Minutes from Community centre residents working group meeting – 28th Jan 2025

Minutes

Attendees: Friedrich, Dan, Dayal, Kate, David, Karen, Vanessa

Everyone introduced themselves and we discussed where people had background with similar projects. Projects mentioned were:

We had a conversation about what the gap we are trying to fill is. We need to expand on this list but the Issues raised in the meeting were:

  • Lack of a ‘third’ space or public community space
  • Make good use of an empty building, avoid physical decline of the building
  • Support the work of existing groups:
    • Meeting space
    • Tool storage
    • Haringey Fixers / space for repair cafes
  • Central noticeboard, place to find out what’s happening
  • Create a space to explore possibilities:
    • Provide space for hire
    • Library of Things, tool library, lend hedge cutters
    • Community plant nursery, for distribution to residents and planting on the estate / in the park
    • Coffee morning for elderly and toddlers
    • Affordable childcare
  • Public toilets 

General discussion

  • Desire to be ambitious but also to get started / make sure the building is used in some way.
  • Questions about what the council expects from space and what they would “accept” as a proposal
  • Need to quantify ‘social value’ and potential money saved to council
  • Discussion about specific uses e.g. childcare, toilets, need for a core tenant
  • Age UK, Citizens Advice, IntoUniversity as possible tenants
  • Leases:
    • In an ideal world the lease for whole building would be offered, not just ground floor
    • If only short leases are offered this can constrain the uses / fundraising.

Who else would be good to get involved? 

  • Charities already operating on the estate
  • We discussed the need to get more people involved and to get a more representative set of opinions
  • Survey and flyers proposed as first action to widen engagement. 

Next steps:

  • David & Dayal: Surveying residents on estate and the wider ward
  • Reach out to HomeStart and other charities about what involvement they would be interested in:
  • Kate: share her work on the different models of community ownership / management / use of buildings (e.g. from full community ownership on a 125 year lease to smaller ‘meanwhile’ uses)
  • Karen & Vanessa: Ask for access to outside space for Great British Spring Clean
  • Karen: Ask about the roof status

Next meeting (Tuesday 25th February, 7pm): 

  • Group to map out what the different models of community use might mean 
  • Figure out where we could make ourselves heard

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