Community centres urged to come together to beat cuts

Local authority cuts mean that five community centres across Darlington will each lose up to £6,000 a year in grants.

The team behind the Firthmoor Community Centre say it is vital that the town’s centres work together to overcome the impact of the reductions in funding.

Martin Landers, of the Firthmoor and District Community Association, recommends pooling resources and sharing expertise in an effort to keep community centres alive.

Following a successful pilot scheme between Firthmoor Community Centre and Red Hall Community Centre, the association is offering to form partnerships and share services and knowledge with other centres and small charities.

Mr Landers has suggested a number of ways in which centres can help each other, including setting up a centralised phone line to optimise room bookings and looking at new ways of managing caretaking and book keeping.

He said: “Without grant support each centre will struggle to make ends meet and the only way they will be able to continue operating as going concerns is to either find new customers, or find new leaner ways of working.

“Pooling resources will help more centres stay open. Grants have been taken away and reserves will not last forever. We need to find new ways of working and we have done so much work on how to cut costs to the bone that we want to share our expertise and help other centres.

“Centres are struggling at the moment and people do not realise how crucial they are.

"The Red Hall community centre, for example, is in an isolated place on the edge of town.

"Without the community centre, what would residents do socially? Having these buildings is crucial to helping people reach their full potential.”

The Firthmoor Community Association is hoping to expand its scheme to offer Darlington’s other community centres and small charities help and support with operational management and book keeping services.

For more information, contact Martin Landers on 01325 462979.