A popular North Yorkshire community centre is putting the finishing touches to a redecorating project with the help of a four-figure grant from developer the Banks Group.
Over the last few years, all the rooms at Hunmanby Community Centre have been redecorated one-to-one by caretaker Jamie Oxtoby as part of plans to spruce up the building.
The corridors around the Stonegate building were the only remaining parts that still required repainting, but despite the growing need to get them done, the Community Centre didn’t have the funds required to finish the job.
But now, a £1,970 grant from the Banks Community Fund has enabled the Community Centre’s management committee to commission local decorator Andy Ringrose to carry out the required plastering and paintwork, which is expected to be finished in the coming weeks.
Originally opened in the mid-1980s, Hunmanby Community Centre is the only venue of its type in the village and is run by a dedicated team of volunteers.
It hosts around 30 different groups and activities every month, ranging from fitness classes, dance groups, a table tennis club and youth group meetings through to coffee mornings, book group meetings, an art group and band practices.
It is also regularly used as a venue for musical and theatrical performances, and has hosted landmark events featuring two different Poets Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage.
Sue Leyland, secretary to the Hunmanby Community Centre management committee, says: “Jamie has done a great job redecorating all the rooms, but the corridors were a bit too big of a job for him to take on and we didn’t have the money available to bring someone in from outside.
“The need to attend to the corridors was becoming increasingly obvious as they’re a bit gloomy, which doesn’t match with the rest of the building and with the type of environment that we want to offer everyone that comes here.
“The Banks Group’s backing has been really helpful in enabling us to finish off the refurbishment work and we’re looking forward to be able to provide an even better welcome for all our visitors.”
The Banks Group is the business behind plans for a new residential development in Hunmanby which would see up to 125 homes being built to the west of Muston Road and which would include a 15 per cent provision of affordable homes.
New areas of public open space and green corridors would also be created within the site, which would provide a biodiversity net gain of at least ten per cent.
Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: “Venues like Hunmanby Community Centre are at the very centre of local life and we’re very pleased to be able to help the management committee complete their refurbishment work.”
The Banks Group’s community funds are independently managed by Point North (formerly the County Durham Community Foundation).
Anyone from a community close to a Banks Group project who is interested in applying for funding from the Banks Community Fund should contact the company via its website enquiry form (www.banksgroup.co.uk/contact-us/) to find out if their group or project is eligible.