Good practice guide

44 Pages·2011·0.42 MB·English

by  Tamasin Cole

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Good practice guide 1
Improving the reach and sustainability
of your community building
Selina Rice
Aston-Mansfield Community Involvement Unit
Community Involvement Unit
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2
Acknowledgements
Aston-Mansfield would like to thank the following
for their assistance in the production of this guide:
● the staff at the community buildings involved in
the research phase of the guide
● the Big Lottery for funding the guide
● the members of the London Premises Sub-group
for their support
● the staff of the Aston-Mansfield Community
Involvement Unit for their proofing skills, expertise
and support
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Who is the guide for and what’s in the guide? 3
Who is the guide for?
This guide is aimed at staff, volunteers and governing body members
who manage community buildings, and anyone who wants to further
their knowledge of this area. It is not a comprehensive guide to
all aspects of the management of community buildings –there are
a range of publications available to assist with this. This publication
is intended as a self-help guide which will help the reader find
additional information concerning the wide range of issues involved.
What’s in the guide?
This guide is organised into five sections:
1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to
be sustainable
2 Ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency
3 Who is the building for and who gets involved?
4 Who works here and supports us, and what do they do?
5 How do we let the local community know what we provide?
Each section provides the following:
● Examples of good practice and how it has evolved.
● A checklist to assist with your planning and implementation.
● Online information concerning signposting and additional
information.
● Contact details of key organisations that may be able to help.
Disclaimer
We hope that the information and case studies in this guide will help
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy
you to continue to develop the reach and sustainability of your
of the information in this guide, however Aston-
community building.
Mansfield accept no responsibility for any errors
or issues that might arise from use of the information
provided. The information provided in this
publication is for information only and is not
a definitive source of legal information.
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Contents Introduction 4
Contents Introduction
5 Section 1 This good practice guide is a resource aimed at organisations in
Ways to raise money to enable community the voluntary and community sector which are running community
buildings to be sustainable buildings. This includes organisations such as settlements and
community associations.
14 Section 2
Ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency This guide was commissioned by the London Premises Sub-group
which was created in 2006 and consists of a range of first and
21 Section 3
second tier organisations. One aim of the group is to raise funds
Who is the building for and who gets involved?
to support the voluntary sector in the challenges of property
30 Section 4 management. The group were successful in securing Lottery funding
Who works here and supports us, and what through the Basis programme as there was an identified need in the
do they do? sector for more support to be provided to managers of voluntary
sector community centres. Particular areas for support include
38 Section 5
networking, training and capacity building.
How do we let the local community know
what we provide? The key elements of this programme funding are:
● Production of a good practice guide to improve the reach and
sustainability of community centres.
● Training workshops to enable colleagues to share good practice
and to network.
● Mentoring opportunities for managers and governing body
members.
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1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to be sustainable 5
1
Ways to raise money to enable Raising income from renting out space
community buildings to be sustainable Licences and leases
If you rent space to a variety of outside organisations it is important
This section is concerned with ways to raise money to enable
to have a comprehensive rental policy and a hire agreement as this
community buildings to be sustainable. Organisations use a range
ensures that all involved are aware of their responsibilities. This
of approaches to generate income from their building, increasingly
should be checked legally to confirm it is in line with your own lease
recognising that they cannot rely on a single source of funding for
or similar tenure. The difference between a licence and a lease is
core costs to operate the building. Currently the average running cost
as follows:
of a community building can start from £60,000 and can increase
depending on the size of the building. Some local authorities ‘A lease provides not just the legal right to occupy a building but can
contribute to running costs via grant aid, often to cover rental and also give rights under the 1954 landlord and tenant act, such as being
specific staffing costs, whilst other costs such as utilities, rates, able to remain in the premises when the lease ends and to seek a
maintenance and decoration are the responsibility of the organisation. new tenancy although landlords can oppose renewal on limited
Organisations that own their buildings are presented with similar specific grounds ...’ (Premises Fact Finder, leases and licences
challenges as the current economic climate has impacted on the section). Leases often have more liabilities and obligations which for
value of reserves for those charities which contribute to the upkeep the lessee could require financial investment such as a full repairing
of their buildings. lease.
There is a range of good practice concerning raising income that A licence provides a short term agreement and enables the landlord
includes: to move the tenants around rather than just occupy one specific
space, and it does not always have the same rights under the
● raising income from renting out space
landlord and tenant act. A model licence agreement can be found
● maximising building space at www.aston-mansfield.org.uk/docs/premises/CVA-licence.doc.
