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24
Mar
£70,000 upgrade to Chain Lane Community Centre nears completion
A £70,000 refurbishment of a Knaresborough community hub is nearing completion.
Chain Lane Community Centre is home to the charity Chain Lane Community Hub and widely used by community groups in the town.
Chief executive Sue Vasey said the charity applied for funding under York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s community buildings programme.
It received £49,950 from the combined authority and was later awarded a further £20,000 by Knaresborough Rotary Club.
Work on the project began in November and is due to finish in the coming weeks.
The Stray Ferret met Ms Vasey at the hub yesterday (March 23) to find out more. She said:
The funding has enabled us to bring a derelict part of the building into use. [The former garage] is now a meeting room with a kitchenette and toilet.
For the staff at Chain Lane, we have been able to move into a larger office. There are six of us now.
We’ve also created two further meeting spaces and a lovely, welcoming reception area.
A disused garage has been transformed into a meeting room with a kitchenette and toilet.
Ms Vasey said the renovations, which are still taking place, will “improve the experience for the public”.
The garage-turned-meeting-room is “standalone and quiet”, Ms Vasey said, and can be hired.
She added:
The new reception just makes it more welcoming. Our old office was a bit away from people, so they can see the lovely Lisa [at reception] when they arrive. She can welcome them and speak to residents about their needs. It also means the team are more tucked away, so we’ve got a quieter environment to work.
The two new meeting rooms are still a work in progress.
The charity last year received funding to deliver services in migrant communities, and recently introduced its Ageing Well service.
As Chain Lane Community Hub’s offerings grew, so did the team. Ms Vasey told the Stray Ferret:
The team increased and we were getting a bit snug in our old office, which is why we started looking at plans [to expand]. I’ve also wanted to bring the old garage space into use for quite some time, so when the funds came up it was perfect.
The team's new office.
Ms Vasey said she wanted to support Knaresborough’s economy through the scheme, and the charity has used local traders and suppliers to bring the renovations to life.
What does the project mean for the charity?
It’s given us the opportunity to grow again. Our team are now comfortable - we can do the work we want to do. Having been part of the team that brought Chain Lane into community ownership back in 2008, it’s satisfying that we are now using every inch of the space. I don’t think there’s anything more we can do to maximise the space!
Although work is still ongoing, it’s business as usual at Chain Lane Community Centre.
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