BUILDING BLOCKS OF HOPE
St Catherine’s Community Centre Appeal (St Catherine’s CCA)
St Catherine’s Community Centre is situated on Mary Street in the heart of the Fulledge District of Burnley. Six and a half years ago the Parish took the decision to open up what was then a Parish Hall for wider community use. What is now St Catherine’s Community Centre is a thriving hub of community activity serving a population of over 14,000 in the Fulledge, Brunshaw, Turf Moor, Lower and Higher Tentre, Belvedere Road, Leyland Road and Burnley Wood Districts of Burnley. The Centre works in partnership with a large number of other agencies and is used by many local groups and organizations.
The present Centre is a 1966 pre-fabricated building that has been patched-up, repaired and mended countless times but realistically in its present condition it has a ‘shelf-life’ of a couple of years at the most. We constantly have to patch a leaking roof and generally repair a building which needs a serious injection of capital to make it fit for purpose. In addition the building is proving inadequate for the needs of current users and cannot accommodate the demands of many potential users.
Our Project proposes to raise £100,000 initially in order to totally refurbish, re-roof and extend the present Community Centre. The present structure does not utilize the entire site and our proposed extension would give us a larger footprint enabling increased activities to take place simultaneously in the building. A refurbished facility would contain a large meeting space and two smaller rooms enabling the Centre to be used by a number of groups concurrently. In addition the Centre would contain in-built baby changing facilities, full disabled access, energy efficient heating and lighting, washing facilities for the homeless, and a new purpose kitchen.
By definition, the whole project involves partnership working enabling it to bring a multi-level approach to improve community cohesion, educational development and health. The Project will extend existing programmes and have the space to accommodate many new potential users thus enabling the Project to play an even greater role in reinvigorating this disadvantaged area of Burnley.
To give an idea of the kind of demand for space in St Catherine’s Community Centre here is a list of those currently meeting weekly in the Centre:
HOMELESS COFFEE & CHAT DROP-IN: Meets Monday Morning
GENTLE EXERCISE CLASS: Meets Monday Afternoon
OVER FIFTIES DANCE: Meets Tuesday Morning
TUESDAY CHILDREN’S CLUB: Meets Tuesday Early Evening
YOUTH ZONE CLUB: Meets Tuesday Evening
DROP-IN: Meets Wednesday Morning
MOTHER’S UNION: Meets Wednesday Evening
MUMS & TOTS GROUP: Meets Thursday Morning
LUNCHEON CLUB: Meets Thursday Lunch Time
OVER FIFTIES: Meets Thursday Afternoon
GIRLS ALLOWED GROUP: Meets Thursday Evening
COOKING COURSE: Meets Friday Morning
SUNDAY SCHOOL: Meets Sunday Morning
The Centre is also used for local Community Group meetings, Burnley College Courses, Housing Consultations by Calico and many other ad-hoc events.
We are asking people to support our St Catherine’s Community Centre Appeal by purchasing ‘Building Blocks of Hope’ with a minimum donation of £5 per ‘Block’. Every individual ‘Block of Hope’ will be entered in a special ‘Book of Commemoration’ which will be preserved for posterity as a Memorial. We hope you will support our efforts to raise the initial £100,000 we need to ensure the future of our dilapidated but nevertheless thriving Community Centre.
You may purchase a ‘Block of Hope’ for the departed, the living, anniversaries of death, year’s mind, new baby, baptism, weddings, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, exam success, a new job, moving house, new school, beginning retirement, starting work, etc.