STRATFORD Town Trust is looking to build foundations for the future by bringing the community together under one roof.
The trust is looking to better target where funding is needed and how the grants it awards can have the greatest impact.
And new hub – Foundation House – will be pivotal, providing a large central space where organisations benefitting the community can come together to enhance and support each other.
It will open in Masons Road this autumn, taking over the lease of a currently a disused industrial unit, which will be refurbished by trust.
The hub will offer organisations big or small everything from offices and meeting rooms to large warehouse space.
As well as being leased, spaces will also be ‘granted’ to groups by the trust, which currently distributes almost £2million in funding each year to local good causes.
Organisations will be able to apply for a ‘grant of space’ – either in addition to any request for funding, or as a stand-alone application.
Trust chief executive Justin Williams said: “Foundation House will be a vibrant new resource, taking an empty space and answering a very clear need by turning into a real hub for the community.
“We frequently receive enquiries from organisations seeking space – and a significant number of our grants are used to fund the cost of premises. This is the Town Trust being proactive and thinking differently, and that’s something we plan to focus on into the future.
“We want Foundation House to be a ‘community within a community’, providing space to organisations which will work together. It could be office space, meeting space, storage space, a base for a group or project, where ideas can be pooled, expertise shared and partnerships fostered.”
Both large and small spaces will be available, long and short term, over two floors. There are multiple kitchen and toilet facilities already in place and disabled access. There are also 40 parking spaces on site.
Foundation House will have its own on-site manager with further details and a launch date to be announced in due course.
Interested groups should visit www.research.net/r/FoundationEOI and complete a short survey online to register their interest.
