A series of small improvement projects over the past four years has seen a big difference for Evenwood’s Randolph Community Centre.
It amounts to an almost complete makeover – in time for its 160th anniversary.
A major exhibition and party weekend is being planned for March next year to celebrate the milestone and the support it offers to the village.
John Bogle became centre manager in 2020 and it was a personal ambition to revamp the facility. He said: “Every year I’ve tried to make another little project and get it over the line. We started with the garden outside with [access through] new doors and a couple of new windows.”
The main hall and dining area have been redecorated and LED lighting installed throughout to improve energy efficiency. This year, the manager landed a number of grants.
Mr Bogle said: “I got £40,000 from Durham Community Action. That paid for the new heating system and the solar panels. We have gone for tip-top boilers and solar-powered hot water.”
The solar panels also feed electricity into the grid when the building is unoccupied, adding credit to utility bills.
The manager said: “I got the gas bill this month and it was about £300 cheaper than this month last year. Last year, January was over £1,000 for gas. Hopefully, when I get a few [electric] bills in I can see how costs have reduced.”
Through Durham County Council Mr Bogle was able to access a grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to carry out a number of projects, including creating a new wildlife well-being garden, resurfacing the centre’s car park and creating an IT suite.
The garden is almost complete and includes a picnic area and children’s play park. Future plans are to build a pond which schools and other groups can use for a bit of pond-dipping.
Mr Bogle said: “TCR Hub, in Barnard Castle, have a session up here on a Wednesday evening and they have got a programme of works to get the children involved in planting it up with vegetables and plants.”
Car park work began last week and is expected to be completed by January.
Mr Bogle said the SPF had also given £14,000 to increase footfall.
He said: “We are going to get Ancestry into the building so people can come to do their research into their family trees. We are also getting the IT suite developed with CoderDojo club for kids and IT courses for everyone.”
The aim is also to encourage groups to hire the suite and increase revenue for the centre.
Before Christmas the centre will welcome Trades4Care to the building to redecorate the kitchen, reception, toilets and a room used by Evenwood and District History Society.
Despite all the improvements over the past few years, the manager still has more plans.
He said: “The next thing is the front of the building because it needs doing. I am working on planning to get that over the line.”
