Community Centres I have enjoyed

This is a copy of a posting I made back in 13th November, 2008 ( worth rereading I thought) :

Two stand out for me.

The first was one of the middle floors at the Baltic. In one part, workshops were run for kids to go and do something together that was really creative, in another, families could 'chill out' with their kids.

We do something similar when people of all ages go to the Lantern house and build Lanterns as has been featured on my web site. This is a great time of the year - sadly we have to wait for 12 months before the next one. Thanks John Fox and Sue Gill for getting us going and showing how to enjoy working together! Thanks too to those who keep the show on the road and welcome to UCAN (now in reorganisation) who organise the Lantern Procession Finale (Great name).

At the Baltic the workshops are every Saturday. We could do this here - there are plenty of people who have skills and spare time. We do something similar at our house where people of all ages, from one to seventy five, come together to do pottery three times a week. See the U3A web site (now defunct)- though this was when we had no younger people - now it's open to all! ( to see the pottery go to groups - top right then pottery on the left.)

In the other part of the middle floor of the Baltic, they had a place with comfy settees and toys, where people could come and relax and do what they wanted; read; watch their kids play; play with their kids ; become kids themsleves while their more adult children showed them how to behave with a book. What an experience! Something no longer to be found (easily) on their web site.

The second experience that stands out was sitting in a café in a suburb of Paris where people of all backgrounds sat next to each other, talking, eating or just watching. Over the road young children played in their playground. Next to them a musical group played while 20 - 80 year-olds danced in 'the square', elsewhere older people played boules, whilst others sat at tables in a park playing chess or cards. There even was a solid table tennis table.

I have a vision for Ulverston to have a similar place where The Rosegarden used to be - opposite the library. Here the tea bar for the bus station would upgrade to good café (the licencees are keen) which would look towards the 'garden' - skateboarders would enjoy an area to the left , away from the road, old folks would sit and watch and, where necessary, scold the youngsters and adults who dropped litter and failed to pick up after their dogs.

All a dream?

Nothing wrong with that, is there?

It's something along the lines of what I was part of in the Town Mill Project of 1976 (which started off the Cinema and the Ulverston Gramophone clubs which still survive) . Then I made another attempt again in 1986 with insufficient cash buying what was Stables' Carpet shop, converting it into the building that is now Oxfam. My pitch pine and design survive!

I failed but the dream is still there.

Always ready to have a go!