“None of this would be possible without the fantastic support offered by over 100 volunteers who contribute to the smooth running. In short we have great teamwork, great leadership and motivation from Charles and a superb venue that is growing organically with the community,” added Wendy.

Major new housing developments on the outskirts of north Bedford will place an additional strain on the centre but it will respond in kind as Charles asserts:

“A few years ago we set up a peaceful Garden of Remembrance at the rear of the centre and that has proved to be immensely popular with local people keen to pay tribute to their departed loved ones. It’s situated within a few yards of a well used playground, yet never once have we suffered from any vandalism. That says a lot about the respect our community has for the Garden and suggests that local people genuinely value our community centre.” added the Reverend.

The addition of the new facility will also provide a valuable lesson to local schoolchildren in how best to plan for an economically and environmentally sustainable future.

Wendy went on: “We will be using photovoltaic panels for lighting, a woodchip burner for heat and hope to install a wind turbine for the provision of additional electricity. Add to this the numerous recycling schemes we run on site and we are not a bad example of how to become more aware of the environment.

“I think it helps when everyone shares the vision and our major motivation comes from the ever evolving requirement to respond to demand from the community,” added Wendy..

Stephen Parr, Managing Director of WREN who organise the challenge, commented: “Bedford St Marks has done exceptionally well to reach this stage. Together with the other four finalists they have beaten off the competition of over 70 very well presented applications.

“Village halls and community centres help to create healthy, vibrant and tolerant communities and their importance in improving people’s quality of life is increasingly recognised. All of the five finalists demonstrated an extraordinary degree of need and self-help especially through their own fundraising efforts. This has helped to galvanise their local communities and in turn will lead them to sustain these projects in the long term,” added Stephen.

The innovative challenge, now in its second year, was launched in Central London in April 2005 by Gwyneth Dunwoody MP. Work on new village halls for the 2004 winners is well underway with Branston Booths near Lincoln and Outwell in Norfolk both in the process of developing their new facilities.

The total challenge funding of £1million comes from the Landfill Tax money of Waste Recycling Group Ltd, administered and distributed by Environmental Body WREN. The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (www.ltcs.org.uk) currently gives waste management companies the opportunity to invest up to 6% of their Landfill Tax bill into community and environmental, projects in their immediate area.

One of the Challenge judges, Deborah Clarke of ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England), commented: "ACRE is pleased to be associated with the Challenge. WREN's support for village halls and community buildings is extremely valuable given the scarcity of funding available for capital projects. 18,809 community buildings were identified in England and Wales by research carried out during 1997 with an estimated 4.4 million people using them every week."

The three winning communities and two runners up will be named at a ceremony at the House of Commons on 9th May. Bedford St Marks is up against High Ongar in Essex, Weir Doals in Lancashire, Normanton-on-Soar in Notts and Thorpe Hesley in South Yorkshire.

The landfill tax money of Waste Recycling Group Ltd has, since 1997, helped to renovate and refurbish almost 600 village halls across the UK with £8 million in funding. Organisations seeking funding can contact WREN for more details on 01953 717165 or visit www.wren.org.uk