If you joined us for our public meeting in July 2023 you will know that our goal, once we had washed up the results from our village survey, was to to begin updating our Business Plan.
- The business plan was first written in 2014 and, again in 2017, lots has changed since then
- We’ve made good progress on writing an updated business plan but, it has taken a bit longer than expected to pull it all together
- You can download the draft plan here
- The Plan is currently being peer reviewed and we expect to make further revisions based on their feedback.
- It brings together all of the different elements of the project, including:
- The history of how we got here
- The project proposal – floor plan, planning consent, elevations etc
- The latest proposal to stage the implementation
- Key financial assumptions about the ongoing financial viability of the community centre. This crucial element has been presented to the Community Centre Advisory Committee who were supportive of the work done so far
- The capital project details – building costs, specifications etc from the architects and surveyors
- How we will organise ourselves to deliver the project and run the hall afterwards
- There will be a more detailed Capital Plan and Fundraising Strategy which will be shared in due course
- We have looked at many business plans from other similar villages who have managed to build a new community centre on their playing field and have used both their plans and their cost and expenditure numbers to help guide us in this exercise
- The Business Plan will be a living document that we will review, update and republish periodically – highlighting any changes. It will be available for anyone to read and will, most importantly, be a key factor in our conversations with funders as we move on to the fundraising stage
- If you are interested in a more detailed discussion on the business plan, we would be delighted to organise a meeting where we can answer any questions you may have.
- your comments and feedback would be most welcome, please contact Mandy or Sarah.
- We are always open to fresh talent joining our team, if you feel that you would like to support us with the Business Plan or our Fund Raising Strategy please do contact us.
Mandy Chapman mandy.chapman45@gmail.com
Sarah Prall sarah@downthelane.uk