Brookfield Spaceplace is a registered charity, formed in 2000 to meet the needs of local people. The organisation has no employees but the building is operated by 3 self employed people who bring in income to pay rent (which covers core costs and utility bills for the building and an income for themselves) and has 14 volunteers that drive our local activities. The Board recently strengthened its governance arrangements through a series of workshops with a consultant - updating its policies & procedures, operational document and sealed the charity’s incorporation though taking on a Charitable Incorporated Organisation structure>
The Brookfield council estate was first built in 1948, to relieve the congestion in the terraced housing in town. Originally it was a very sought after area to live as it was built on dairy land, so there were a lot of green areas around. ‘Soundskills’ community centre is in one of the original 12 shop units and other amenities in the area included a clinic, a pub and a school. By the 1960’s there were over 3000 houses in the ward.
Although we provide support that regular community centres do like job support, financial advice, health & wellbeing support etc, we specialise in a range of creative services:
• Music Production
• Instrument and Singing Tuition
• Studio Recording
• Film/Video Editing + Camera tuition
• Web Design
• Graphic Design
• Photography
• Arts & Crafts
• Sculpture
• Animation
We need a completely new roof as it’s leaking badly. The upstairs double glazing has failed, the front fire doors is rotten and we need to replace some tired carpets. As we renovate the building we also want to futureproof our heating & lighting system with solar panels, a heat pump and led lights following our ‘green audit’.
We help people of all ages to improve their quality of life through creative work, education, leisure time activities and employability. We deliver workshops in music, film, arts & crafts, graphic design, photography, animation and more recently, 3D printing. With access free for local residents and as cheap as possible to everybody else. We cover most of our core costs through selling our creative services and this is the first time we have ever done a crowdfunding bid.
With funds raised here we’ll create a building fit for purpose to provide & improve our charities services for the next two decades. This will secure the estates local asset and keep bills down.
