Bishops Hull Hub

Charitable Status

We are very pleased to say that we have been granted charitable status by the Charity Commission. This opens many doors for use to raise the remaining fund for the project. Our Registered Charity Number is 1176851.

Planning Permission

We are pleased to announce that we have now applied for planning permission from Taunton Deane Parish Council and have finalised our plans for the facility. The plans for the submission can be seen at the bottom of this post. Our planning application submitted which can be viewed on the Taunton Deane Borough Council website with the reference 05/18/0008.

Fund Raising

We have progressed further with raising sufficient funds for the project with confirmation of further funds, including the allocation of some of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fund from the Bishops Hull Parish Council. This takes us to approximately half way of our funding target.

Local Fund Raising Events

Hopefully you have seen our Easter Egg Hunt being advertised which will be held on the Bishops Hull Playing Field on the 30th March. More information on this post and on Facebook here

The Bishops Hull Hub project continues to make progress, thanks to the dedicated team of volunteers behind the project. The final plans and drawings have now been submitted to the Architects and we will be anticipating a response from planning in the early spring. The final modifications of the design have been adjusted, responding to the feedback received from the community, to create a more user friendly space, with large serving hatch into the main hall and foyer to create a social space that is welcoming. In order to meet the new specification, the build cost will have increased. The exact figure is in the process of being calculated and we will let you know once it has been established. It is anticipated the full market rate will be in the region of £550,000. Whilst this may initially seem a daunting figure we are taking a three pronged approach.

Firstly, we would like to utilise the resources within the village who are prepared to offer their services at cost or indeed some are offering free of charge. This means we could target the actual build cost with the help of the community at a figure closer to £400,000, saving us in the region of £150,000. This will need a commitment from many in the community but what an opportunity to contribute to the future of the village! We currently have £201,000 allocated to the project which is a combination of personal contributions from church members, personal initiatives (silent auction, afternoon tea party, sale of home made jams and a security marking event at the church hall), plus the Section 106 funds available from Persimmon Homes in respect of the Kingslake Development.

This leaves us with a fund raising target of approximately £200,000. To achieve this the team are breaking activities into two initiatives, local community fund raising events and applications for grants. The first local event we are planning to host is an open garden at Milligan to showcase the work completed so far, including the detailed plans, and create a social event with music, refreshments, craft stalls and more. Stay posted for more information about this on our website, facebook and village communication. We are welcoming any volunteers from the village (or beyond) to help us with these events we plan to host this year as local knowledge, contacts and enthusiasm is crucial for us to succeed. If you feel you might be interested or would be happy to help in some way please contact us via the details below. Our thanks go out to individuals who have contributed already with fundraising.
As part of our second initiative, we are in the process of applying for grants from a range of institutions. One company we are applying to is EDF who are constructing Hinkley Point C and we are hoping to secure a grant from their Community Cohesion Fund. As such, we need to demonstrate that Hinkley Point C construction and ongoing work will or does impact our village in some way. This can cover a range of impacts such as people commuting from Bishops Hull, either from a temporary base or a permanent home. If you know of anyone or are indeed one of those people, who has contacts with EDF, Hinkley point C and would be willing to give us any information regarding this please do get in contact. Other suggestions such as how a community hub could help new residents integrate into the community would strengthen our application and be more likely to secure funding.

Progress continues to be made with the Bishops Hull Hub project. We aim to submit our planning application by the end of the year and are currently in the process of putting our reports and information together. We have also submitted a planning application to retain the existing hall until it needs to be demolished to build the new facility.

To drive the project forward we are currently focusing on two main aspects;

1. Fundraising – we are looking for;

• Volunteers to organise village events
• Help with the administrative process of applying for grants
• Suggestions on sources of grants that may be available to us, especially through local connections.

2. Building a database of skilled trades people and suppliers who are prepared to offer their services at cost effective rates

The estimated target cost to complete the build is in the region of £400,000. This is based on our preferred approach of a local community build, utilising the skills, trade, contractors and suppliers available within Bishop’s Hull and immediately around. This will provide the village with a very cost effective solution.

So far, we have around £200,000 towards the project. Our thanks extend to the donations we have received so far from sources such as the Church, the parish council and other events such as the the Bishops Hull Christmas party on 2nd December, organised by John Hunt (please buy your tickets and attend if you can to help support us and other village causes!!).

Please do get in contact with us if you can help, if you have any ideas regarding fundraising or you would like to get involved. Please keep your eyes posted for events and fundraising opportunities to get involved with your new Hub.

Update in Bishops Hull News Letter October 2017:

The plans to replace the existing church hall with a community facility – The Bishops Hull Hub – are well underway as the revised drawings from the appointed architects have now been submitted to Taunton Deane Borough Council to begin consultations. The public feedback we received from the open day has helped greatly in ensuring that the facility meets the needs of the community and complements the existing resources within the village. For example, Badminton is already available in the village hall and therefore it is not necessary to replicate this in the Hub.

The main changes we have made to the original drawings shown on the open day are:

• Provision of a larger kitchen with direct access to the hall through a wider servery counter.
• Provision of baby changing facilities in larger unisex disability access toilet.
• Increase in length of hall to 15M to maximise the variety of sporting activities that can be accommodated, including soft ball tennis.
• Provision of a stairway from the entrance lobby to give access to the large loft space above the entrance foyer / kitchen and wc facilities area.
• Use of loft space to provide a first floor function room (approx 5.7M x 5.6M) with rooflight glazing.
• Provision of viewing gallery with glazed screen in first floor function room to overlook main hall.

In addition to the changes to the building the Project Architects have been instructed to investigate the possibility of lowering the car park area to provide level access to both the new hall and the church.This will maximise parking provision and enable the area to be utilised as a multi-functional space within the village for special events. It also provides the opportunity to consider the widening of the narrow footpath along the carpark frontage to provide a better and safer access to the new hall, church and bus stop.

For images or the facebook page ‘Bishops Hull Hub’.

In other news, we are pleased to be working closely with the Parish council who have written an open letter of support for our project and we hope to continue to work closely with them on the project as it progresses. We also want to extend our thanks to the members of the church who have kindly donated towards our project; this has been very gratefully received and has allowed the project the get underway and start the planning process.