Client Case Study: Doals Community Centre, Weir

Weir Community Partnership (WCP), a group of residents, had a vision of building a community centre in the village. This growing village is two miles outside Bacup town centre and is surrounded by open moorland. Picturesque as this is, if you are lucky you can watch the deer frolicking on nearby hills, it is sadly lacking in the basic amenities. The village only has one small shop and two pubs! With limited public transport and no buses on Sunday’s the resident were feeling increasingly cut off. Older people are house bound and young people have difficulty getting to places of entertainment. Although there have been new housing developments in recent years bringing
affluence to the area it has contributed to the newcomers failing to identify
with the spirit of the village, not surprising because it has no heart!

WCP’s vision was for a new centre on the foundations of the old church, pulled down
when it went into decay. The centre would offer a venue for community meetings,
training, youth club and children’s facilities, church meetings and a place to
hold your party! The Weir Baptist Church freely donated the land that housed
the former church to the project. However the budget was over £600,000 and a
donation from the Church and local fundraising still left a huge amount to
find. In the summer of 2005 the group entered their project into the WRG Village
Hall & Community Centre Challenge 2005, run by Waste Recycling Environmental
Ltd, owners of the nearby Deerplay Quarry. PEER had supported this project from
the beginning and contributed to developing a Business Plan and supporting
information ready for the presentation.

Just before Christmas they heard they were in the final five out of 90 UK
projects. As a finalist they were guaranteed an award of at least £125,000 with
the opportunity to double this to a total grant of £250,000. The Doals bid was
the only one entered into the competition from the whole of Lancashire. To
secure the £250,000 each group had to make a presentation to a judging panel on
14th March 2006 at the House of Commons. The following May the group returned
for the final announcement held at the House of Commons.

WCP were delighted to find out that they had won. After the celebrations the hard
work started! The timing of the award was crucial to obtaining further funding from the
Bacup & Stacksteads SRB Challenge Fund, which was in its final year.
Particular thanks go to the Bacup & Stacksteads Community Partnership Board
and Rossendale Borough Council who pulled out all the stops to make this project
possible.

Long negotiations with the local Council and Lancashire County
Council regarding planning permission (which we had already sorted but new staff
insisted on starting again) and the requirements for extra parking spaces and
traffic restrictions dragged on and on and on… Eventually however, after members of the community put in vast amounts of time to meet every demand the work finally started.  The Doals Centre was completed in February 2008.

Client Case Study: Rossendale Mountain Biking Trails

The Adrenaline Gateway, and its class leading mountain bike trails around Lee Quarry,  has certainly put Rossendale on the map. Not only does it give the mix of local sporting facilities a truly unique flavour — it has become a tourist destination that’s earning national acclaim. For the quarry now regularly hosts top class events, and it’s set to grow and grow. But, without PEER Support, the chances are that Lee Quarry would be little more than a pipe dream buried in a large hole in the ground.

The Gateway is one of the biggest success stories we’ve been involved in and it’s a classic example of what we are all about. PEER Support effectively galvanised the hopes and dreams of a number of local people, then brought together a host of agencies and funders to help make the Gateway happen. And now, in a classic ”if you build it they will come’ regeneration story, it has become a breeding ground for new businesses.

So just what is the Lee Quarry all about? It’s a unique set of mountain bike trails — about 8 km in total — at the disused quarry. The trails were designed after looking at the best bits from various venues across the UK, where examples of best practice were taken away and reused. “It’s like a giant playground for grown ups,” says Tony Lund, Countryside Officer for Lancashire County Council. “It’s a fairly compact site but offers a lot of technical riding and a chance for riders to hone particular skills. It’s a place where people come for a good day out but also to improve their riding skills.”

“People can simply turn up and ride whenever they want but the quarries have their risks so we always recommend parental supervision. The trails need to be treated with respect and ridden with a degree of caution. The trails are graded red and black which mean they aren’t aimed at beginners.”

