We are delighted to have donated our time and materials to help The Manor & Community Hub and all its partner organisations reach people across the Fylde Coast who will benefit from a wide range of vital services on their doorstep.
The Manor, from its base in the grounds of Manor Beach Primary School in Cleveleys, brings together services and organisations for all ages with a focus on Inclusion, Health & Wellbeing, Family, Education, and Carers.
Here at Evolution we were only too pleased to get involved and to donate the time and materials to fully decorate the centre and to repair the flooring. Evolution team members Paul Woolford and Matt Sheard did a great job.
Denise Lowe, founder of Connectiverse which runs The Manor & Community Hub, highlighted the positive impact the work will have on so many people across the area.
“People don’t realise how much time people give and go above and beyond, and just how much difference that makes to an organisation like ours which is all about collaboration across the community.
“JJ Fitzgerald (Evolution MD) has donated all the time he spends chairing our steering committee and project managing the build work.
“Evolution has also donated any time its team have spent on the project and also donated all the materials they have used.
“Not just that, but Dan Ogden has been amazing helping us with costings and quality control for the work needed, and Dave Spalding supported us at our launch. So many of the Evolution team have been involved and have been a delight to work with.”
“People might not think about what comes from a business donating three days of work repairing and decorating our building. It has a huge positive impact on what we can achieve for the community. We can’t thank JJ, Jenny and the Evolution team enough.
“We were not due to open until September. But people in the community needed something immediately. We had the space right now. So, we decided to fast-track it.
“It was a case of right place right time. With Evolution’s help we made it all happen in just one week – and so The Manor was born.”
It means we have space one available to be used by people in our communities for sessions and activities with all The Manor’s founding partners, Blackpool Volunteers Organisation; Blackpool and Fylde College; Aiming Higher; Lancashire Mind; Lancashire Family Hubs Network; Lancashire County Council, Wyre Council, Empowerment Charity, NHS Enhanced Primary Care and Malit.
“All our partners can hold sessions within that space. Blackpool and Fylde College for example has fantastic campuses, but for some people it’s just not possible to attend them, whether that’s because of childcare, inclusion and their own needs, or because they don’t have the confidence to enter such a large building.
“This space allows place-based learning in the community and enables them to enter an environment where they are more comfortable to take their first steps.
“There are examples of people who are unable to read and write attending a space like this and ultimately going onto complete degrees. It’s great for the community to have this place-based option.”
“The hub provides services for an age range covering pre-birth to 99 plus; pre-birth for parents; toddler groups to young people; early interventions for people struggling to access support for work; preventative health and wellbeing; Inclusion and education support all the way through to 99 plus. We can see it works. We know exactly where to signpost people whatever their needs, and with strong partnership working across three council borders we understand the complexity that the community in the immediate locality face. More so we understand the challenge this presents to many services and their welcoming of an impartial and connected space where they can connect their clients to relevant services.”
To complete work at the Manor – and open spaces two and three in September – the hub needs more help.
Denise said: “We have further partner service excited to settle into spaces two and three, however we really need for an organisation to supply and fit a disabled-access toilet, knock down some doorways, and decorate the walls.” To help please contact Denise on denise@connectiverse.co.uk
