{"id":510,"date":"2011-02-22T12:59:58","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T12:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leedscd.wordpress.com\/?p=510"},"modified":"2011-02-22T12:59:58","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T12:59:58","slug":"a-future-with-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2011\/02\/22\/a-future-with-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"A Future with Heart&#8230;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Yesterday I went to the official opening of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.heartcentre.org.uk\/\">HEART &#8211; Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre<\/a>, an old Primary School, in a vibrant Leeds suburb which has been converted to a high standard by the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.headingleydevelopmenttrust.org.uk\/\">Headingley Development Trust<\/a> to provide:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>13 meeting rooms of various shapes and sizes<\/li>\n<li>Exhibition space which local artists can use to hang their work<\/li>\n<li>The Pulse Enterprise Space &#8211; shared workspace available on a membership basis<\/li>\n<li>A Cafe, run by an\u00a0independent\u00a0operator, with 45 indoor covers and outside, off street, seating for 30 more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With, what seems to the untrained eye, excellent green credentials (solar panels, photovoltaic cells, grey water collection etc) the HEART Centre is a great new facility. \u00a0And with an eye to keeping costs down, using teams of volunteers wherever possible to run the building (very &#8216;big society&#8217;) and keeping debt as low as possible, the centre, with a lot of hard work, may just pay its way commercially and fulfil its vision &#8211;\u00a0<em><strong>to create a vibrant and welcoming space for a wide range of people to meet, mix, work and play.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Similar in look and feel to both\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hillside-leeds.co.uk\/\">Hillside <\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shinebusinesscentre.co.uk\/\">Shine<\/a>, I\u00a0think\u00a0there are several reasons why HEART has a chance of succeeding\u00a0in the pursuit of its vision.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly\u00a0it is situated in a\u00a0relatively\u00a0prosperous part of the city, there are plenty of bright, young, and not so young\u00a0things, with Mac Books, notebooks and iPads running small\u00a0businesses\u00a0who will almost\u00a0immediately\u00a0recognise the\u00a0value\u00a0of the Pulse Enterprise Space and find the \u00a325 per month entry point both affordable and cost-effective.<\/p>\n<p>It enjoys a wonderful location, with excellent footfall, and provides great spaces which fit well with the expectations and aspirations of many local people.<\/p>\n<p>It really has been a carefully researched labour of love &#8211; the culmination of a 5 year project, led by\u00a0local\u00a0people, to keep the school in community use.<\/p>\n<p>But perhaps most\u00a0importantly\u00a0I\u00a0think\u00a0it stands a chance of success because it is the flagship project of an established Development Trust led by\u00a0local\u00a0people who\u00a0generally\u00a0live in, and share insights into, the\u00a0community that they exist to serve. \u00a0The Trust has developed over several years and those\u00a0involved\u00a0have already more than cut their teeth on a number of other projects including the Headingley Farmers Market, a Housing Project, a Community Orchard and even a Pig and Fowl Coop. \u00a0So the building is in the hands of a well established group of people committed to Headingley who have shared experiences over a number of years that have developed a real competence in their work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some Challenges to Be Met<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Doing what pays &#8211; rather than doing what is wanted<\/strong>. \u00a0On my tour of the centre I was told about a significant demand from local people to have somewhere to practice their art, painting, drawing and so on &#8211; a community studio of some type. \u00a0 \u00a0However the centre was unable to\u00a0respond\u00a0to this demand\u00a0because it\u00a0is not commercially viable. \u00a0Local people\u00a0want\u00a0to develop their passion and skill and come together communally but this desire, at the moment at least cannot be catered for. \u00a0Perhaps\u00a0in future surpluses from commercial activities could be used to cross subsidise such a resource?<\/p>\n<p>We have to understand that financial viability follows on from the development of real craft. \u00a0It is not its pre-cursor. \u00a0If we could build a community of artists doing\u00a0outstanding\u00a0work then the revenues might start to flow. \u00a0Building skills and relationships lies at the heart of effective community development. \u00a0If we simply provide a home for those who are\u00a0already\u00a0economically\u00a0viable perhaps we are missing a trick?