To receive a presentation from Councillor Jack Douglas on volunteering at Maidenhead Community Centre.

As the Community Champion for Volunteering, Councillor Douglas gave a presentation on the Maidenhead Community Centre in which he was a trustee for.

Beginning with the background, Councillor Douglas informed that back in 2016, a group which he was involved with had hired out a small hall, managed by the Royal Voluntary Service for many years, on York Road, Maidenhead as a judo club. Just after hiring the place, the Royal Voluntary Service announced that they were going to close the hall due to receiving losses from managing it. In response to this, Councillor Douglas’s group offered to manage the hall for three years, in which the Royal Voluntary Service accepted providing they formed a charity.

In January 2017, Councillor Douglas and two other trustees had established a CIO (charitable incorporated organisation) and had been running it as a community centre ever since, along with a lot of volunteers they inherited from the Royal Voluntary Service. There were around 40 volunteers, including the three founding trustees and the caretaker, with many people aged between 70 and 96 who helped out in the café. After around 4 years of running the building, the trustees turned over £100,000, using this to build up the hall.

Eventually, there were plans for the building to be demolished. Wishing to continue with their activities, the trustees lobbied the Borough, submitted two petitions (each with around 2,000 signatures) and launched a campaign to continue with their activities. In the end, the trustees were given an alternative venue at 4 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, which Councillor Douglas described as “fantastic” in spite of originally being neglected and initially challenging to manage.

Based on survey data, Councillor Douglas informed that the Community Centre building was attended by around 1,000 people per week, adding that it was expected to increase in the coming years. The Community Centre hosted a variety of activities, including fitness, sport, dance, education, music, art and more.

Councillor Douglas then shared a selection of photos which showcased the activities at the Community Centre.

Councillor Douglas informed that there were many volunteering opportunities at the Community Centre for those who were interested, with some of the skilled and unskilled. For example, Nature’s Haven, who worked in the Community Centre gardens, had been actively looking for volunteers to do garden work. (On top of this, Councillor Douglas suggested to invite Nature’s Haven to a future Forum meeting). Other volunteer groups who used the Community Centre included:

·       GoodGym, using the Community Centre as their main meeting point on Wednesday evenings,

·       Men’s Matters

·       Buckinghamshire Mind, who supported mental health within the community and who were actively seeking out volunteers.

Councillor Douglas stated that the Community Centre wished to establish a full-time volunteer-run café, hoping there would be enough people to help out with this as well as there being a suitable time to set it up.

Councillor Douglas added that there was a possibility of running a weekly volunteering hub in 2024, though this was still in early stages. He added that there were some people who would like to volunteer; but they rather joined face-to-face rather than join up via email or Facebook.

Councillor Douglas concluded his presentation by displayed the website link and contact details of the Community Centre.

·       maidenheadcentre.org.uk

·       bookings@maidenheadcentre.org.uk

·       jack@maidenheadcentre.org.uk

·       01628 203400

The Chair thanked Councillor Douglas for his presentation and commended the work of the Community Centre, describing it as community driven and therefore making it a warm place to visit.

Councillor Reynolds expressed appreciation for the work of the Community Centre. Councillor Douglas responded by describing his involvement as enjoyable and rewarding.

Councillor Martin asked whether the Community Centre sought to hire out rooms during the quieter times. Councillor Douglas replied that the Community Centre had grown and always had demand for space (partly due to a lack of options in the Town Centre) even though it had never done any sort advertising or marketing. The Community Centre generally had quieter periods during lunchtimes, Friday evenings and Saturdays to an extent; however, these quieter periods were gradually being filled up by new activities. Nevertheless, Councillor Douglas stated that it would be good for these quieter periods to be used by volunteer groups who were interested.

The Chair asked whether there were any other areas which the Community Centre were seeking to expand alongside seeking to establish a volunteer café. Councillor Douglas answered that the main objective of the Community Centre was to provide a venue for various volunteer groups with a café being a part of puzzle whereby people within the building may join a different activity or group based in the building. Nevertheless, the Community Centre hoped that to persuade Nature’s Haven to adopt parts of Kidwell’s Park to spread the Community Centre’s positive influence in the area.