Students help refurbish new home for community centre

Around sixty Warwick students turned out to help the Bath Place Community Centre on 21st November. They helped refurbish its new temporary home after its old centre was severely damaged by fire on 24th September.

The volunteers from Warwick University, comprising members of Warwick Volunteers and Ladies’ Netball, were joined by Leamington’s Conservative candidate for Parliament, Chris White, to help the community project that has been running since 1974.

Organisers of Bath Place Venture have secured a temporary home for the project, at the Old Library on Avenue Road, Leamington, where Warwick District Council are charging £1 a month in rent.

The building has been unoccupied for eight years, so volunteers from Warwick were involved in revitalising, painting and decorating the building, and creating facilities for an IT room.

Carole Glasbey, a representative of the community centre, said “the new space has enabled [the centre] to get up and running again, and with a bigger space there are more opportunity to make use of Warwick volunteers”. She claims, “without them we wouldn’t be anywhere near the opening”.

Glasbey states the new centre will be “similar but different, offering new and exciting services that there wasn’t space to develop before”. The new centre has a “free town centre car park which makes a huge difference with what evening events we can run”.

However, “in the short term the [popular student cafe] Vege-table isn’t functioning in day-to-day lunches” as there are no kitchen facilities in the Old Library, but the Community Venture is “pursuing all opportunities” and has “committed to community Christmas lunch already”, according to Glasbey.

Lana Babenko-Smith, President of Warwick Volunteers, said “The Bath Place Centre is vital to the Leamington community and it is essential to support it. University societies should not just be concerned with the campus community but look to help our neighbouring towns too”

However, campaigners are concerned. Little has been done to the fire-damaged Bath Place community centre, the roof remains open and the site is yet to be cleared and made safe so work can be done to restore it.

It is unclear therefore whether the new home will be permanent.

Rumours are spreading that the Council will not renovate the fire-damaged former site and instead may sell it on. Warwick District Council has already confirmed an interest in the site, possibly for car parking.

Catherine Allen, a third year Theatre and Performance Studies student, used the Community Centre many times and believes it would be a great loss if it doesn’t have a secured future. “It always had a really sociable atmosphere and gave students the opportunity to meet local people. There was a real sense of community which you can’t get anywhere else”.

However, despite this uncertain future, many of the Centre’s former services continue to be run.

The centre aims to host most of its former services, such as a homeless shelter, adult education and help for young asylum seekers, among others, at the new site.

The community centre’s re-launch event is on 17th December, and its official opening on will be on 4th Jan.

“Any students who would like to come and join in or help out would be most welcome,” said Glasbey.