● fundraising
Ealing Community Resource Centre: benefits of a license
● donations approach when letting out office space in a centre
● ‘friends of’ schemes
The license provides a flexible agreement that works to the
advantage of ECRC as a landlord. ECRC provides open plan desk
space and permits reconfiguration of the desk space by negotiation.
The licences are rolled over annually (providing the terms of the
license have been met), which provides flexibility to resident groups.
The resource centre has a 25-year lease which provides groups with
long-term stability, while giving flexibility should they want to leave.
www.ecrc.org.uk
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1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to be sustainable 6
Rental policy and pricing structure When establishing rental charges a comprehensive pricing structure
needs to be applied so that the income can be projected against the
The pricing structure of the letting of the building is important in
running costs required and any loss can be identified and managed.
order to be able to project financial income on an annual basis.
It is a good idea to conduct such a planning exercise on a year by
Many centres incorporate a three tier pricing structure to letting
year basis to keep up with inflation and the fact that the range of
their buildings:
lettings in the building may change.
● Permanent use of a space (such as office space on an annual
contract).
Harold Road Community Centre: pricing structure
● Regular sessional use (eg every Tuesday morning).
Alan Partridge, Centre Co-ordinator, identified the following pricing
● One-off bookings for special meetings or events. structure based on a conference he attended concerning the financial
risks associated with various lettings strategies.
Caxton House: lettings policy and practice There is considerable difference as to the price that could be charged
for the type of lets within the building. A ratio of 3:1 between the
● The centre has its own in-house projects which deliver a wide
hourly rates of the different tenures is what he has applied at Harold
range of services to the local community. Each of these projects
Road. For him, setting charges is based on the following: a space
is in receipt of funding from a wide range of sources, a proportion
which can be rented for regular weekly sessions at £15 per hour
of which is used to cover the running costs of the centre.
might only generate £5 per hour if rented full time to a single user, or
● The centre hires out permanent office and meeting space to a £45 per hour when being used for one-off events. Therefore his rents
wide range of organisations, community groups and charities. are set on the basis of the type of let such as permanent office space,
Selling points include access to free car parking and flexible one-off user or regular sessions.
opening hours.
● The centre hires out space in its café and main hall, on The benefits of this approach are:
both a one-off and a long-term basis, for activities including
● Maximises the range of underused space such as letting regular
conferences, social events, sports activities, theatre rehearsals
office space.
and community meetings.
● Enables the centre to keep within the ethos of meeting local need
Paul Furze, the Centre Manager, identified that
for regular sessional use by user groups.
for this approach to work you need a transparent
lettings policy so that all involved are aware of their ● Creates flexibility for new groups when they are being established.
roles and responsibilities when using the building. A lower rent can be charged but then they will move to the
appropriate rent after a specified time, thereby giving them
See www.aston-mansfield.org.uk/docs/
time to access the capacity building services of local infrastructure
premises/Caxton-House-Booking-Form.doc.
organisations.
www.caxtonhouse.org
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1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to be sustainable 7
Maximising building space St Luke’s at Canning Town: redesigning space
Combined with this rental policy approach, there is a range of The manager, John McNeil, described a unique set of circumstances
good practice across the sector concerned with the refurbishing, that enabled the church to be purchased for £1 by a local community
modernisation and extension of community buildings. This has been group. This coincided with the launch of the Heritage Fund and the
assisted by access to grants such as the Community Builders Fund. property being located in a European Regional Development zone.
This approach recognises that an investment in the upgrade of For John the building is the major asset: ‘you need to make sure that
the building will yield more income and improve the benefits for the you are maximising the space and be careful about the amount of
local community. unused space’. This was the vision he had when discussing the
refurbishment with the architect. All accessible space was developed
Two examples of redesigning church buildings which had fallen
to provide income.
into disrepair are St Paul’s at Bow and St Luke’s in Canning Town
(Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project). The development included the following key points:
● Making use of underused space –one issue was the space that
St Paul’s at Bow: maximising building space ran the length of the nave under the rafters. It was decided to use
this as a business incubation scheme with a rent-a-desk scheme
St Paul’s at Bow raised £3.7 million in 2003 from
with free internet access which costs £120 per month. This has
a variety of grant applications including the Church
enabled a number of small businesses to develop in the area
Urban Fund, the New Opportunities Fund and
creating local employment opportunities.
the Heritage Lottery Fund. This enabled them to
place a steel structure –‘pod on stilts’ –inside the ● The second and third floors are rented out as office spaces and
building, creating more floor space and providing training facilities. The 5,000 sq ft of lettable space provides enough
three floors with rooms for commercial and rent to sustain and maintain the building. Small enterprises sustain
community use including: themselves and bring employment to the area for local people.
