Thursday, April 30, 2015

Do the Mechanics Have Enough Volunteers?

In the recent saga of the Mechanics' Institute, things seem to have shifted to the Mechanics' Institution Trust taking control of several Railway Village buildings, but not the one they want, the Mechanics' Institute itself.


- The Baker's Arms pub (that closed in 2012 after a police raid) is empty and is being eyed-up by the trust as a cafe.

- The Central Community Centre has been given to the trust as the council has been getting rid of it's community centre in recent years.

- The old Railway Museum cottage has been recommended to be given to the trust by the council to run.

- An allotment plot has been given to the trust to run.

The trust was awarded £30,000 by the People's Health Lottery, which saw the hiring of a Community Development Officer in April last year. But a recent interview saw the adver talking to a community development co-ordinator, with no mention of the officer that had been appointed the previous year. A Facebook post on the Central Community Centre page dated 19th September 2014 announces the departure of the Community Development Officer as "the trust have decided to go in a different direction and reshape the Community Development Co-ordinator post". 

What were the differences that caused the job to be filled by the daughter of long-time Mechanics' campaigner Martha Parry?

Plus, does the trust have enough volunteers to run the pub, the community centre, the cottage, the allotment and have people working on getting control of the Mechanics' Institute itself?




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hannah is still a TRustee and there are no accounts filed what so ever.
No accountant either.
They listed only 22.5 income in 2014.


http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1048961&subid=0

Karsten