Calne Community Hub in line for award (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Calne Community Hub in line for award

8:35am Wednesday 22nd August 2012 in Calne By Anne Moore

Members of the Calne Community Hub are celebrating after being shortlisted by Wiltshire Council for a prestigious volunteering award.

The Hub, which is open five days a week, provides an affordable meeting place for community groups. Resid-ents hoping to set up a new initiative can use the space free of charge, or provide a donation.

It is run as part of the Calne Community Area Partnership (CCAP) and aims to provide information on education, health and community safety by running activities like the job club, the healthy eating project and offering basic computer lessons.

Volunteers heard the news of their nomination, by the Calne Area Board, for the Wiltshire Voluntary and Community Sectors Awards (VCS) last week.

They will compete with four other groups to become the best community initiative nominated by an area board at an award ceremony in October at the Corn Exchange, Devizes.

This week the Hub will be visited by a film crew, who will put together a presentation about them. The film will be shown to audience members at the award ceremony, who will vote electronically for the winner on the night.

Malcom Gull, chairman of CCAP, said although the final winner will be chosen later, in his eyes the Hub has already won by making the shortlist.

He said: “Even if we come fourth we have still won, it’s lovely for the area board to have recommended us and for us to qualify for the shortlist. As a volunteer you just beaver away but of course it’s nice to get recognition.”

Mr Gull said volunteers will continue to raise the profile of the Hub in the community and hope to open it at the weekend in the future.

He said: “We’re starting to get the message out to people and that’s a good thing. It’s really providing a niche venue for community groups and organisations to use.

“But we aren’t sitting on our laurels, we still need to develop the place.”

At the moment the Hub is working to link up with other organisations in the local community.

Most recently Sainsbury’s in Calne has offered free tea and coffee for the centre, as well as a table in the supermarket foyer for advertising.

Last week the Calne Area Board also awarded the CCAP £8,465 for the next year. It will receive £4,233 immediately, and the second half of the funding will be released early next year.

Out of this £4, 000 will go towards the cost of running the Hub. The rest will help to pay for a part-time administrator, the upkeep of CCAP’s website and updating Calne’s town community plan.