● Space for an education charity. ● This guaranteed income enables local community groups to
benefit from the large community hall, which they can rent
● Gym facility run by the charity Ability Bow.
at a reduced cost.
● On the ground floor, at the east end, they have
retained a significant dedicated place of
worship, while the west end has been opened
up to provide a small community hall, a crèche,
a café and kitchen, and a reception office.
The development enabled the church to develop its
community use, and two floors are now rented out
to local charities to raise revenue for the upkeep of
the building.
www.saintpaulschurch.co.uk
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1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to be sustainable 8
Position of the community building Peel Institute: smaller scale use of location
It is important to assess the needs of the local area where the On a smaller scale Rob Hamilton, CEO at the Peel Centre, assessed
community building is situated. For instance, a yearly community the local area by means of a community profile. This identified that
audit will identify changes in the area such as demographics and a local university was looking for sports facilities for its students on
the arrival of new businesses or charities. The community building Sundays. He rented out the sports hall on Sundays with minimal staff
manager can reflect on how to develop the centre and capitalise on outlay to increase his revenue funds. www.peelinstitute.org.uk
any changes in the area.
An example of this on a large scale can be seen at the Abbey Centre. Fundraising methods
Community buildings should not rely on a single income stream
Abbey Centre: making the most of the location of the centre such as local authority grants. There are strategies that have been
developed to raise income to cover the costs of upkeep of a
Mark Lineham at Abbey Centre assessed what opportunities existed in the immediate
community building. Such costs include:
area. Mark was faced with the dilemma that he could not access any grants to cover
maintenance costs as it is an old building. He was able to capitalise on the building’s ● Revenue or core costs, including the costs needed to improve the
location by investing in a number of dual-use rooms in order to develop a training community access to a building, staffing for a particular project or
suite for a range of commercial and large government organisations which need local, running costs such as utilities, rates and supplies.
affordable conference facilities. The centre is marketed by explaining that hiring a ● Capital one-off costs cover improvements such as building
particular space will subsidise community access, eg hiring the Booth Room subsidises
refurbishments and extensions and can include grants for capital
18 spaces for Tai Chi for older people. This approach makes over £300,000 in rental
build projects from regeneration budgets.
per year for the centre and there is a sliding scale of charges based on the nature of
the organisation: Different fundraising possibilities include the following:
● Commercial use by large government and business organisations. ● establishing a trading aspect of the organisation
● adopting a charity/corporate responsibility agenda
● Charity use by regional organisations such as Water Aid. ● donations
● Community groups which operate on non-profit income made on the door. ● capital grants
● ‘friends of’ schemes
● Space available to community groups such as the Jubilee fitness club.
Establishing a trading aspect of the organisation
● Saturday schools fee charged to cover overheads.
This is often referred to as a trading arm, where a separate entity
www.theabbeycentre.org.uk
of the charity is established to increase income through trading
activities. Sometimes this has been established where a charity has
a portfolio of buildings, and/or investments, which yield funds that
can be reinvested into the fabric and running of the building. It is
important when embarking on such a strategy that legal advice is
sought to make sure that the organisation is compliant with the
charities commission. Examples of this approach include Aston-
Mansfield and Harrow Club W10.
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1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to be sustainable 9
Harrow Club W10: establishing a trading arm The benefit of the trading approach is that it guarantees a set amount
of income that can be reinvested into the building on a regular basis,
Harrow Club W10 is a youth and community centre for young people in north
enabling the charity to have a planned maintenance programme.
