I have made a written submission to the GOFARNP Community and Infrastructure Group. This group will establish a base-line of the infrastructure in Farncombe and Godalming (including education, health, telecomms, sports facilities, children's play areas, youth facilities, community facilities, green space, culture), paying attention to areas where infrastructure is presently deficient, before moving on to what the community needs by way of new and enhanced infrastructure, and how those needs are impacted by any planned growth of the town. There is more on the process on the Godalming Town Council's website http://www.godalming-tc.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan.htm.
This is my submission.
Farncombe
has a wonderful resource in the day centre in St John’s Street, more than just
its provision of a hot meal for older people in Farncombe and Godalming. I
would like to see better use made of this publicly funded community space.
When I first became aware of the
operational budget shortfalls at the day centre, I suggested more engagement with
the local community, to create a sense of pride and ownership. My hope is that
showing more people in Farncombe and Godalming what the day centre can provide,
for everyone, will generate more regular users of the centre, more volunteers
and more donations. I also suggested joining Twitter, Facebook and setting up a
new website - all of which would make the day centre more 'visible', but also
more competitive. In
order to achieve these ideals, community managers would need to up-skill in IT,
web management, database management and social media networking, to maximise
income potential, be more efficient in day-to-day operations management and
increase the appeal of the community spaces to new users, and engage in
community partnerships.
The centre should be a social enterprise.
A hub. A community space. A partnership. A place where diverse groups of users
are welcomed, contributing to the revenue, generating more users and volunteers;
a thriving place. And all this ensuring that the centre will continue to
provide high quality engagements with local older people who enjoy a hot meal,
companionship and activities on weekdays.
I see opportunities for a food bank, an
after school club, or other much-needed community facilities. Perhaps the
centre could open on a Saturday morning as a place to get a cooked breakfast or
homemade soup lunch; one day a week for families in the community to meet and
be supported. Evenings and weekends could also offer opportunities for small
business or social enterprise organisations, groups or societies to meet. By
offering this meeting space, the day centre would be increasing its network of
partners, who in turn will be generating their own revenue streams, some of
which will flow back to the day centre, creating a mutually beneficial,
sustainable operating environment.
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My case study on the long term sustainability of the Farncombe Day Centre is available by email.
My previous posts on Farncombe Day Centre:
Disclaimer: The author was a member of the Farncombe Day Centre Executive Committee from February to December 2013, and was asked to step down following a disagreement with the Chairperson of the Committee, relating to the budget shortfalls and identifying such publicly.
