Case Study: The Brooklands Centre
Background and history of The Brooklands Centre.
The Brooklands Centre as a club was started in the 1950s by three ex-servicemen who realised there wasn’t enough to do for elderly people in Newport Pagnell. There were several clubs for the younger generation, but nothing for older people.
They decided to set up a club for activities and events, including various productions around the town, and that led to the start of The Brooklands Centre, which was built in the 1960s. By 2010 the original building had served its useful purpose and needed to be replaced. A new purpose-built centre was finished in 2010, with the generous aid of a lot of local support, donations, and grants.
How did The Harry Middleton Gift help?
The management team at The Brooklands Centre managed to raise finance from other groups and funding bodies, but capital projects tend to be difficult to raise funds for. In 2017 the Centre needed to raise funds in order to purchase a new minibus.
One of the Brooklands Centre trustees, John Gordon, heard about The Harry Middleton Gift through one of his neighbours, THMG trustee David Kirkbright, who is sadly no longer with us. The Brooklands trustees first approached THMG for the funding of a new minibus to replace the old one that was no longer fit for purpose.
The new minibus was purchased five years ago, thanks to The Harry Middleton Gift. It was essentially a van conversion that was designed to carry passengers in wheelchairs. With a wheelchair ramp on the back, it can carry up to seven passengers.
The Harry Middleton Gift has also contributed to lunches at The Brooklands Centre. Lunches for different groups are available most days at Brooklands. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they have a Day Club where the buses go out and pick people up from their homes in Newport Pagnell and take them over to the Centre for various activities.
Entertainment is organised for them, plus there are exercise groups, and clothing and handbag sales, which people love! The Centre provides members with a sit-down 3-course cooked lunch, followed by bingo or a raffle in the afternoon.
Members typically go home around 3pm. Thursdays host the seated group and again, members are collected by minibus and transported to The Brooklands Centre, where they’re given a light sandwich lunch.
Afterwards, they entertain themselves by chatting with other members, reading magazines, or doing jigsaws. On alternate Fridays the Brooklands Centre hosts a Carers Group, where again, members are collected by the minibus.
It’s for carers of members who have dementia. Typically, they arrive in couples, although not exclusively, as there are some Carers whose partners have died, but they still like to attend.
Since 1979 THMG has been significant supporter of The Brooklands Centre with funding totalling over £65,000. This funding has also covered Crockery, Chairs and Windows plus other gifts given to the Center.
How is The Brooklands Centre funded?
Although the management team has wisely invested with a charitable investment company, they also rely heavily on grants such as the Harry Middleton Gift for capital projects. For other monthly running costs, the Centre relies on investment income and donations.
Securing the money with The Harry Middleton Gift was quite straightforward. It was a question of filling out a form and providing evidence for their need and proof that we were a charitable organisation.
Results
The Centre has been able to run its fully adapted minibus so they can transport members, specifically those in wheelchairs. The Centre does make a small nominal charge for helping to bring people in on the minibus, but it’s only a £1!
Their motto is ‘Food, Friendship & Fun’. By being able to bring members in, they can experience these three things as loneliness is a very big problem with the elderly. It’s very important that the Centre tries to alleviate this and does a sterling job.
Future Projects for The Brooklands Centre
The Brooklands Centre is looking at re-facing its building which was built 12 years ago. Although it was a very nice design, unfortunately, all the front facia wood is now starting to fail. This will be an expensive job and will almost certainly require a grant as it’s a capital project.
John Gordon and Brian Sidebottom
Advice to other organisations wishing to raise funds
During our interview with John Gordon from The Brooklands Centre, his advice for organisations who need financial help, is to talk to THMG trustees in the first instance.
They are very approachable and will tell you whether your project is eligible or not for funding. If you are a local charitable body with social aims, then give it a try. It’s very easy and you’ve nothing to lose.
