Ten Corby community and sport centres under threat after council says it will cut vital funding

Volunteers who run ten vital community centres across Corby say many of them will have to close if North Northamptonshire Council slash their funding.

Many of them gathered on Thursday evening to take part in a passionate meeting to try to safeguard the future of the crucial centres.

Those running the centres only discovered last week that NNC was intending to remove their core funding for the coming financial year, and had just a few days to respond to a consultation which closed on Friday.

The centres provide homes for hundreds of groups in Corby including scouts, foodbanks, NHS clinics, children’s centres, sports clubs, playgroups and social clubs for people who would otherwise be lonely. They are venues for countless parties and gatherings and are a beating-heart at the centre of their communities.

So what’s happening?

The unitary authority pays out a total of £112,000 in grants per year to help the centres meet basic running costs. Each receives between £1,000 and £37,000.

Most of the centres used to be run by Corby Borough Council but were devolved to be run by local volunteers in 2012. Associations took over the day-to-day management and the council provided an annual grant to acknowledge the essential role they played on the town’s estates.

But NNC is currently considering its budget for the 2023/24 financial year and, buried in the small print, is its intention to cut the grants.

Centres do generate their own income from hiring out their halls, but most do not make a profit and will not be able to manage without the grant.

Last week, those running the centres were given one week to take part in a consultation with NNC, which closed on Friday.

Which community centres are affected?

Centres across Corby are going to be hit by the issue. They are;

Danesholme Community Centre

Oakley Vale Community Centre

Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre (run by Linwood Co-Op)

Woodsend Bowls Club

Autumn Centre

Corby Olympic Amatejur Boxing Club (Saxilby Close)

Beanfield Community Centre

Arran Community Centre

Ennerdale Community Centre

Stephenson Way Community Centre

What has the reaction been?

A hastily-arranged meeting was held at Beanfield Community Centre on Thursday (January 26) for those who help run the community centres and those who use them.

Hazel Keeton from Arran Community Centre said the volunteers originally managed to save the centre by asking Corby Council for the £2,500 if would cost them to board it up and secure it for a year. They built up the centre and now building hosts a diverse range of groups including dog therapy, social clubs and parties. She said: “I’m pretty disgusted really. We try to keep it as cheap as possible to hire but charges are going to have to go right up.

“We might manage a year without the grant but then that’s that. We might not even last a year given the gas bills.

“I don’t know how much we’re going to have to put the rental up but people might just say ‘we can’t afford that’.”

Jeff Wood of the Linwood Co-operative, which runs Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre said that his group of volunteers had also taken on the building after it was supposed to shut. It is now the town’s most successful community building, hosting a children’s centre, a cafe, sports events, and has recently been pivotal in securing funding for a skate park and calisthenics facility outside the centre. The group has also taken on the running of the Old Village Community Centre to help them spread some of their back-office costs.

Jeff said: “Some time ago the Kingswood Community Centre was to be shut and they said how much it would cost to mothball it and we took that money and ran it on that.

"That building would be a wreck now.

"Many of the groups that use it rely on grants and most grants require us to demonstrate a core funding that’s reliable, year-in, year-out.

"For the grant that NNC give us, they’re getting the building kept clean, heated and the facilities upgraded. The hall’s had a new floor, the cafe’s been completely renovated.”

Lynn Johnston helps run Kingswood, Danesholme and the Old Village Community Centres. She said that, just at Kingswood, the council would have to pay an £80,000 annual standing charge to keep the utilities connected were the association to stop running the centre.

"They haven’t looked at how much it would cost them to stop the buildings going derelict,” she said.

"We hosted a big event last week for people who’d lost their jobs at Orchard House. People running council services tell us they need to be in the community. So where are they going to be?”

Childminder Claire Stobart runs a playgroup at Arran Community Centre and charges just £3.50 per family or group – with childminders welcome to bring all their charges for just one price. She said: “For some people, this might be the only group they get out to during the week.”

Judy Caine, who sits on the committee that runs Oakley Vale Community Centre said the centre is home to Alzheimer’s groups and NHS clinics and brings together those who speak a total of 18 languages on the multi-cultural estate.

She said: “We’re going to be stuffed. I’ve been involved for ten years and we have worked so hard.

"We do not know how we’re going to continue the work we’re getting done. They’re such narrow-minded bean-counters.

"It’s finally starting to feel like a community up there rather than place where people live and commute to London to work.”

Richard Dickens, manager of Beanfield Community Centre said:“If we don’t get that grant, we’ll close.

"There are five different churches here. We have got groups coming from Leicester because they can’t find anywhere closer.

"There are old people’s groups and that’s the only time they’re getting out. We’ll have to put our charge up from £17 an hour to £22.50 an hour. Some of these groups can’t afford an extra fiver an hour.

"There’s no way we can shoulder the extra cost.”

Ann McCarron, Beanfield Community Centre chair, said: “We use this as our community hub. This is the place we always come back to. It would be a massive loss if we were to go.

Cllr Alison Dalziel (Lab, Corby West) said: “There are 600 people a week coming through the doors of this centre.

"This is criminal.”

What about other areas?

Community centres in other areas across North Northants are still run by the council and will continue to receive their full funding. Village halls mostly operate on a separate system and are self-funding. Plus, they have income from bars, which Corby’s community centres don’t.

Hazelwood Neighbourhood Centre is still run by the council, although it appears the authority is keen to hand over the running to other groups. Corby Town Council has already been approached to take it over, but has so far not come to any agreement.

What are NNC saying?

In letters sent out to community groups, NNC said: “We are currently living through very challenging times and the council must do all it can to manage its finances efficiently and with prudence.”

A statement to this newspaper from NNC said: “There is a proposal in the council’s draft budget to standardise the grants that are provided to devolved community centres for core operating costs, not service delivery.

"The current approach is not consistent across the localities. This proposal was included in the draft budget – this opened for consultation on December 22 and people can still have their say as it is important that the council understands the impact of these proposals on individual centres.

“NNC fully recognises and appreciates the importance of community centres and our volunteers. All feedback in relation to this proposal is being and will be shared with the council’s executive as part of the overall consultation feedback so that proposals can be finalised for the council in February.”

An equality impact statement included in budget papers states that the impact on people with protected characteristics will be ‘neutral’ and that centres may need support to find other income streams.

This newspaper has been told by a source that the decision is not officer-led, but has been driven by councillors.

What happens now?

The ten-strong NNC Conservative executive – which does not have any councillors from Corby – will meet on February 9 to discuss the proposals which will go to full council on February 23. Both meetings are at the Corby Cube and are open to the public.

Labour councillors from Corby are urging the authority to think again, to give associations their grant this year, with ongoing support during the forthcoming year to try to find new funding models during 2023/24.

At Thursday’s meeting, Councillor Willie Colquhoun (Lab, Lloyds) said: “These people do not have hearts. They do not care.”

How can you help?

You can email your local councillor, wherever you live in North Northamptonshire. You can find their details here.

You can right click on our ‘Save Corby’s Community Centres’ poster, save it and set it as your social media profile picture.

You can attend the council’s executive meeting on February 9 at the Corby Cube at 10am.