About The Project

What is the Riseley Children’s & Young People’s Hub Project?

The aim of the Riseley Children’s & Young People’s Hub (Centre) Project is to establish a permanent and sustainable venue that will ensure the continuation, development and long-term provision of children’s and young people’s groups.

I have heard it called a ‘Hub’ and a ‘Centre’ what is the difference?

In reality there is no difference as they are both a location for children’s groups and associations to meet. Charities and local authorities often use the word ‘Hub’ to describe these types of location as they imply a coming together of people and their communities – which is our aim. So for funding and presentation purposes we tend to use Hub. This is a relatively new usage of the word so to avoid any confusion as to what the project is about, we also use the word ‘centre’ in some contexts.

What are we looking to achieve?

The Riseley Children’s & Young People’s Hub Project aims to establish a permanent and sustainable young people’s centre in the village that will provide a stable, affordable home for community based young people’s groups and a hub for groups from the wider local area. Plus the project will also look at how the centre can helping to meet other community and social needs of young adults, the elderly, those with special needs.

Predominantly the project aims to meet the long-term needs of a growing local population of young people.

So what are the actual goals?

To create a permanent home for children’s and young peoples activities
To provide an affordable location for children and youth oriented groups enabling them to continue in spite of fluctuating costs and numbers
To provide storage for equipment required to safely and successfully run groups and children’s activities
To provide a location with options for multiple use to accommodate various groups at busy times
To provide opportunities for growth, development and expansion of children’s and young people’s groups
To provide facilities for children’s and young people’s groups in the broader local area
To create an organisation that is focused solely on delivering facilities for children’s and young people’s groups and activities
To create management team that will maintain, support and development of children’s and young peoples groups, associations and activities
To look at the wider social needs of the village and surrounding area and help cater to meet them.

Why is it needed?

Children are the lifeblood of the village as they provide new generations to ensure the future of the community. In recent years while the number of houses has grown, Riseley has lost a number of amenity and social buildings meaning provision of children’s and young people’s services is lacking

The result has been:

An increased need for parents to drive children to groups and activities outside the village
Increased antisocial behaviour and petty crime
A lack of social cohesion
The loss of some families moving out of the village
Having a vibrant and well supported children’s and young people’s element in Riseley has huge social benefits:

Makes the village a desirable place to live
Ensures the future need for local schools and the church
Reduces crime and anti-social behaviour
Supports local groups and businesses
Improves social interaction and community spirit.
A children’s and young people’s centre will help enhance the lives of our children, develop community spirit and ensure that Riseley remains a vibrant and thriving village.

In addition the already stretched local amenities will need to cater to a growing and ageing local population.

Are there enough children to warrant a bespoke young people’s centre?

The number of family orientated houses in Riseley has continued to grow since the 80’s – with 70 new houses built since 2008

The number of young people in the village has grown dramatically and is set to increase

28% of households in Riseley currently have at least one dependent child
22% of current Riseley residents are under 18
Bedford Borough predicts Riseley’s child population will grow by 7% in the next decade
Current growth rates will see Riseley’s child population exceed 300 by 2021
Not including Sharnbrook, the child population of Riseley and surrounding villages will be over 900 by 2024
In 2011 nearly 50% of Riseley residents (559) were over 50. The over 60 age group will be rise to between 350 – 400 in the next 10 years putting increased pressure on current amenities.
*Figures from the 2011 census

Will there be enough groups to use it?

The number and frequency of groups that cater to children and young people from 0 – 18 years has grown in the last decade. There are currently around 12 regular groups in the village.

The cost and availability of amenity buildings means that while there is demand for new groups, there is little opportunity for new ones to start up or for current groups to expand.

The centre will provide the opportunity for:

Current groups to expand
New groups to form
Facilities for groups in the surrounding villages
A venue for outdoor/ off-site activities for regional school’s children’s and young people’s group
What about the current amenity buildings?

While children’s groups and their numbers have increased, useable locations have not. There are currently only four locations that are used for children’s groups, each with issues of cost, availability or facility limitations. Also the current amenity buildings were not designed with the specific purpose of providing facilities for children’s and young people’s activities. The centre will be designed to be child focussed and child friendly.

Won’t a Children’s & Young People’s Centre have a negative impact existing amenity buildings?

No. The income or usage from children’s and young people’s groups is not a major part of the function or income for any of the existing amenity buildings. In fact most have issues over the long-term viability of their being able to continue to host children’s groups.

So what facilities will the Children’s & Young People’s Centre have?

Activity Space – An enclosed area that can safely accommodate physical games, sport based activities and performances
Lounge/Activity Room a separate, additional multi-use space for use by various clubs and groups for more creative/arts or social based activities
Kitchen for preparation of refreshments and for cooking based activities
Staging Permanent or removable staging for use in performances and presentations
Storage – internal and external storage
Toilets & changing facilities
If possible the centre will also have an outside activity area.
Riseley has few buildings or available spaces, so where would it be located?

While limited, we are confident that we can find a suitable location from one of the following. The viability and cost of each would need to be investigated to find the most viable.

Expanding/extending the Village Hall
Margaret Beaufort Middle School (hire or purchase a building or land)
Riseley C of E Lower School (hire or purchase a building or land)
Converting an existing business unit
Converting a farm/agricultural building
New build
Converting a residential property
The cost of this project will be high, how are you going to fund it?

Monies to establish the centre will come from the following sources:

Local Government (Bedford Borough Council) investment in children’s and youth services
National children’s and young people’s charities and organisations
National government rural development schemes
National government children’s and young people’s incentives
National Charity organisations (National Lottery, Children in Need)
Local Charity Organisations (Harpur Trust, Whitbread Charity)
Local fundraising
Local business donations.
How do you propose to finance its up-keep and maintenance?

In order to ensure the sustainability of the project and that the centre meets its remit of providing an affordable facility for children’s and young people’s groups, the centre will require a mixture of annual income:

Rental income = 40%
Local government funding = 35%
Committed charity grants and funding = 15%
Fund raising = 10%
This will cover the general expenses of running and maintaining the centre. Expansion, upgrading and the cost of new or additional non-essential equipment will be addressed by special fund raising or by individual user groups.

Who will manage the project and the centre?

To ensure that the project fulfils its remit of providing a sustainable location for the long-term provision of children’s and young people’s groups and activities, a management team will be established to oversee the running of the facility. These will be elected by user groups and interested parties and will operate and manage the centre in keeping with the established constitution.

What’s the long-term strategy?

The long-term strategy is to create a suitable amenity and social buildings in Riseley to meet the needs of village and local area population, one of these being a facility bespoke for the needs of children and young people.

So what happens now?

To achieve the goal of creating a fit for purpose and sustainable children’s and young people’s centre we’ll be looking to action the following:

Call to action – Inform local residents of the initiative and galvanising support
Collate useful information and contacts
Define the constitution & operational procedures
Seek a viable location
Create a financial plan
Source funding and logistical support
Project management timeline to oversee delivery.
How can I get involved?

There are many things that you can do to help the project from joining the management team to simply helping with fundraising, sourcing information or just spreading the word and talking positively about the project.