eden-magazine-issue-26-summer-2015

Leicester now stock Saffron Acresbranded jams and chutneys. Their lastorder was for 7000 jars and they nowhave a preorder for 82,000 jars if theycan get further funding to expandtheir operation.The range of community-ownedand run enterprises is only likely toincrease as councils divest themselvesof libraries, swimming pools, andother assets in order to balance thebooks. Changes in legislation meanthat communities in England can nowcompete to run services.The neighbourhood of JesmondGrafitti artist in Stokes Croftin Newcastle has had a swimmingpool for over 75 years, but in 1991the council announced the pool wasto close – although the pool was thethird most popular in the city, itwas decided that swimmers could gosomewhere else. So to make it clearthat they weren’t going anywherelocal people staged a sit-in at the pool.Two days after the pool was officiallyclosed, the Jesmond SwimmingProject submitted a proposal for acommunity-owned and operatedpool. Local people were offered thechance to pledge money to supportthe project, with the reassurance thatthe money would only be claimed ifthe pool successfully opened. That,and the prospect of half-price swims,encouraged 200 people to pledgefinancial support. The pool reopenedin 1992. In its last year of council-runoperation, the pool made a loss of£60k, in its first year, the trust set upto run the pool made a profit of £60kand continued to run in the black forthe next 12 years. One of the reasonsfor its success was that it doubled itsopening hours. The downturn in theeconomy has only increased the trust’sresourcefulness, and the centre nowoffers a range of activities other thanFounder of Favela Adventures Zezhino Da Rochinawith some Favelas adventurers.swimming, but recognising that thereis more to a community enterprisethan profits, it also compiles socialaccounts.Some community organisationsjust focus on the social aspects of theirwork, but to be sustainable in thelong-term they often end up acquiringpremises and becoming enterprises aswell, like Valleys Kids in the RhonddaValley. Begun in a whitewashed cellarin Wales, Valleys Kids never set outto own buildings, it set out to solve aproblem.The Rhondda Valley has thehighest rate of teenage pregnancy inthe UK – 12,000 of its young people areclassified as ‘NEET’ in the unlovelyterminology of the day – not ineducation, employment or training.Now in its 35th year, the ValleysKids organization offers activities,training, and breaks from the harshrealities of life in the Rhondda Valley.It owns a number of buildings thatenable it to offer these services, butits latest acquisition, the Pop Factory,a former soft drinks factory-turnedmultimedia complex, means it cannot only run media training courses,it can also generate income. The PopFactory will be a live music venue, ahome to a community-based televisionstation company, and will rent space toa television production company andother businesses that require meetingor office space.Community enterprises arebecoming part of the landscape in theUK as it falls to local people to makethe best of what they have got. It’spredicted that up to 80,000 shops willclose on Britain’s high streets overthe next three years, a combinationof difficult trading conditions, highrents and high rates, while the LibraryCampaign believes that 1,000 librarieswill be closed by 2016.Setting up a community enterprisetakes effort and determination, butacross the country there are bakeries,cafes, pubs, cinemas, libraries,swimming pools and even castlesbeing run by local people, making aprofit and making a difference.To find out more about Eden’s communityprojects and why we do them visit:www.edenproject.com/eden-story/our-ethos26