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A Community Centre for Coll
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Who will benefit?
Everyone who lives on or visits the beautiful, Hebridean Isle of Coll. Within
our over 200-strong, resident population there are many diverse groups. Starting
with the youngest, as of March 2007 we have 22 pre-school children and babies;
in the primary school we have 20 children; at high school we have 19 children.
Jumping to the top end, we have about 25 residents over the age of 65.
This leaves us about 125 adults of working age. Visitors to the island are as
diverse as the residents: some have been coming for years and have strong
family/friend ties to our community; some arrive with bird book in hand while
others arrive with a fishing rod; some arrive with a gaggle of kids, others with
a view to solitary walks and quiet dinners.
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- Why? The old Village Hall no longer meets the needs of our community.
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The project is based on the Island of Coll, which falls within the local
authority of Argyll and Bute Council. Coll is a two and a half hour
ferry sailing from the mainland. In the winter it is serviced by 3
boats a week, over the summer we have 7 boats a week. It is not
possible to travel to and from the mainland in one day.
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OUR OVERALL AIM is to increase sustainable economic growth by improving the
long term sustainability of the island of Coll and emboldening the
aspirations of the community. We plan to:
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Build a multi-purpose community centre and bunk house
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Provide workshop spaces for local businesses Provide internet and office
facilities Provide space for local produce market
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Provide sports facilities, meeting rooms, library, kitchen (large enough
for local businesses to use)
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Promote use of renewable energy by working in conjunction with the local
group currently investigating renewable energy sources
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Promote recycling and re-use by working in conjunction with local
recycling group to provide a central collection point, information and
selling/exchange point
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Organise training to improve skill base of those involved in the project
in a voluntary or paid capacity.
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Employ staff to develop the project
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| | Planning Application approved! |
The project to build a new community centre has moved one step closer to fruition with approval of the designs submitted to the planning department…now all we have to do is find the money! The local development officers (LDO’s) have been working closely with the architects and the Quantity Surveyor to come up with costs for the entire project. The LDO’s have also been doing a lot of background work putting in place a funding package for the project. The sum currently under discussion is a rather daunting 2.5 million. Our two major potential funders (the Lottery and the European Rural Development Fund) are talking very favourably about the project. The Lottery can fund projects up to 50%, although this is normally capped at £1 million unless you have exceptional circumstances…such as extra costs due to island location. The European funding could be up to 40% of eligible costs (we are still to determine exactly what is eligible or not). Our efforts for other fundraising will continue. One of the reasons these funders are so keen to support this project is that they can see the efforts that the community are going to in organising fundraising events. Aside from all the community initiatives, corporate sponsorship is being sought as well as numerous applications being made to trusts and grant-making bodies such as the Energy Trust. In the last financial year, the total raised for the community centre was: £14,659. So far since April, we have taken £5,270. This is made up of events like Linda’s quiz night, and also includes donations from individuals, ranging from £5 to £60. Please contact us if you would like to support any of our events through sponsorship or would like any ideas about organizing your own fundraising event. | | | | | Time Line for An Cridhe project |
As everyone knows, these things are subject to change!
There are 6 crucial dates:
18th September 2008: Lottery application to be submitted along with full business plan
18th January 2009: should hear back from Lottery
19th January 2009: assuming success with above, we submit European funding application
19th February 2009: assuming success, we formalise all other funding agreements
End of June 2009: All funding must be in place, for project to start in July
Spring 2010: building works to start
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2008 |
2009 |
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July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
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business plan being finalised |
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lottery application made + submitted |
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18th |
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application review by lottery |
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hear back from lottery |
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18th |
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European funding application made and submitted mid Jan |
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19th |
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applications to trusts, corporate bodies, grant-making bodies etc |
preparation |
seek letters of comfort |
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2009 |
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Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
June |
July |
Aug-Nov |
Dec |
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hear back from European Funding |
19th |
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applications to trusts, corporate bodies, grant-making bodies etc |
finalise agreements once we have major funders in place |
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All funding found by end June |
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Official project start date |
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Work on building warrant, detailed designs, bills of quantity |
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Tender process |
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We should then be in a position to start the build in Spring 2010! | | |
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