Future Project Plan

Although we have a long way to go and lots of hoops to jump through, below sets out the steps to open the New Centre in 2023, on a best case scenario.

Our Funding

Funding such a large project does not come cheap, especially as we want the very best facilities for our community. This has understandably been made harder with the Covid outbreak. Key funding sources such as The National Lottery and Sports England are reasonably focused on pandemic relief. So we have had to turn ourselves towards other possibilities and opportunities.

However, we are well and truly on our way! We already have a commitment of £300,000 from the Woodborough Farm Developers. We are also very excited to share that our request to the National Grid for a loan was granted in November, giving us a further £20,000 to go towards our full planning application costs. With this news we have moved onto the next stage of our planning and asked our architects to begin work.

The WCA have also built up a fund over the years thanks to our fundraising which will be very helpful, as well as additional funds we will acquire once we sell the old headmaster’s house and garage.

This is an excellent start but we still have a way to go!

Why not download our Business Plan to see more detail

Time for a change

The Winscombe Community Centre has existed for over 40 years, giving us a place in the heart of our parish for activities and events. But the parish has changed and grown a lot in the last 40 years and as we wish to bring our beloved community into the 21st century; it is time to update our facilities.

The facilities were built as school premises in the mid-19th century and adapted for use as a community centre in 1979. As the buildings get older running costs are becoming higher and some are nearing the end of their lives. They are also too small to accommodate our flourishing parish and all the activities we would love to be able to host.

We are excited to create new, custom-built, up to date buildings which will facilitate the needs of the community now and in the future. We hope Winspace will become a place for sharing and celebrating for years to come.

Timeline

The Winspace project was launched in 2014 with an estimated six stage completion process. We are currently on stage five of six, and things are continuing to go smoothly. You can read more in our latest news.

Below shows an up to date timeline of our business plan, with stages one to four completed.

Here is a more detailed timeline of notable milestones we have achieved so far:

We have also just had a grant of £20,000 approved from the National Grid which means we are beginning Stage Five!

The Final Designs

Here are the views of how the new building will look.

To see or download the site and building plans just click here.

View of new building from car park entrance
View of new building from Millennium Green
New Building Front Elevation
New Building Rear Elevation
New Building Side Elevations

Overview

We currently have three main plans for WiNSpace:

  1. Replace the old temporary annex to form part of a new hub with six rooms, including a new large hall.
  2. Refurbish the existing school hall to create a robust space for youth and arts.
  3. Improve sustainability by encouraging local, improving energy efficiency and landscaping.

This is a community focused project with the aim to provide:

  • New activities
  • Greater youth provision
  • Large community events e.g. theatre/bands
  • Improved services
  • Better access for the elderly and differently abled

Following the pre-application process we foresee obtaining full planning approval in 2021.

We are also currently working to find the next 50% of funding already having identified the first 30%

Read about our costs and funding here.