An initial chat about empty offices in Cambridge, has led to a fully functioning charity hub just a few months later. The North East Cambridge Charity Hub is enabling six local groups and Support Cambridgeshire to work in a professional and affordable environment, whilst building connections with each other, meaning their time and energy can be better spent on providing their support services in the community.
Mark Freeman, CEO of CCVS (soon to merge with Support Cambridgeshire) was initially approached by Sarah Crick of The Red Hen Project (A Cambridge charity who work in the community directly with families to help raise happy, healthy, and independent children.) Sarah asked Mark if CCVS would be interested in taking on the management of some soon to be empty offices for a period until they were redeveloped.
Marks initial reaction was that- a) CCVS was too busy and b) that it wouldn’t work but agreed to meet with the owners of the building, The Crown Estate, thinking that would be the end of the idea. But, with unwavering support from The Crown Estate, Savills the site management company and Tees Law, and the hard work of the Support Cambridgeshire team, the hub opened a short few months later and it’s going from strength to strength.
Mark Freeman says “This is a brilliant opportunity for local groups and has only happened because of the hard work and support we have had from numerous people. Enabling the local sector to benefit from working together like this is absolutely what CCVS is all about.
This project wouldn’t have happened without Sarah bringing this opportunity to us in the first place, The Crown Estate, and Savills the site management company. They have been accommodating and understanding, going above and beyond to smooth out every problem and issue that has arisen. I know that as things progress, they will more than meet us halfway, and will in fact walk with us to make this work and to ensure it has as big an impact as possible. My grateful thanks also go to Tees Law and especially Sarah Coates, who did all our legal work on a pro bono basis. Without their help we would have fallen at the first hurdle of getting all the legal paperwork sorted in time for Red Hen to move in.”
Michael Thomas, Portfolio Director at The Crown Estate, said: “We’re delighted to have played a part in enabling the NEC Charity Hub to come to life. This initiative demonstrates how spaces can be transformed to create significant social value, allowing charities to save both time and money, which can then be redirected to support local groups more effectively. We look forward to continuing to see the positive impact it will have on the community.”
Lisa Stubbs, Business Park Manager, shares this from Savills: “Savills are proud to see the NEC Charity Hub come to life at Byron House. This space will give the local charities the support they need to focus on what matters most, making a real impact in the community.”
Many local voluntary organisations regularly find themselves operating in poor quality, inappropriate premises, with little space to work, hold meetings, and store equipment. Time is wasted travelling between offices, multiple unsuitable storage facilities, and meeting spaces. What can already be a lonely and very stressful job, particularly for charity CEOs, becomes even more so when there is not even enough room for a whole team to work in the same building.
Having the opportunity to work in a spacious, bright, professional building makes the world of difference, and the added important benefit of working with other charity teams, multiplies that benefit.
Sarah Crick tells us: “Being in a space where we’ve got six other charity leaders where you can just quietly knock on the door and say, “Have you got a minute? Have you come across this issue?” and just being able to chat it through has been amazing. Being able to move in here has been absolutely transformational for us as a charity.”
Over the first few months, Camcycle, Turtle Dove Cambridge, Noise Solution, Autism Action and Cambridge ReUse also moved in and have joined Red Hen in the Hub. All benefitting from the quality space and working together to bring positive change to Cambridge. They share their experiences of being tenants at the Hub in this video: https://youtu.be/nfix5UIaUT4
Many local companies have supported the hub, with donations of technology to kit out the space, plants to help create a pleasant working environment and the time of skilled professionals to get things working.
For this, CCVS gives sincere thanks to Sustainable Tech 4 Good, The Good Plant Company, Cambridge Design Partnership, Qualcomm Technologies International Ltd, MathsWorks, CPS Building Services Ltd and Gearset.
Thanks to the foresight of the CCVS Trustees for giving the go ahead at short notice, the hub is already helping local businesses and charities bridge the divide. New relationships are helping the community become stronger. The trustees have agreed they do not want CCVS to ‘profit’ from the generosity of all the partners, and after deductions of costs, any remaining income will be put into a ‘Cambridge charity property fund.’ Possible future uses of the fund could be to help organisations with deposits, put towards moving costs when
people move out, or the start of a fund that contributes to a permanent charity hub in the city.
In the meantime, the hope is that the charity hub will occupy Byron house for the next year or so, depending on how the redevelopment plans progress. It will be exciting to see how relationships develop, what opportunities arise for more charities to benefit from future hubs, and all the advantages that can bring to the community.