Community centre 'set the way my life panned out'

It is often said that communities are not what they used to be. But there is a centre in Maryport, Cumbria, that has proved people still very much want to feel part of something. The Centre, in Ewanrigg, received £1m from the Lottery's Big Local programme 10 years ago and, as the funding ends, we find out what difference it made.

Rebecca Woods has just started her first job as a mental health nurse at a clinic in Carlisle, but she is pretty sure she would not be where she is now had The Centre not been in her life.

The 22-year-old started attending cookery classes there about 10 years ago, then slowly began helping out at bingo events and making connections with others.

It would lead to her becoming one of the founding members of the youth mental health group We Will.

Aged just 16, she was at Westminster advocating for better support for young people and giving talks in front of hundreds of people.

But The Centre, she tells us, has been so much more to so many others, with nearly 95,000 people coming through the doors, 17,000 meals served and more than 200 community events held since 2014.

"I would say it's set the way my life has panned out. There is no way I would have even thought I'd have the confidence to [become a mental health nurse] without coming here," Rebecca says.

She became interested in health when The Centre was involved in the Save Our Beds campaign, opposing proposed cuts to Maryport's cottage hospital back in 2016.

That's when she realised access to health was not equal across the area and her and her peers spotted a gap in the provision of mental health services.

"We decided we wanted to make a change, especially for young people," she says.

The Centre supported them, giving Rebecca and her friends the confidence to make their voices hears.

"At one point I wouldn't even stand up and talk in front of 10 people and coming to The Centre has grown my confidence unreal amounts, to the point where I was chairing meetings in Westminster."

Two years ago Rebecca became chairwoman of the charity managing the community centre that has made such a difference to her life and she is keen others get the same support and opportunities.

Sharon Barnes started volunteering a few hours a week there about 15 years ago and says she has witnessed a huge change in what The Centre means to people across Maryport.

Back then, The Centre was attached to ENTRA - Ewanrigg and Netherton Tenants and Residents Association - but she says it was unused and the building was "a tad rundown".

The Lottery money has made a "colossal difference," she says, as it enabled The Centre to build trust that was lacking within the community.

"It's used constantly now, every day and most nights," Sharon says.

"Footfall is tremendous and the biggest thing is that it's trusted now, whereas it never used to be.

"Trust has made the biggest difference by far. It was a hard slog to start with, but we definitely got there."

Now a project worker at The Centre, Sharon says the £1m gave them leeway to "try things out" and enable volunteers to find out what people really wanted.

And sometimes those things could be surprising.

The grant came to Ewanrigg because it was one of the most deprived areas, and stereotypes would have us believe that people in these neighbourhoods would have no interest in classical music - wrong.

Sharon says they put on a performance from a classical pianist and it was a sell-out success that people demanded would return the following year.

Not "presuming" what people wanted and involving them in the decision making was ultimately behind The Centre's success.

They try to make everything affordable or free and their Coffee and Crack session recently had a record 73 people coming in for a two-course meal charged at just £3.

They also have a choir, chess club, chair yoga, free fun days, an annual lantern parade, as well as publishing the quarterly magazine Maryport Matters, delivered to people's doors.

And while the Lottery funding is running out, Sharon is optimistic The Centre has found a way with its community.

"My proudest achievement is seeing the amount of volunteers that help [and] just the feel of the place, the buzz. It's lovely."

For 20-year-old Mitch Hill, seeing what this place has become is also a matter of family pride.

His late grandfather Ian Edgar was chairman of the community centre and Mitch says he would have loved to see it thrive like it is today.

"He was a lovely man and there was just a sense of warmth in here and over the years I've started to see that come back," he says.

The Centre has also given Mitch a place to make lots of friends and a chance to explore his musical talents with the choir.

"It's opened up a lot more musical opportunities for me over the years and given me more confidence while performing," he says.

Mitch also helps out at events and is confident The Centre will continue to be central to the community in years to come.

"As long there's a centre there'll always be a good place to come in Maryport and you'll always feel welcome here."

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