Repairing the roof at St Richard's Community Centre
As one of the approved contractors on the councils’ roofing lot, Sussex Asphalte took the lead in developing an innovative scheme that enabled social value to be delivered in the Voluntary and Community sector in Brighton and Hove.
In partnership with Community Works, The Trust for Developing Communities, and the Community Buildings Network, Sussex Asphalte connected contractors and community sector organisations. These groups identified small building projects that they needed help with, in turn these requests were forwarded on to the building contractors who undertook them free of charge as part of their social value commitment.
Sussex Asphalte undertook a number of these projects themselves.
St Richard’s Community Centre on the Knoll Estate in Hove asked for help with their leaking roof which was causing damage and disruption to the operation of the hall – having to empty buckets after each heavy rainfall. They needed a professional roof survey so that they could fundraise to repair their roof.
Sussex Asphalte visited the Centre and provided a detailed survey and undertook temporary repairs to stop the leaks coming in, at no cost to St Richard's.
“I cannot thank you all enough for what you have done for us, it means so much. I am now going to be working really hard to gain funding as soon as possible in order to get the rest of the roof done now that we have a report and monetary figures to work on. Thank you so much for including us into the project, we so needed the input and the chance to be able to have assistance.”
Ann Tizzard, St Richard's Community Centre Assistant Manager
Working with the council, Sussex Asphalte have taken the lead in co-ordinating the social value projects, receiving, and referring community requests on to building contractors. In its first year of operation the initiative has delivered twelve projects for the community sector with an estimated value exceeding £12,000 worth of work that community groups could not have easily obtained.
“We’ve been delighted to co-ordinate and undertake works for local charities and voluntary groups who do so much to support local communities. Our work at St Richard’s shows how a relatively small amount of social value work can make a huge difference to their operation”.
Julian Coulter, Sussex Asphalte
St Richard’s have subsequently benefitted from another social value project, having one of their fire doors replaced by M&J Construction Group free of charge.
“This initiative has been an opportunity for groups to access support they might otherwise not have been able to and during the process a clear and effective model has been developed that we hope can be utilised more widely. It’s been a pleasure working with the team at Sussex Asphalte and we look forward to continuing this going forward.”
Fabia Bates, Sector Support Manager, Brighton and Hove Community Works
The final word should go to Ann Tizzard who recently provided an update on how the social value works unlocked a range of improvements at St Richard's:
"On the back of having the roof done, we also got a grant for repairs and redecoration for the water ingress, and we also have saved to replace the upstairs carpet. It has also given us the drive to apply for grant assistance to replace our windows. So you see the knock on effects from your hard work has been brilliant. We have had all our toilets refurbished by a volunteer, our hall and main hallways and ceiling have been repaired and are now being painted, we are replacing all our bulbs with LED bulbs, and have totally redecorated 2 offices. . . and all because you helped us."
Ann Tizzard, St Richard's Community Centre Assistant Manager