Vallance Centre aims for
Charity Status (November 2005)

One of Hove’s most successful community centres is aiming to become a charity next year.

Vallance Community Centre opened in 1999 after Goldsmid Ward councillor Simon Battle and former colleague Frieda Warman-Brown, together with local residents, persuaded Brighton & Hove City Council to invest £20,000 in making the former printing shop an accessible community venue.

Since then, the Centre has gone from strength-to-strength. It was recently refurbished and has just had wireless broadband installed. Users of the Centre include a memories group, a writing group, yoga classes and police/councillor surgeries.

The Centre is situated at the bottom of Conway Court in Clarendon Road - pop in for afternoon tea on Wednesdays!

“The Centre started out as a community project involving volunteers, aimed at serving the needs of the Clarendon estate with a limited range of activities,” says Cllr Battle, chair of the Centre.

“Though its basic aims are the same, the Centre has grown. We now employ a Centre worker and have successfully attracted funding for a variety of community projects. Charity status will put the Centre on a firm footing for the future.

“Charity status will give the Centre greater credibility as a provider of public benefit and will help us attract further funding for community projects in the future.

“We have paved the way by getting an effective constitution in place and proper policies in areas such as health and safety and equal opportunities.”

At its recent meeting, the management committee decided that it should seek to become a charity. As a first step the Centre will become a not-for-profit limited company, and will then apply for charity status with the Charities Commission.

A special meeting will be held on Monday 28 November at 6pm to consider the proposals. The meeting is open to all to attend. In order to participate in the meeting residents will need to go through the formality of ‘joining’ the Centre as a member. For further details contact the Centre Manager Richard Mangas on 296040.

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