Witton Lakes Eco Hub visit in July
A couple of the ASK Hive team went down to Birmingham to see if and how Locality could help in their plans in creating a community hub for Averham, Staythorpe and Kelham and whether it was worth joining. They were very well received and in 'mingling' talked to other community groups and learned there is a vast wealth of knowledge and ideas that our community can use to develop this community. The overall enthusiasm and positivity was hugely impressive, and these were only a small number of the total membership of Locality.
A community story . . . .
Thirty years ago a dog walker, Linda, formed a group called “Friends of Witton Lakes” to try to keep the Park clean.
Today Linda's organisation and enthusiasm has grown to 4 community hubs and social housing with an estimated value of over £30m! These provide facilities for the local communities they serve. Witton Lakes Eco Hub provided the venue for the meeting of community enterprises organised by Locality.
Locality act as a centre of knowledge and influence for over 3,000 community organisations varying from a community in Bristol who built, own and run a wind turbine where the profits are returned to the community to provide advice, education, training and much more, to a small organisation that uses horses to provide help to people suffering depression and anxiety. Also, university professors working in Leicester bringing ideas and plans to improve communities across the country.
Returning to the host site, the Eco Hub was a former groundskeeper cottage for the park that had fallen into disrepair having been empty for decades. The garden had become a tip with rubbish from the park piled high. Lucy and her team acquired the property and grounds for a nominal sum and set about converting it into the fabulous facility it is today. The groundskeepers cottage was paired back to 3 external walls and the roof, this was extended to the side with a thermally efficient building with office, meeting room / hall, lounge for comfortable and homely atmosphere in order for people to feel comfortable discussing their issues and getting excellent advice or just stopping for a cuppa. Heating is via Air sourced heat pump and the average bill for heating and lighting this big space was £34 for a month!
They continue to develop and grow within their community by using ‘surpluses’ for future development, one of the next is in the grounds of the Eco Hub for a ‘Maker’s Shed' this is about 20ft x 20ft and other than adding power, lighting and water they will just open the space to entrepreneurs and see what will happen, a little scary but likely to yield pleasant surprises.
In addition to the internal space and cafe, the grounds offer a poly tunnel to grow whatever people using it want, a small orchard area where locals can pick fruits, accessible path around the whole site passing a repurposed porta-cabin to the shady area that school children have built frog friendly areas with logs and small pools (with escape routes) and were helped with making a secret den for themselves. The path then goes around the cottage to the rear where there are trees one of which is a listed 100 year old apple tree, through the recent addition of a willow arched tube into the butterfly area planted appropriately. This continues into a bee friendly area and a foxhole (no foxes) but it engages children’s imagination. In the grass area in the centre new tree saplings have been planted by children, some having never got their hands dirty before! That experience has been extended to bringing local school children, from three schools, into growing their own, maintaining and then enjoying the bounty (groups are from each of the schools to encourage mixing with others) the work is done mostly in the poly tunnel (donated).
Another wonderful tale is of a gentleman with his assistance dog, the only dogs allowed on site, who some while ago arrived on his mobility scooter with very limited ability to walk. The ASK Hive team saw him ambling around with his dog having recently built a bug hotel from garden waste and old pallets, obviously having a purpose in his life has greatly improved his mobility and his enthusiasm as he also tends the poly tunnel to water the kids plants daily in their absence.
The whole site is a little smaller than the space at the school in Averham but showed what can be achieved for an active community.
Linda's reward for 30 years of volunteering and steering is not financial, it is the positive outcomes and ‘tear generating stories’ their organisation have helped create for their community.
https://wittonlodge.org.uk/ for more information.
The ASK Hive team hope to find equally enthusiastic locals to engage with the project in acquiring the school and developing it into a vibrant community hub for Averham, Staythorpe and Kelham residents for now and future generations.
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