Frequently Asked Questions
In no particular order
1/ When will the building start?
The new centre will be built in 2023 and when opened will be the place to go to meet friends, have coffee, take part in classes and have meetings and parties.
2/ Why is the building this size?
We wanted a community centre not a village hall. By having a large hall space plus smaller meeting rooms it has the potential to generate a lot more income from lettings than a traditional hall. This should enable the management committee to appoint a paid or two paid members of staff to run the centre and have it manned and available all week.
3/ Will the centre have a cafe?
Provision has been made for a commercial sized cafe to use the area across the front of the building and provide outdoor seating in the summer to the front of the building including some in sight of the play park.
4/ What activities do you expect in the centre?
At the moment there are very few activities in the village as there is limited space for any, especially during the day. The Cabin at St Mary’s is well used and the Sports and Social Club has a strong place in the community. The new centre is not going to be in competition with these but will offer a wider range of activities to enhance the work they do such as:
Yoga, indoor curling, table tennis, charity events, parties, Zumba, a community film club, ballet, youth groups, ballroom dancing, contemporary dance, jazzercise, fencing, judo, karate, pilates, baby yoga, art groups, choirs, exercises groups, tea dances, Bounce classes, pre-school music classes, Little City and Tumble Tots. Educational activities such as U3A classes and home education group activities, local history group meetings and lectures can be encouraged. Other groups might include monthly farmers markets, art exhibitions, antique and craft fairs as well as wedding receptions.
These activities, and more, are available in other similar centres around Cambridge villages. It will be part of the management group’s responsibility to seek support for and invite activities to the centre.
5/ Why are these activities needed?
In the village survey in 2017/18 there was a desire expressed for more meeting places and activities and since then the pandemic has made a significant change in the way people work and play. There are more home workers, flexible workers and retired adults. There is also a real cafe/ coffee culture but no coffee shop easily accessible. We hope to cater to all these and more groups that have little to do or places to go in the village.
6/ Why so many little rooms as well as two big spaces?
Having two medium sized rooms that can open into one larger space enables two physical activities at the same time if required. One in the hall one in the double sized room. The smaller rooms can be ideal for some meetings, home workers for work or interviews, possible medical use on a daily basis for physio, chiropodist, visiting nurse, health visitors etc. Again it’s the management’s role to seek these things and bring them to the village.
7/ Will tea and coffee facilities be available in the rooms?
Yes, it is planned that all rooms will have sinks, and tea facilities in-built in cupboards in each room.
8/ Will all areas be fully accessible to wheelchair users and those with limited mobility?
Yes. There will be disabled parking bays near the building and all areas are designed to be disability friendly.
9/ Will local groups get preferential hiring rates?
It is hoped that the management group, when formed, will set rates similar to those used by the school up to now, with local groups and not for profit groups getting cheaper rates.
10/ Will there be a community association for the new building?
Possibly, but this will be a decision for the management group but most established villages have some form of user group association.
11/ Is the building going to be self funded ?
It is an expectation of the HCCWG (Hardwick Community Centre Working Group) that part of the remit of a management group is to set up the running and financing of the centre so that it is self sustaining. A cafe and income from lettings should raise sufficient to cover the costs of the building. Another reason to have as large a building as possible to achieve economies of scale, enable a paid, on site manager who can find and encourage new groups to hire the centre.
The PC has also set aside an amount of money for the first year’s running costs whilst the building gets established and builds its user base.
12/. What type of heating will the centre have?
The tendering process has asked for costs for ground source heating and for air source heating with photo voltaic panels. Both are eco friendly and efficient but we need to see the costs for each before a decision is made.
13/ Is there any landscaping being done around the building?
We have planned very extensive landscaping. Three reasons for this are, to make the area aesthetically pleasing, to provide a sound deadening effect for the benefit of local houses and to visually break up the lines of the building and make it blend into the surroundings.
The HCCWG also hope there may be a volunteer landscaping group in future that might want to add to and extend the planting to incorporate the area around the pavilion to enhance the area visually.
14/ Who will be responsible for the long term maintenance of the building?
Although this project is undertaken on behalf of the Parish Council the running and long term maintenance of the centre will most likely fall to the management group who will run the centre. Similar centres in other villages have a charity linked management group which run the centre and put money into a long term fund to pay for future maintenance. Whilst this is one example of how to deal with long term maintenance issues it has yet to be decided by the PC. At this point the management, maintenance and general day to day running will be for the PC to decide which route to take but it will not be part of the PCs long term plan to run the centre. Its role is to facilitate the construction of the centre for the benefit of the residents.
15/ Will there be any facilities available for teenagers?
The role of the management will be to find activities that suit a range of villagers’ interests and ages and these include teenagers. The Scouts and Guides already have an established building and cater for this age group. Other possible new clubs like table tennis, dance and exercise groups etc will be available to this group too.
Will there be a youth club? The short answer is yes there can be. What is needed is someone to run one. The building will have hireable space but like all activities someone needs to hire and run the activity. There is no doubt finding a youth club leader might be difficult but the management will try to encourage and help get activities going if there is a demand.
16/ How will the building be heated?
We are very keen to make the centre as eco friendly as possible and we have researched several types of heating to achieve this.
We have asked the building companies tendering to build the centre to quote for ground source heating, air source heating and photovoltaic panels (PVs).
The roof has been designed to take the weight of PVs on the flat sections of roof. The sloping roof section is not south facing and is not designed for these panels. Using the flat surfaces makes maintenance easier and gives good light absorption qualities for a building of this size.
17/ Will the cafe be dog friendly?
An interesting question that has not yet been raised nor discussed by the HCCWG.
The answer at this point is, we don’t know. That’s mainly because it’s not yet clear who will be running the cafe. It may be franchised to be run as a commercial cafe or run by the management of the centre. Either should help raise money to help pay the running costs of the centre and provide a good service to residents.
Once the management of the centre is in place this will then become a question to be considered so watch this space.
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