Friends of Bramley Baths with BARCA-Leeds.
BARCA-Leeds has been helping a local community group with the asset transfer of our local swimming baths from Leeds City Council.
The process started in March last year when the council announced that it was going to cut the hours the swimming baths from opening over 80 hours to 29. Money was applied through the the West Leeds Health and Well-Being fund and the baths were subsidised for a further 20 hours a week to 49 hours.
Councillor Ted Hanley and Rt Hon Rachel Reeves became involved and started the process with the help of Mark Law CEO of BARCA to raise public awareness of the baths reducing hours and what impact this would have on the people of Bramley. It was obvious from the first public meeting that the people of Bramley were against the closure of the baths and this was the start of the Fiends of Bramley Baths group.
The council announced in June 2011 that organisations could apply to take over the lease from the council and BARCA with the help of the group put in an expression of interest in August 2011. This expression of interest was successful and Friends of Bramley Baths with BARCA supporting were the only group to be invited to make a full submission.
Since August 2011 the group have been working hard to do full market research on what activities the people of Bramley want to do at the baths, what pricing structure should it be and what other uses could the building be used for. The finance team have been working hard looking at staffing structures, income and expenditure, risk, implications of possible TUPE staff and whether the project is sustainable. There has been a team looking at what the governance and legal status the group should form and a group looking at vision and mission.
Leeds City Council have supported the writing of the business plan and the FOBB group have had many meetings with the council to ensure that any issues, queries or concerns are talked through and resolved including a meeting with Councillor Keith Wakefield to inform him on the progress of the proposal of which he was very supportive.
The group decided that a BENCOM (IPS) would be the best legal status for the group as this will give the group the ability to register as a charity and sell community shares in the venture which will enable the group to raise revenue before the takeover date of September 2012. It will also give the group the ability to apply for grants through charitable status that a CIC wouldn’t be able to apply for.
The interim board of Friends of Bramley is made up of the following people:
Rt Hon John Battle (chair)
Fran Graham (Treasurer)
Cathryn Thom (Secretary)
Bill Graham
David Harries
Laura Sheard
A full board will be voted in as soon if the council accepts the business plan.
Friends of Bramley Baths have completed a full business plan and this has now been submitted to the council. The council should be making a decision in the Executive Committee Meeting in May 2012.
There has been immense good publicity for this project and a great sense of community ownership growing across West Leeds as this project develops. FOBB and BARCA have had so much help and support in this project and are very grateful to everyone that has given up their free time to help with questionnaires, looking at figures, attending public meetings and stand outside the baths in the cold having photographs taken.
The group have had lots of help from kind hearted people such as Phil Stott, Manager of Virgin Active on Kirkstall Road, Duncan and Kath from Chapeltown Baths Community Business in Sheffield and Carl Towner from Lenton Baths in Nottingham.
Other organisations involved are Bramley Elderley Action and Leeds West Academy who will help shape the programme of activities at the baths and help FOBB by providing information to their members and students.
Here is some of the press coverage of the project. The full business plan will be published on-line soon:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/dec/23/rachel-reeves-westminster-christmas-message
http://www.mylifeinleeds.co.uk/blog/2011/11/support-bramley-baths/
