Hengistbury Head Outdoors plans for education centre

Transcript

00:00The centre has been open since 1964, so 60 years. It closed when Covid happened and the

00:26council surveyed the building at that point and declared the building was unsafe. So the

00:33centre hasn't been open since March 2020. In its last fully operational year it had

00:4215,000 school sessions run through here as well as 5,000 adult and child sessions

00:50and it's just criminal that the centre can't open

00:54because the council don't have the funds to put into it.

01:10We've formed a charitable community benefit society at the end of 2023 and we've negotiated

01:17with BCP council through a community asset transfer and we're shortly to sign the lease

01:26when we will get the property for a 99-year lease.

01:34Our plans are to bring the centre back to full use by the community

01:41and in order to do that we've got to bring in some temporary buildings because there are no

01:46showers at the moment, there are no changing rooms and the building behind me is completely

01:53unsafe. In due course that'll have to be demolished and have a new building put up.

02:01As well as the building that needs renewing we've got a derelict slipway behind me

02:06that's got to be rebuilt. The whole of the waterfront needs rebuilding because it's starting

02:12to deteriorate. We plan to hopefully bring in a floating pontoon so that it gives better access

02:21for paddleboards and kayaks because certainly for children it's not easy for a child to get out

02:28onto a raised level like the edge of this waterway is.

02:34What we're trying to do is get the centre reopened for community use, to be owned by the community,

02:39run by the community and to establish it as a real community hub for all sorts of users groups,

02:44all sorts of users, all sorts of people, any ages, any abilities and to really have it as a real

02:51core of the community. Historically it's been an outdoor activity centre predominantly driven

02:57around water activities and we have a number of user groups that historically use the centre

03:03but what we want to do, we want to use the centre almost as a venue, as a location for

03:08many other groups and we've got significant ambitions to do a lot more land-based activity

03:13and community hub-based activity so regardless of the usage, regardless as I say of people's

03:18abilities, is to have the centre as a real hub for the local community. Looking out over the

03:25harbour here immediately takes you to a place of calm. Imagine after a long hard day on a warm

03:33summer's evening, just as the sun's going down, taking part in some floating meditation here or

03:40getting up really early and going out for a paddle at sunrise, full of the joys and anticipation of

03:47the day ahead. Within our water and land-based offering we're aiming to make this a place

03:55of well-being and of healing, where people can come together, they can challenge themselves,

04:02they can learn, they can try something new and different and they can fully embrace the elements.

04:10We'd like you to help us to achieve this ambition.