In 2017 Brian and his wife Karen launched an organisation called the South Shore Community Partnership with a view to doing some good in our local Community. We brought together other local community members and became a UK Registered Charity (1180765) which was able to initially assist and then take over a small group who used the former Highfield Branch Library from Blackpool Council on a peppercorn rent basis.

 

Our vision was to create a safe and clean community space where people of all ages could meet to learn new skills, have fun, and enjoy each other’s company. We wanted to facilitate other groups using the building, if they were lacking their own, and do as much as we could at little or no cost to the end user.

 

And so was born The Hub at South Shore; a voluntary-led Community Centre. A fantastic facility where people of all-ages can meet to socialise, learn, and have fun. The building comprises three separate activity spaces (varying in size from 150 sqm to 50 sqm), a new kitchen with servery, a meeting room and fully accessible toilet facilities. The building is set in grounds of Highfield Park.

 

Presently, The Hub is attracting in excess of 300 individuals each week and has developed a truly vibrant atmosphere at the centre of the community that helps residents to access services and support they might need, right on their doorstep in a friendly and familiar manner. The centre tackles issues such as loneliness and isolation in the elderly to anti-social behaviour in the young.

 

The centre is run by a team of 16 volunteers and a paid Centre manager. The Hub’s primary objective is to act as a community resource for residents, so they can access services, based on need, for educational and recreational purposes. It achieves this by firstly, using its own manager and volunteers who are responsible for the day-to-day running of a series of different groups and classes); and secondly, by acting as a facility that provides space, storage, and human resource to other groups at little or no cost.

 

Listed below are some of the classes/groups that are available on a weekly basis:

 

  • Art Classes x 2
  • Card Making Class
  • Crafting class
  • lunch Club
  • Internet Browsing group
  • Sewing group 
  • Parent & Toddlers Group
  •  Games group
  • A General social class which includes indoor curling.
  • Rainbows & Brownies
  • Squirrels, Beavers and Cubs
  • Scouts
  • Friends of Highfield Park group
  • Coming Soon: Community Allotment.

 

In addition to this, The Hub also organises theme-based events designed to bring members of the community together, such as:

 

  • Hosted Events for our users (E.g., Easter, Halloween, and Christmas)

 

  • Trips and Days Out 

 

  • Gardening events in Highfield Park as well as general park maintenance

 

 

 

In a recent survey – that has currently been completed by 64 of the centre’s users – they have rated “the quality of our service” 9.5 Stars out of 10.

94% of users said that “the centre has had a positive impact on their health and wellbeing” and 88% said “they had made a new friend at The Hub”.

 

The growth and success of The Hub over the last 6 years has brought us to a point where we needed to secure more running costs to support our future sustainability and enable us to continue with a steady growth. We have a strong team of volunteers who do a sterling job of running our groups at the centre. With more user-groups enquiring to use our facilities, in 2022 we secured funding for a part time Centre Manager, Karen, who now facilitates all of the volunteers (and their varied skillsets) whilst taking on the responsibility for the running and day-to-day operations of the Hub.

 

We have recently (September 2023) engaged a new part time member of staff, Lynda Naftel. Lynda comes from a catering background and has been a volunteer at the Hub for the last 5 years heading up our very successful Monday Lunch Club.

We have also secured a 5 star hygiene Certificate for our Catering services.

 

We have just Secured funding for a part time Centre Development Officer. (April 2024). This position will provide valuable development of further facilities both inside and outside the Centre. Part of this will be to facilitate outreach facilities and support for our community.