The Beacon Centre Project Transforming the Barrington Street Community Centre into a new Community Hub for Clayton, Beswick & Openshaw.
Watch a video below featuring our Rector, Fr Chris, speaking about a project close to the hearts of all at St. Cross- refurbishing and re-opening the old Barrington Street Community Centre as The Beacon Centre, a community-led hub for the people of Clayton, Beswick and Openshaw, which aims to provide many much-needed social and practical support services to local residents of all ages.
[This video was filmed by StepUp Mcr, a new charity working to bring community projects to life in East Manchester, for their launch in late 2020.]
For the last few years, Fr. Chris has been working extremely hard, alongside a group including local residents, local businesses and representatives from local community and health organisations, and with Manchester City Council towards taking over the lease of a council owned building in the heart of our parish here in Clayton. Formerly known as the Barrington Street Community Centre, the building is a place of fond memories for many of our older parishioners and community members but has now been closed for several years.
The group, who began work on this project in 2017, registered the The Beacon Centre as an official charity at the end of 2018 and are looking to re-open the Centre as a community-led hub to support the health and wellbeing of people in Beswick, Clayton and Openshaw.
There is no limit to the number of activities the Centre will offer- current plans include:
Community Grocer
Food Bank
Job Club & Employment Service
Ageing Well & Luncheon Club for the elderly
Before and After School clubs for children
Drugs and alcohol support
Slimming teams and diabetic support
Cooking classes for families
Fitness sessions for adults and children
The project has required a great deal of work behind the scenes from the Trustees to get to this stage but they now are now well on the way, having secured most of the funding to repair the building and cover running costs. They are now looking to raise £20,000 to pay for the salary of a Centre Manager for one year who they believe will be key to the project’s success and financial sustainability.
The Beacon Centre Trustees and Supporters are very happy to be working towards this latest goal with a new organisation, StepUp MCR(a Place Based Giving Scheme), as one of the first community projects chosen for support in their launch in December 2020. Step Up MCR will match every £1 donated from our Community Projects Fund, supported by One Manchester and Manchester Local Care Organisation- which means if our community can come together to raise £10,000, they will provide the rest, which is an amazing opportunity! The crowdfunding appeal runs until late February 2021 and, as of January 27th, the fund already stands at over £3,600... can you help reach the target by donating soon, if you are able, or sharing this page and the crowdfunding page with others who may be able to help?!? This has been an incredibly difficult year for everyone and we know many are struggling financially but this is a service which will be needed more than ever as our community works to recover from Covid-19 so any help will make a difference now more than ever (including raising awareness of the project)- thank you!