Andy MacNae of PEER says: “It’s wonderful to see the quarry take off. One of the leading mountain bike magazines in the country recently published a seven-page feature on Lee Quarry and its reputation is spreading rapidly among the mountain bike community. Mountain biking is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and the great thing is Rossendale is now seen as a key destination and is well placed to take advantage of the boom.”

“While it’s great that the mountain bike community has really taken to Lee Quarry it has to be remembered that without the support of PEER and the local community this would never have happened. “Locals who knew the area well had real vision. They could see that this sort of project would bring in visitors to the area, which is when they asked us to get involved. Last year it attracted some 15,000 riders — this year that number could more than double. A few businesses have now sprung up running training courses, which offer people a chance to improve their riding skills, and other associated businesses are likely to follow to serve this growing band of enthusiasts. Meanwhile, the site itself is growing. Trails at Cragg Quarry have been completed and linked to Lee Quarry and there are long term plans to link the Rossendale Centre with others further afield.”

Rest assured PEER will play its part in helping the local business community get its voice heard in future.

Client Case Study: Heritage Kitchen Preserves

A creative Christmas present has turned into a tasty bit of business for a Rossendale husband and wife team. For Derek & Judith Rice-Jones have transformed their hobby of chutney making into the thriving Heritage Kitchen Range of Preserves. The couple hand make everything from Tomato Relish to Lancashire Pineapple Chutney from their Bacup home — ensuring it’s all free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

They were helped to get off the ground by a combination of PEER Support and the encouragement of friends and family. Says Derek: ”It all started off as a hobby. We grew our own tomatoes and found we had more than we could eat so decided to try to preserve them — hence the idea of making chutneys. Then about five years ago I was made redundant just before Christmas. Of course money was tight and so we made a batch of chutneys and passed them on as presents to friends and family. They went down a storm — the feedback we received was really encouraging.”

“Within a few months I got a job at Salmesbury Hall and started running a little concession stocking the chutneys. Over time we started adding further retail outlets — places like Huntleys Farm Shop in Salmesbury and Riley Brothers butchers in Rossendale — and the business started to take off. So in March last year I decided to go full time.”

Today Heritage Kitchen produces as many as 200 jars a week of their own special recipes and are rapidly building a fan club up and down the county. Part of the product appeal is down to Derek and Judith’s commitment to source as much as they can locally — which has led to some interesting finds. “I discovered a farmer selling  Lancashire Pineapples — a kind of golden beetroot, so we developed a Lancashire Pineapple Chutney from it. It raises a few eyebrows when people see the label but it’s turned into a best seller!”

Starting any business can be tough but the couple asked for help and guidance from PEER Support. Andy MacNae worked with Derek and Judith to help develop the business model — looking at everything from margins to suppliers. Says Andy: ”We like to help people transform their dreams into something practical. It’s been great watching Derek and Judith turn their hobby into a business that continues to grow.”

Client Case Study: Flashbang Science

Claire Holt, a Lancashire Chemical Engineer, is sparking fresh interest in science among the nation’s school children – thanks to a unique new business venture. For Claire is sharing her lifetime passion for chemistry with primary school pupils across the region. Her business, Flashbang Science, was launched in 2010 after months of planning and a little help from PEER Support.

It involves taking a mobile science lab to primary schools, and gives children a hands-on opportunity to perform a wide range of weird and wonderful experiments. “In recent years science and chemistry has struggled to get young people enthused, which is a crying shame,” says Claire, who has worked for over 25 years in the North West chemical industry, including Fisons Pharmaceuticals, Ciba Geigy, ICI and Zeneca, here she was Business Vice President.

“My aim with Flashbang Science is to show children at a very young age that science can be exciting and fascinating. These days very few primary schools have the facilities to carry out experiments safely so, with Flash Bang Science, my plan is to bring the  mobile lab to the schools. We can set the lab up quickly, safely and easily and, although it is very early days yet, the idea has been warmly welcomed by the heads, teachers and pupils I have spoken to.”