Kensington. In1995 the trustees split the charity into the Harrow Club and the Harrow
Mission. This strategy ensured the long term future of the facilities, as the Mission Adopting a charity
has developed a property and investments portfolio from which the rents and income
This approach is part of the corporate responsibility agenda where
contribute 25% of the running costs of the Harrow Club. The benefit for Lisa Moor,
businesses adopt a charity. There are a number of examples of good
Director, is that it has created a mixed economy so that the Harrow Club is not too
practice which suit smaller or larger organisations. The benefits are
dependent on one income stream such as the local authority.
twofold for the charity and the business:
www.harrowclubw10.org
‘As a business, adopting us as your charity can raise your company’s
profile by showing your customers that your business is committed to
making a positive impact in children’s lives, by raising much needed
money. For your business, it will bring employees together. Employee
fundraising is a powerful way to build motivation and team work,
bring your corporate values to life and have fun on the way.’
(quoted from the Cairn Trust website)
Examples that suit small to medium size organisations are identified
below:
Castlehaven Community Association:
adopting a charity
Some businesses choose to support a local
charity, or sponsor a local event. Castlehaven
Community Association was adopted by Zenith
Aston-Mansfield: trading activities Optium who had been looking for a local charity in
the Camden area. They offered a combination of
At the Durning Hall charity shop goods are donated and sold
direct unrestricted funding and support including
to provide valuable income which supports Aston-Mansfield's
the redesign of the Castlehaven website which has
programmes and other running costs.
been very helpful with the marketing of the centre.
Their pricing philosophy means that for items which people need, www.castlehaven.org.uk
such as toddler clothes, prices are kept low, so the shop itself is
providing a valuable source of good clothes for people who need
them. The things which people like but are not essential, such as
ornaments, bric-a-brac or pictures, are priced higher. This yields
£37,000 profit for Aston-Mansfield each year.
www.aston-mansfield.org.uk
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1 Ways to raise money to enable community buildings to be sustainable 10
Abbey Centre: development with a local company Two organisations that can assist the sector with the corporate
responsibility agenda are:
Wates Construction wanted a local project to adopt and approached
Mark Lineham, CEO at the Abbey Centre. The café area needed ● City Action, www.city-action.org, which links the needs of
redecorating which would produce benefits for all involved. It was community-based organisations on the fringe of the City with
an ideal opportunity for a team building exercise for the Wates staff the volunteer aspirations of staff from City companies.
taking two days to complete with limited disruption and a minimal
● The Heart of the City, www.theheartofthecity.com, assists
loss of takings.
businesses in the City to develop voluntary and socially
www.theabbeycentre.org.uk
responsible programmes in the community.
Donations
A larger organisation, such as Cambridge House, has a higher
percentage of time and funds provided for by the corporate sector
Often community organisations access donations to assist with the
due to the infrastructure they have put in place to manage such
upkeep of their building. Companies that can assist include Virgin
a process.
Money, which manages the 999 Club website, supporting excluded
vulnerable adults. Castlehaven have an online donation scheme
Cambridge House: business development organised by JustGiving:
A few years ago it was decided to develop a specific business development job role in ‘When we created the company in 1999, our dream was to enable
the organisation; one aspect was the corporate responsibility agenda. They contacted any charity, however small, to use the web to raise money at very low
Heart of the City and hosted a Seeing is Believing tour which brokers a relationship cost. Almost no one believed it could be done. Nearly ten years later,
between corporate organisations and local charities within the City’s radius. One of we are proud to have become the leading online platform for charity
the corporate organisations present was Broadgate Estates, a property management giving, helping over 8,000 member charities raise more than £450
company, which wanted to develop a relationship in the area. This relationship was million.’ (from the website www.justgiving.com)
formed and Cambridge House has benefitted from their extensive knowledge of
The scheme operates in the following way:
building management.
● When someone donates £10 on the JustGiving site they send
For Claire Gilhooly (CEO) the learning has been:
100% to the identified charity by the end of the week.
● The need to manage the relationship and ensure that all ● JustGiving reclaim Gift Aid from the government, which takes
expectations are clear and can be met for all parties.
about a month, adding £2.82 to a £10 donation.
● The need to have ownership of the corporate support across ● It’s only when JustGiving receive that Gift Aid that they deduct
the organisation, an area that is currently being developed.
a 5% fee, along with a credit/debit card/PayPal charge.
● For corporate relationship building to be part of a job role within www.justgiving.com
the organisation rather than a bolt on to an existing role.
Other centres have set up their own donation facilities online,
www.ch1889.org such as Aston-Mansfield. Both approaches are beneficial as
they require limited resources to manage and can yield a variety
of one-off donations.