Volunteers in Exmouth who rely on a temporary beach front shelter to carry out their vital environmental work say a bigger, permanent hub would mean they could make an even bigger impact in the community.
A Crowdfunder campaign has raised almost half its £10,000 target towards building a permanent base for Sideshore CIC on Queen’s Drive since it launched three weeks ago, with 24 days to go until it ends on Friday 27 November.
Sideshore Community has been instrumental in bringing the community together through a shared love of the sea. And its annual two-week Sideshore Sessions programme has given 4,000 school children the opportunity to learn about sea safety and protecting the environment first-hand.
Location is everything for the many environmental and wellbeing groups which use the hub to carry out their voluntary activities on the beach and its environs. The new hub, which will include bathroom and kitchen facilities and an outdoor area, will mean the groups will be able to extend their reach and impact.
Jill Gathercole, member of Plastic Free Exmouth, a group of 70 volunteers who regularly clean-up the beach, said having a base on location gives volunteers a sense of cohesion and community, and has seen its membership increase. She said: “A larger hub will help us attract more members and mean we can shelter from the weather! It also means we can extend our remit, have meetings and hold other activities. The alternative would be to meet in our homes where there is limited space.”
Transition Exmouth, a voluntary group trying to make the town more environmentally friendly and sustainable, has been meeting in Exmouth for more than 20 years including at people’s homes, in pubs and other public spaces. “But none have ever been as good as the Sideshore hub,” said Lou Doliczny, trustee and core group member.
“We need a meeting space for meetings with members and partner organisations,” she continued. “The hub provides an open and inclusive space where everyone feels welcome. Having a larger more prominent hub with longer opening hours would allow us to extend our reach and impact in the community.”
Exmouth environmental activist Mary Culhane is involved in various groups which meet at the hub including Climate Café meetings, Sewage Sisters, Clothes Swishes, women’s activist group Dreadnought South West, town council Green Team meetings, and plant-based food share events. She is also on the Friends of the River Exe (FORE) steering group, which uses the hub as a meeting space and to store water testing equipment.
“Because the hub is ideally placed by the sea, it means our activities are accessible and convenient to members and we can focus on our work such as the water testing,” said Mary, who explained that voluntary groups and beach-based events wouldn’t be able to run without a free, accessible safe space.
“With limited funds and resources, many events would be difficult to run without the hub,” she added.
“FORE is about building a catchment community up the Exe to protect, restore and celebrate the river, so having this space to use at the river mouth means footfall is good, enabling us to galvanise others to take part. A bigger hub would enable us to involve more people, in turn making a bigger impact in the community.”
Under the terms of the original building loan the hut, located at the Sideshore complex on Queen’s Drive, has to return to retail use meaning Sideshore Community needs a new hub to operate from.
People are being asked to donate to a Crowdfunder campaign which has been launched to help raise £10,000 of the £150,000 needed for the construction of a larger, permanent hub on the Mallow, an empty grassy area nearby. The Crowdfunding target has been set at £20,000 because it includes £10,000 of match funding from insurance company, Aviva. The total project cost will be met by a jigsaw of funding including grants, match funding and sponsorship.
Craig Jolly is the lead coordinator for the Mushroom Food Network, which is part of Transition Exmouth and encourages a sustainable approach to food. It runs a weekly ‘Lunch Break Club’ at the hub where people are invited to have lunch together. He said without the hub the club wouldn’t be able to run due to venue hire costs or booking hurdles.
“We provide community cohesion, connecting people over food, while tackling social isolation,” he explained. “The weekly club encourages people to take a break to eat and connect, supporting healthier lifestyles.
“A larger place to meet would mean we could extend our reach: a dedicated, recognisable base with flexible indoor space would enable a broader range of food events, including bring-and-share lunch breaks and themed food sessions. We would also be able to utilise the outdoor grass areas for open-air social eating and dining events.”
You can donate via the Crowdfunder page, https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/sideshore-community-hub
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