25th January 2012

LYME REGIS: A busy year supporting the local community

Lyme Regis Development Trust Review of 2011

By chairman Wendy Davis

AT their first meeting of 2012, staff and trustees of Lyme Regis Development Trust (LRDT) reviewed the activities of the previous year.

2011 was an extremely busy year for the trust. We describe ourselves as “a community-based organisation that works to stimulate the economic, social and environmental well-being for all in Lyme Regis and its surrounding area”.

As such, all of our activities, even those designed to bring us in some self-sustaining income, are intended to fulfil at least one of these objectives.

Marcus Dixon, chief executive, summarised the trust’s activities to promote economic growth:

• 2011 Fossil Festival – increases Lyme’s profile in general as well as delivering thousands of visitors who are likely to have a long-term interest in Lyme.

• The Earth Festival, although not starting until May this year, has already been beneficial to Lyme – it got us into the Olympic timetables, press releases etc., and was very likely to have been a key reason for the Olympic Torch visit. Plus much of the grant funding obtained is going into local employment.

• The continuing development of the Jurassic Coast Studies Centre project, which will bring regular, year-round economic benefits to Lyme, hotted up last year, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Field Studies Council (FSC) and the Natural History Museum (NHM).

Regular teleconferences between partners kept the momentum going, as well as a number-crunching meeting in April, and meetings in the summer with the Heritage Lottery Team, both locally and nationally, to understand what they would fund.

In September, Lord Browne, past chief executive of BP, agreed to become a patron. In November, a dinner was attended by the new NHM science director, NHM’s overall director, and Professor Iain Stewart, geologist and TV science presenter, recruited by FSC to champion our project.

Most significantly, agreement was reached at this meeting on actions for 2012.

• Achieved the SWRDA/DEFRA funding for an extension to St Michael’s Business Centre, giving space for up to three serviced business units for local people.

• Looking to the future, the trust is working with Locality (the national association of Development Trusts) in a project that explores ways in which communities can make use of the extensive knowledge residing within them.

• The trust played a key role in initiating the talks which led to the Silver Explorer Cruise Ship coming to Lyme Regis in 2012. There will be 160 passengers in May, but with the possibility of up to six visits per year, it could total nearly a thousand international ambassadors each year spreading the word and perhaps being inspired to return, along with their friends.

• Similarly, the trust played an early role in ensuring that a sustainable alternative emerged when the previous pre-school closed.

LymeForward

Ellen Austin, the LymeForward co-ordinator, managed by LRDT, and other LRDT personnel have undertaken other more immediately effective activities, such as:

• Summer trips for youngsters and their families, this year organised mainly by the mothers under Ellen’s guidance

• The potential disaster of the demise of the Action Forum - turned by Ellen into the triumph of the monthly Lunch Club for the over 50s

• Ellen is also in the final planning stages of a Befriending Scheme which will offer a volunteer “friend” to the housebound or others in need, and of a Food Bank, to be launched shortly.

• Heather Prior, funded by the LymeNet Lottery grant, successfully launched a Lyme Regis service point of the First Dorset Credit Union at St Michael’s Business Centre in March (we are now part of the West Dorset Branch). There is the possibility of opening soon on Saturday mornings as well as Tuesday mornings in St Michaels and at Woodroffe School on Thursdays from March.

• LRDT initiated and led the successful campaign to keep the library open when threatened with closure.

• LRDT continues to support local organisations in a variety of ways. For example, Ellen supported the Junior Band when falling rolls threatened its future by linking it to B Sharp and helping with promotional materials.

It also helped the Friends of Charmouth Library when looking for an accountable body, undertook practical work to update the skatepark consultation, and helped with the ArtsFest funding bids and accounts.

• LRDT Property Management team, led by Diana Dixon with stalwart help from trustees past and present, greatly improved living conditions for the tenants of Monmouth House by a complete refurbishment that included installing gas central heating, secondary glazing and cavity wall insulation and maintaining the roof. The flat above InSPARation was completely redecorated prior to taking on a new tenant.

The Hub

The Hub, formerly the Club For Young People has been led by LRDT, will all staff and many volunteers committing hundreds of hours to this project and, at times, it has completely taken over the office. Under LRDT leadership, we have achieved:

• Appointment and management of Fran Williams as initial project officer.

• Making the building safe for public entry in time for the open day attended by over a thousand people of all ages.

• Further building work enabled the re-opening of The Hub on time. Youth Work at InSPARation under DCC Area Youth Worker James Ward-Rice transferred there in September, with attendances already up by 50 per cent.

• The winning of the Jubilee People’s Millions and reaching the final of the EnergyShare funding schemes was the result of an incredible number of hours of work in the preparation of the bids and galvanising of voters.

• Much more work followed once we’d won the People’s Millions to claim the grant, followed by the supervision of the work thus funded, mainly disability access.

• Even more work (tendering/permissions/bid assessment) to enable the roof replacement to start on Jan 3rd 2012.

• Much behind-the-scenes liaison, and continued involvement in funding bids (e.g. TalkTalk’s £800).

LymeNet

Throughout the year, Lucy Campbell and her dedicated team of staff and volunteers have given advice, support and training at LymeNet, with an average of 25 local people visiting every day, whilst taking advantage of the Big Lottery funding to review and update the internal structure. This included overhauling its own IT systems and agreeing a new management structure with LRDT, its governing body.

Another long-standing strand of LRDT work, now delivered mainly through LymeForward, is to ensure that the voice of Lyme Regis is heard in district, county and national consultations. LRDT has taken the lead on LymeForward’s “refreshment” of the Community Plan 2007-2027 and has assiduously participated in West Dorset’s consultations to develop the Local Plan, both in general and in particular in relation to housing.

Finally, we have made St Michael’s Business Centre a nicer place for both workers and visitors, by obtaining planning permission for replacement of all windows. We have replaced three windows in main office, installed a new boiler and redecorated the ground floor communal area.

I think that even we were surprised at what has been achieved. None of this would have been possible without many hundreds of voluntary hours put in by numerous public-spirited individuals – not forgetting the staff who far exceed their paid hours, or the work of my fellow trustees.

It just goes to show what can be achieved when people and organisations work together – The Hub is a particularly good example of this, where with financial support from the town council and the County Youth Service, and the on-going practical assistance of the latter’s local staff, something wonderful is happening.

We at LRDT look forward to continuing to work with the town council and other organisations to maximise the benefit to Lyme of the many exciting opportunities in 2012.

• APPEAL FOR VOLUNTEERS: If you have any free time and would like to help take any of our projects forward, please call into the office at St Michael’s Business Centre for a list of our current opportunities. The time requirements are varied, from a one-off half day at the Fossil Festival, to a regular slot manning the LymeNet desk or spending a few hours searching the internet for funding opportunities.

LYME REGIS: A busy year supporting the local community

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