Agenda and draft minutes

Single issue meeting to discuss future management and operation of the Clementhorpe Community Centre on Lower Ebor Street. The meeting will be an opportunity to consider a range of options and gauge the appetite for taking any, or none of them forward.

1.    MAIN MEETING – WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS (19:30)

The meeting was chaired by Councillor Crawshaw who welcomed everyone and set out the housekeeping rules and reminded residents that the meeting was non-political.

2.    Clementhorpe Community Centre

Councillor Crawshaw shared information on the history of the building provided by the Local History Group.

·       The building was part of the school which opened in 1872 and then expanded in 1890’s.

·       The car park used to be the school’s playground.

·       The building was also used as an evening school for working men, a Sunday school and offered a lending library service.

·       913 pupils attended the school at its peak in 1910.

·       By 1950’s the number of pupils dropped, and the school was closed in 1960’s.

·       Following that the building was used as a warehouse and a health centre before being taken over by the City of York Council (CYC) and leased to the York Centre for Voluntary Services (CVS).

·       Some years later CVS withdrew from running of the building, and the asset was then leased to the Clementhorpe Community Association (CCA). The lease agreement then evolved to the current Tenancy at Will.

Councillor Crawshaw further outlined that over past four years conversations have been held about future of the building, including various constrains as to how it could be used, or leased.

A condition survey undertaken in 2022 highlighted the need for a significant capital investment of approximately £100k to upgrade the building.

At this moment the building is not very accessible, toilets and kitchen require refurbishment to make them fit for purpose.

How can we get to the place we want to be with the building and what is it that the community wants from the building?

Councillor Crawshaw thanked all volunteers involved with the building over the years for their commitment and stated that Councillors endeavour to protect community assets such as the Clementhorpe Community Centre.

At this point Councillor Crawshaw introduced Lisa from the CCA who briefly spoke about the group and their work. The current committee operates since October 2024. Over the years volunteers learnt that running of the building is not a small undertaking and Lisa thanked everyone willing to contribute and take part in taking things forward.

Andy Laslett spoke about his approach to support voluntary groups that manage community centres in the city. Tang Hall Community Centre was referred to as an example of a successful business case and a long-term sustainable model. The intention is to support volunteers to succeed, and a lot of work was done with the previous CCA committee which resulted in a business case. Only capital investment for refurbishment was required at the time. Income streams such as grant funding need to be explored and hire charges  refreshed, as the current £8 p/h is very modest. The existing team needs more volunteers to come forward to work on the vision and business case for the building. A business model that identifies funding streams to cover repairs and generate income to sustain  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.