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Displacement <\/strong>&#8211; There is a danger that money that gets pulled into the HEART Centre may be money that is pulled away from other\u00a0local\u00a0businesses and community groups offering similar services. \u00a0 Of course competition is a good thing, as long as the playing fields are kept level between the private sector and community groups. \u00a0But if community groups are able to leverage volunteers, grants and\u00a0subsidises\u00a0not available to the private sector to\u00a0compete\u00a0with them then the results will not always be what we might hope.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Further Driving Inequality in the City? &#8211; <\/strong>Headingley, although not without the problems that come from a high population density including lots of students and &#8216;young professionals&#8217;, is not a deprived area. \u00a0Indeed it is the only part of the &#8216;Leeds Rim&#8217; not to be amongst the most deprived wards in the country. \u00a0 So we have a &#8216;successful community&#8217; learning how to make itself more successful. \u00a0Which is to be applauded.<\/p>\n<p>But can we do more to ensure that gaps between the rich and the poor do not further open up in the city? \u00a0How do we work successfully in more deprived areas to ensure that they too share in successful economic and social development. \u00a0I am not sure\u00a0that\u00a0similar buildings in more deprived parts of the city will have the same chance of really making a\u00a0difference.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keeping the Doors Open\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\">and <\/span>On Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Buildings, especially ones that are open long hours, cost a lot of money. \u00a0Centre managers,\u00a0caretakers, security, insurances, rates, utility bills and servicing debts all add to the overheads. \u00a0It is easy for the imperative to generate income to over-ride the social mission of such spaces. \u00a0Bills have to be paid. \u00a0But sometimes the desire to pay the bills takes the building away from what it was intended to be. \u00a0So, instead of being a place for the local community more of it is made available to\u00a0affluent\u00a0outsiders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hopeful&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But I am hopeful for HEART. \u00a0I\u00a0think\u00a0it has an excellent chance of doing great work in Headingley. \u00a0The host development trust seems well run. \u00a0It is embedded in the\u00a0local\u00a0community. \u00a0It will be hard work, and I suspect not without real scares along the way. \u00a0But I have a\u00a0suspicion\u00a0that HEART and the Headingley Development Trust will be a part of the Leeds infrastructure for some time to come. \u00a0It may be hard to make the managed workspace\/meeting room combination work in more deprived areas of the city &#8211; but with a bit of\u00a0tweaking\u00a0it may be just right for Headingley.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Posts\"><ul class=\"entry-meta\"><li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"City of Dreams\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2013\/01\/26\/city-of-dreams\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">City of Dreams<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"An imaginary open letter: To those who would &#8216;engage&#8217; us&#8230;\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/08\/09\/an-imaginary-open-letter-to-those-who-would-engage-us\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">An imaginary open letter: To those who would &#8216;engage&#8217; us&#8230;<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Patient Opinions on NHS Services in Leeds\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/07\/07\/patient-opinions-on-nhs-services-in-leeds\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Patient Opinions on NHS Services in Leeds<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Some thoughts on Best City outcomes\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/07\/05\/some-thoughts-on-best-city-outcomes\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Some thoughts on Best City outcomes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Some Barriers to Engagement\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/06\/13\/some-barriers-to-engagement\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Some Barriers to Engagement<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday I went to the official opening of\u00a0HEART &#8211; Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre, an old Primary School, in a vibrant Leeds suburb which has been converted to a high standard by the\u00a0Headingley Development Trust to provide: 13 meeting rooms of various shapes and sizes Exhibition space which local artists can use to hang their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[36,38,115,118,174,175],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-community-2","tag-community","tag-community-development","tag-leadership","tag-leeds","tag-regeneration","tag-regeneration-2","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}