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BACKGROUND BY CHAIR
St John’s Centre has seen a
great deal of activity in the twelve months since our last report. If you
look through this document you can see a huge range of activities which go
on here.
We have seen changes in our
staffing and we are very happy to have welcomed Julie Taglione as our
coordinator. She is already getting to grips with our systems and controls –
not to mention our computer! In a few weeks we will be joined by Simon
Loveitt who will be able to further develop our work in the community.
Regrettably the Newlands Project has come to a conclusion and we shall miss
the support we had from it. In particular we shall miss Tich Kavanagh’s
input to our plans and activities. He was a tower of strength in our early
days and I should like to record our thanks to him.
The ending of the Newlands
Project caused us to think hard about the future and where funding will come
from. The United Reformed Church has been immensely supportive as you will
see from this report and from the accounts of the centre. Your management
committee realises however that, to do all the things we would like to do
extra funding will always be needed. If we are to get more organisations to
support us we need to be able to show that we are well organised and know
what we are doing. Because of that need we have been working very hard over
the last six months to build up a development plan for the centre. I am
pleased to say that it is now nearly completed and we shall be able to use
it to assist in winning support for St John’s.
This is a healthy
organisation with fine premises, excellent facilities and, above all
enthusiastic volunteers without whom we could not provide our services to
the community. I am sure that he centre will continue its development and
provide much needed support to this area of Bradford.
INTRODUCTION
BY CENTRE COORDINATOR
During the last 12 months the Centre has been kept continuously busy. This
was all made possible by the dedication and determination of the Centre’s
Volunteers who have worked tirelessly throughout this period. The number of
Volunteers now stands at approximately eight, but we are hopeful of
attracting more interest with new activities we hope to implement over the
next twelve months. The Centre has also recently appointed a new Coordinator
and together with the imminent arrival of a Community Development Worker we
are expecting the Centre to become a well used and visited local focal point
of the community.
The
Crèche room has been improved and furnished to standards set by OFSTED and
we have now successfully gained registration. Special thanks have been
conveyed to Sure Start for their continued assistance and support in this
area. Together with Sure Start we are in hoping to develop and promote the
usage of the crèche, and the Centre itself more over the coming months.
The
Centre is at present used by groups such as Sure Start, Bradford College,
Bradford North PCT, Airedale PCT as well as individuals for private
functions. The Centre does provide a worthwhile and some much needed
facilities for the local community and hopefully these facilities will be
expanded to reach even more people.
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