Following on from our funding news, update from Sally Taylor, our project manager.
A reminder: What is Bearwood Hub?
Our first ever Bearwood Business Network meeting in January 2020
It’s not a physical space - yet! But it is developing. In the 6 months prior to lockdown Bearwood Community Hub CIC (not-for-profit Community Interest Company) was an idea for how the wonderful community spaces at St Mary’s Church on Bearwood Road could be used again, for us all to benefit from in lots of different ways. The community hall, kitchen and meeting rooms are used fairly regularly but by very few groups, and not in a way that is financially sustainable. Significant remedial action is needed to make the big community hall usable at all.
Feedback from a community architecture meeting participant :)
We got funds from SCVO and the National Lottery Community Fund last year to engage with our fellow residents, with the purpose of designing what the hub could achieve and what it needs to be/look like. We were working with lovely architecture team Intervention Architects and we organised lots of events to get us all thinking - community meetings, Bearwood Trade School, Bearwood Business Network, and even started off Bearwood’s High Street Garden - click the links for more info.
What happened during lockdown?
Not much as we’d like, as we couldn’t get people together, our business plan (for coworking space) has been undermined by Covid (for now) and, like so many others, we were juggling work and children at home (what an image!). The Board, who are all local residents like me, have been really brilliant in supporting us (including WONDERFUL volunteers and partners such as Smethwick CAN) to just do what we can so here’s what we have been able to do:
Trade School Online, a collaboration with Trade School Dudley and Trade School Wolverhampton
Beartopia Lockdown Art Exhibition - APPLY NOW TO TAKE PART!
Plan for Bearwood Community Bakery, a project supporting women who have recently arrived here to set up a social enterprise bakery - watch this space in the new year!
Supporting the setting up of Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary.
Submit a successful (yay!) funding application to pick up where we left off when lockdown started and complete the architectural feasibility work and re-start the business plan for the new Covid-19 reality.
And what happens now?
Copyright: Alex at Drawnalism
Now we have funding to complete our development work within 6 months, and try to build on some of the fantastic stuff that’s been going on in Bearwood and the rest of Smethwick during lockdown - such as whatsapp groups on streets for neighbours to support each other, foodbank collections and referrals, experimenting with ways to really include people who don’t usually get out, such as through doorstep visits…. So much! Here’s our early reflection on all of this, and here’s some of the detail about what we could do in practice, now that we have the financial support.
So it’s action stations. When St Mary’s Church are ready, we need to re-establish and deepen our partnership. Our architects are at the ready to work with you in a Covid-secure way (think sessions to look at models of the space in the park, or a visit to your doorstep for you to tell us what you want or share YOUR designs). I need to recruit a Community Organiser to help - if this is you get in touch for updates about the recruitment process. And we need to re-ignite Bearwood Business Network and Community Garden - hopefully including Bearwood Road businesses in more meaningful ways now that we have capacity.
We’d love your help. We welcome encouragement, constructive feedback and as much involvement as YOU would like. Just get in touch :)
hello@bearwood.cc, @bearwoodcommunityhubcic (instagram), @bearwood.cc (facebook) or @bearwoodhub (Twitter).