PLAYGROUPS, board game afternoons, and chats with free tea and coffee are among the many brilliant initiatives hosted by the Buckland Centre and Newton Abbot CIC.
Mid-Devon Advertiser reporters Amelia Averis and Lily Buckley joined locals, volunteers, and staff at the centre’s Community Hub to learn about the many other projects that the group are involved in.
Newton Abbot Community Interest Company was founded in 2008 as a way of meeting the need for an umbrella organisation to oversee community project.
The group stepped in at the Buckland Centre to save it from closure by taking over the lease. The centre was seen as as essential to the community it was a part of.
Then, in 2020, the CIC was again instrumental in coming to the aid of the Courtenay Centre.
Emily Farrell, CIC business and community development manager, said: ‘Newton Abbot CIC is an umbrella organisation under which all these projects and activities sit. ‘We’re a bit like a registered charity except we’re not a charity, we are a not-for-profit company.
‘The community interest part means that there is no money made. We rely entirely on grant funding for projects, and we get a lot of money from the Lottery. My job is getting the money through the door otherwise we can’t pay our staff. Our staff are amazing and get paid very little considering the overtime we all do because we are so passionate. We do it because we like helping people and we love what we do.’
The Buckland Hub, hosted on Tuesday mornings, offers a safe space for people in the area to seek advice and support on finances, mental health, housing, bills, and other anxieties.
Emily explained: ‘The cost of living is showing how much people need this space. We get people that come in just for a chat. They get free tea and coffee.
‘What is really apparent in this community is people need support for things they are really worried about. They are hesitant to access that support from an agency. A lot of help is available online but a lot of people don’t have broadband access. It’s often really busy.
‘There’s a toddler group, we have board games where people can drop in and drink coffee. Since Covid, it’s very apparent - we were closed for a very long time as were a lot of places - that people need these spaces.’
Their Base Youth Club on a Friday evening is a mix of fun activities, games, and exercises of social responsibility.
Emily explained: ‘For a lot of the kids who live on the estate it’s the only extra-curricular activity that parents can afford. It’s a pound, if they can pay, to encourage a sense of ownership, but obviously, if they can’t afford it, they don’t have to. It would never be a barrier.
‘What we might find is people come in for maybe a leisure group and then come in on a Tuesday for advice and it’s all about building that relationship.’
The space and the CIC were also instrumental in welcoming Ukrainian Refugees to the area. Emily said: ‘We had 80 Ukrainian guests in the Newton Abbot area.
‘When they first arrived, they didn’t speak English and a lot of them were unsure about how things worked, like how to access a GP or get a child into a school.
‘We spent a lot of time helping them out and pointing them in the right direction.
‘It was important to provide them a space to drink coffee, meet each other, or access help from Citizens Advice.
‘We had some brilliant volunteer translators. One of the directors of CIC, his wife is Ukrainian, and she’s been a massive help to us. We put on English lessons and courses over the past year.’
The organisation also responds to changing needs, such as hosting a free lunch in the school holidays for children who would usually rely on free school meals.
In the wider community, outside the walls of the Buckland Centre, the CIC is heavily involved in initiatives such as the Tunnels of Love project, and the gardening of community spaces, and is involved in plans regarding the development of Hele Park.
The centre is a hub of encouragement and positive impact both for the people that work and volunteer there, and those who are part of the facilities.
One employee said: ‘It’s such a lovely place to work, we all do more hours than we are contracted to do, I love it here.’ A passion for the centre and its work is apparent in every member of staff and volunteer, as well as the people who use the facilities.
Trevor, a volunteer for the Buckland Hub, greets people at the door with biscuits and a smile. He said that the centre helped him find a house and this is his way of giving back.
The CIC is seeking volunteers and always welcomes people who wish to come along to any of their groups. More information and timetables can be found on the website www.bucklandcentre.org.