Claire, of Helmshore, Rossendale, has developed a range of simple but exciting experiments like the ’Screaming Jelly Baby’, ‘Elephants Toothpaste’, ‘Mentos Volcano’ and ‘Making Electricity with Salt’, and, working in tandem with a network of like-minded individuals, she hopes to engage young minds and show that chemistry and physics can be fascinating.

Before launching the business she turned to PEER Support for support and guidance and it has already proved to be a winning combination as earlier this year Claire won a Give It A Go award. She said: ”PEER Support was a wonderful help for me when I was going through the launch of the business. Andy MacNae was a great support looking at my plans, opening doors for me and letting me know about things like the Give It A Go awards, which I was fortunate enough to win. We are picking up new contracts now but I still talk to Andy and he is helping me break down the barriers that are in my way.”

Claire, who works as a business advisor to technology start up firms, has invested thousands of pounds of savings into Flash Bang Science. She is looking for businesses who want to take sponsorship opportunities on the mobile lab and wants to speak to any primary schools in Lancashire who may be interested in finding out more about her workshops.

Client Case Study: Agapao Impact Centre

The Agapao Impact Centre in Haslingden is a wonderful resource for the people of Rossendale — it’s also a great example of PEER Support in action. Louise Chicot is the beating heart behind the centre and the international charity operation at the core of Agapao.

Louise has become a huge fan of PEER Support. “When I first heard about it I didn’t appreciate how it operated — that you don’t get chased and only get Andy’s help if you go and seek it. But whenever I have needed him he has been there for me. Without Andy and the rest of the network that PEER Support has opened up to me I don’t think Agapao would have developed in the way it has.”

In 2009 Louise was working from an overloaded home office when she turned to PEER Support for some support. At this point Louise was blissfully unaware that up the road in Haslingden the Mary Hindle Centre was about to close its doors. PEER Support’s Enterprise Facilitator Andy MacNae wasn’t and he immediately recognised that by helping Louise, PEER Support could also play a part in saving a wonderful community resource.

Louise recalls: “It was all a whirlwind. I came back from a trip to Uganda and Andy had arranged a meeting with the Centre trustees. After a few discussions, they agreed that Agapao deserved to receive the assets of the Charity and handed me the keys to the centre! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  At the time I wasn’t sure what I’d taken on. Until then Agapao had been a fairly small operation and all of a sudden I had a huge building to try to make sense of! But six months on it has been a great move. The place has enabled Agapao to develop and it has given the centre new life. It’s now a vibrant, friendly welcoming place that the whole community can use.”

It’s also home to new tenants: Rossendale Radio, The Sophie Lancaster Foundation and Help Direct. There’s an IT suite, recording studio, a rehearsal/music room and the centre plays host to regular community meetings. In short it is a huge success by any measure.

Louise is one of those people who seem to thrive on challenges — the tougher the better. She started Agapao, which means I Love You Unconditionally, 10 years ago. At the time she was a regional sales manager at a telecoms company and saw a need for some organised sport for local youngsters.

She had no training, no experience and no idea what would happen next but she decided she was going to do something about it. After putting a few flyers up around the area she turned up at the local park at the appointed hour and was staggered to find that around 70 children had gathered for the football training session. Within weeks that number was 170. Very soon the whole thing blossomed into a number of 5-a-side  teams, basketball teams, youth teams and an after school club. Volunteers joined her, the police praised her and the whole thing was life changing.

Louise’s next epiphany came on her first trip to Uganda in October 2004. “It was mind-blowing. The people had no food, the children no clothes. Previous aid workers had built the locals a basketball court but they had failed to leave them with any basketballs so it was empty.”

Inspired to do something about it, and building on her experiences closer to home, Louise has made Uganda a focus of regular activity which is how Agapao International came about. It helps train young people and develops sustainable  projects which are managed by the community. “I’ve found that people in the UK often want to help but don’t know how,” says Louise, ”so Agapao offers those people an outlet. It can be as simple as giving items of clothing but just as importantly it is giving people the tools to be able to help themselves.” She also organises trips to Uganda which are called Impact Holidays.

You can find out more about Agapao here.