Housebuilder cements some community cheer

Published by Craig Downs for Keepmoat in Housing and also in Communities

Staff at Windhill Community Centre in Shipley are celebrating after housebuilder Keepmoat provided the facility with a £1,000 cash boost.

The leading community regeneration specialist made the generous donation to thank members of the community for their patience during extensive building works at their neighbouring Victoria Gardens development.

Keepmoat has praised members of the public for being ‘exceptionally accommodating’ when roads were closed late last year due to infrastructure works.

The donation has been used to help fund the post of Maya Williams, a community organiser for 12 months, to help members of the community introduce new projects and activities in their area.  

The Victoria Gardens development at Woodend Crescent consists of 136 two and three bedroom homes.  It is being developed in partnership with the Bradford-based social housing group, Incommunities and will include 29 affordable homes.

Keepmoat chose to donate money to the Windhill Community Centre as it provides a thriving hub of activity for local residents and is managed by North East Windhill Community Association, a charitable voluntary organisation.

The Board is made up of local residents and representatives of local community groups and agencies all aiming to respond to community needs.

Activities on offer at the centre include a Carers and Toddler Group, cookery groups, crèches for the under-fives, a room hire service and a computer room for courses and drop-in sessions.

For those in need of help and support or benefits information, there is an Advice Centre with four qualified advice workers.

Steven Graham, Partnerships Manager at Keepmoat, said: “We are very grateful to the local community at Shipley for their on-going patience during the construction works and immediately thought of saying thank you through the Windhill Community Centre because of the excellent facilities it provides.

“As a company, Keepmoat always strives to invest in people and gives something back to the communities in which it works and we are pleased to support the Windhill Community Centre.” 

Kath Quinn, Community Development Worker of the North East Windhill Community Association, said: “The funding was used to support the second year of our Community Organiser Project which involves creating the role of a full time Community Organiser to go out into the community and encourage people to talk about their area, what they would like to see happening and what they can do to make it happen. 

“Like-minded people are then put in touch with each other and supported or directed to local support agencies to take their ideas forward. 

“The funding we have gained from Keepmoat will also be match funded by the Government so we can actually invest £2,000 in this role which is great news.”  

Local Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw who is Chair of the Community First group working with Maya, commented: “This generous donation from Keepmoat will really help the work of the Community Organiser supporting Community First in setting up local groups to apply for funding to make Windhill a better place to live."

Community First is a government-funded initiative that aims to bring communities together to identify local priorities and fund projects that deal with them.

The new homes at Keepmoat’s Victoria Gardens in Shipley start at £89,995 and financial assistance is available for first time buyers and families.