Charity organisers 'angry' as plug pulled on £600k Derbyshire community centre project

The organisers of a charity that aims to better the lives of residents in a Derbyshire neighbourhood has been left "sad, disappointed and angry" after announcing that plans to build a new community centre will not go ahead. An emotive statement has been released by Blue Box Belper, a registered charity that supports residents of the Parks Estate to "improve the community and lives" in the area.

Fire damage in 2015 destroyed the former Blue Box building, prompting the charity to begin taking steps to build a new community centre in the estate. Blue Box says that, despite being told it would be simple to finalise a lease agreement with support previously stated by local councils, it has been unable to secure a suitable lease agreement for the land in the required timeframe.

The charity now says the delays it has faced, which they put down to "indecision" by Belper Town Council, has resulted in it losing out on £65,000 worth of pledged funds. It also says that a new condition added late in the process will limit its ability to secure further funding.

A spokesperson for Blue Box Belper said: "This time last year we were celebrating, having secured £499,950 from the National Lottery Community Fund, alongside a further £80,000 from other funders and over £75,000 raised over the last few years through community fundraising and funding applications, and we were ready to proceed with the construction of our new community centre. The planning permission was in place, the majority of funds secured, and a preferred contractor was lined up and ready to go.

"Early on in the process, it became clear that Amber Valley Borough Council required a guarantor for us to secure a lease agreement with them for the land in the unlikely event that Blue Box Belper were to cease operating as a charity. Belper Town Council offered to be that guarantor, voting unanimously on the matter in 2017, and so the project continued.

"The town council were clear in their support of the project, drafting a guarantor agreement and investing £25,000 in the pre-construction costs to enable us to apply to the National Lottery Community Fund for just under £500,000. Securing the grant from the National Lottery Community Fund prompted Amber Valley Borough Council to complete the draft lease agreement. By the end of January 2024, most stakeholders had agreed to the draft lease agreement, but Belper Town Council began to raise concerns about its role as guarantor."

The charity says the last 11 months has seen a lot of back-have seen a lot of back-and-forth between the parties involved, with Blue Box claiming the town council was asking questions that should have been raised prior to the council offering to be a guarantor.

Blue Box said it had been clear on the "very real" risk of pledged funds being lost if an agreement cannot be found - and it believes it has now reached that stage.

The spokesperson added: "The final nail in the coffin was the town council’s decision at the full council meeting on Thursday, November 7, to agree to be the guarantor only if a number of additional conditions are met. One condition actually stops us from applying to the National Lottery Community Fund for a further 10 per cent uplift (£50,000), which is now required given the increasing costs and the imminent loss of the pledged grants. Given the lateness of a decision by the town council and the new round of conditions attached to their support, it ultimately leaves the project unachievable.

"To be clear, we would not have gone ahead with raising the funds, developing the plans and galvanising the support of a community, without the backing from Belper Town Council as a guarantor and the £25,000 grant for pre-construction costs. Up until this last 12 months, we believed the town council to be fully supportive of our vision and the project, but recent actions and decisions have shown that we no longer have their full support.

"Whilst we want to acknowledge the effort and support of some town councillors who have worked hard to find a solution, this ultimately has to be seen as a collective failure of local government. It is an example of local councils actively choosing not to support dedicated and skilled members of a community group to deliver on a project, who have also secured the support of a national and publicly funded grant-giving organisation."

Organisers of the charity say they have been left feeling incredibly "sad, disappointed and angry," not just as a result of the time and energy put into the project, but for the local community who will now "miss out" on the investment. "We have, over the last eight years, built something more than bricks and mortar. We’ve built a strong community of local people, united around a vision for a thriving community hub on the Parks Estate," a spokesperson added.

"Blue Box Belper is committed to finding an alternative solution to ensure we can continue to build upon the impact we are having, and we are currently trialling the old. When we began the process of replacing the original Blue Box building, the Children’s Centre (in Alder Road) was still a council-run Sure Start Centre. It has recently become empty, and we are exploring its longer-term availability."

A spokesman for Amber Valley Borough Council said: “It's disappointing for Blue Box and the Belper community that an agreement over the terms of the guarantor arrangement could not be reached despite best endeavours."