The former St James Street Library building is now leased from the council for use by the community for the next 15 years (as opposed to sold off to a property developer). HUGE thanks and well done to everyone (and there are so many!) who has made this possible.

The first is for a Community Organiser to provide outreach and organisation to the community, making links, networking, organising events and bringing the community together to make The Mill happen.

The second is for a Community Administrator, to make the building happen; timetabling events, managing the building and renovations, and reception.

Both posts can be offered on a job share, and will involve working weekends.

If you think you’re the one for the job, we’d love to hear from you! Alternatively share it with a friend if you think they’d be good.

(UPDATE: Due to Bank Holidays/Royal wedding closing date extended to 6th May)

COMMUNITY ORGANISER at The Mill @ Coppermill

Fixed term contract until February 2012 at 40 hours per week, can be offered on a job share.

No pension provision.

The Mill is the newest community space in Walthamstow, East London.  Formed by a group of residents who have secured an old library building, and a year’s NESTA funding, we need a full time Community Organiser to help realise our goals.

Our vision is to create a shared community space for all, but not just somewhere that hires out rooms.   Our centre is to be an incubator, building links amongst the diverse groups in the community, and building a sense of neighbourliness, and social capital.

We are looking for an experienced Community Organiser, who will be the public face of The Mill, and reach out to the community, encourage them to use the centre, and make new links for themselves.   We want an enthusiastic person who is proactive, but who is able to listen, and understand what people want from a community space.   You will be approximately 50% based in the office, 50% in outreach work.

The role will be challenging, particularly, as our building still needs renovations, but we need to get started on our community events urgently.   You will need to be flexible, tenacious, patient, and above all empathetic with our aims, and willing to take direction from the volunteer management board.   You will help to re-ignite a community sense in our neighbourhood, and create a solid foundation for the locals to build upon in future years.

Key skills/Qualifications

1. Outstanding, experienced and enthusiastic community organiser to generate the involvement of individuals, groups and volunteers, through targeted outreach and activities.

2. Ability to network and build links internally and with external contacts.

3. Ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with a wide range of people of varying ages and cultures.

4. Experience of working with, and managing volunteers.  Ability to balance the input of paid staff and volunteers.

5. The ability to glean and reflect on feedback and information from users and wider community and propose forward strategy. , including the planned LBWF research.

6. Strong project management experience

7. You will be subject to a CRB check if successful at interview.

8. Able to work without supervision.

9. Able to adhere to The Mill’s vision , constitution and policies

Main duties and responsibilities

1. Identify needs and wishes of the people who live and work locally as well as community organisations in terms of desired activities and projects.  This will involve seeking out community members and groups, listening and encouraging them to identify their needs.

2. Make recommendations on small grants to community groups to enable their participation.

3. Ensure the delivery of activities and projects that meet identified community needs.

4. Identify facilitators who will deliver these activities and projects.   Seek out partners that can deliver activities that meet the needs of the community, and that can help the future long term viability of the building.

5. Responsible for managing the community adminstrator/s. and other Community Organiser who may be working in job share role.

6. Responsible for keeping the building open at core hours of a minimum of 40 hours per week.

7. Share staffing of front desk duties with the administrator during the hours the building is open to the public –There is some flexibility depending on successful candidates’ needs.

8. Promote and publicise the building and the space for community use and private hiring, whether by marketing material, attending relevant meetings, online media etc. in conjunction with the Administrator.

9. Organise events to bring the community and user groups together

10. Develop and implement a volunteer strategy which will enable:- renovation of the building  into a functional and safe space-look at ways or working a time bank system as part of the volunteer strategy

- extend opening of the building beyond the core hours

- café provision

- provision of a varied timetable of activities for the whole community

- running a stall selling locally produced goods.

11. Monitoring and evaluating projects, activities and events

12. Manage budgets

13. Develop and implement a training strategy that enables participants/users tobecome facilitators and volunteers in the future.

14. Participate in developing a sustainable funding strategy which includes grant fundraising, social enterprise, community trading opportunities as well as looking at the possibility ofcommunity bond issues.

15. Working with management committee reporting monthly and collaborating closelyand proactively.

16. Organise and attend regular meetings of steering groups, including management committees and that of user groups.

17. Have a focus on environmental sustainability when developing both activities and the building itself

To apply, please supply CV and covering letter, and 2 professional referees to jobs@blackhorseactiongroup.org.uk or to The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane, London E17 7HA.

Closing date: Friday 6th May

COMMUNITY ADMINISTRATOR at The Mill @ Coppermill

Fixed term contract until February 2012 at 40 hours per week, can be offered on a job share.

Will involve working weekends.

No pension provision.

The Mill is the newest community space in Walthamstow, East London.  Formed by a group of residents who have secured an old library building, and a year’s NESTA funding, we need a full time Community Administrator to help realise our goals.

Our vision is to create a shared community space for all, but not just somewhere that hires out rooms.   Our centre is to be an incubator, building links amongst the diverse groups in the community, and building a sense of neighbourliness, and social capital.

We are looking for an experienced Administrator, who will be the welcoming face of The Mill, and who will be the person who makes it all work behind the scenes.

You will be an experienced administrator with outstanding organisational skills, and a great track record in dealing with the public, and in co-ordinating volunteers. You will need to have experience of buildings management, as you will be responsible for running the building.  You will have a good manner with the public, able to cope with varied requests from diverse people, as you will also form part of the reception which will be part shared with the Community Organiser.  You will also have book keeping experience to manage bills and invoices effectively.  You will be computer literate and be highly practical and resourceful.

The role will be challenging, particularly, as our building still needs renovations, but we need to get started on our community events urgently.   You will need to be flexible, tenacious, patient, and above all empathetic with our aims, and willing to take direction from the volunteer management board.  You will help to re-ignite a community sense in our neighbourhood, and create a solid foundation for the locals to build upon in future years.

Job responsibilities and duties

1. Oversee the renovation process that makes the building safe and enables it to be opened at core hours within 6 weeks

2. To be the key contact point for the service, to liaise with and negotiate with all partner agencies based in the building, to ensure resolution of operational issues and ensure the smooth running of The Mill.

3. To manage and coordinate the front desk during the hours the building is open to the public, This will include responsibility for covering reception during periods of annual leave/sickness and also arranging breaks appropriately to ensure the reception desk is adequately staffed at all time

4. To communicate with, and support users of the building, visitors and members of the public.

5. Pull together information and create a schedule of activities and events and help to publicise and promote them via newsletters, web and social media.

6. To ensure all visitor attendance activity is recorded accurately and on a weekly basis so that it can be reported to the management board.

7. Manage bookings for the building and organise keyholder duties

8. Follow up any queries and deal with complaints

9. Deal with phone, email or face to face enquiries from public and volunteer

10. Manage bills and send invoices.  Source best value for money for materials and equipment

11. Manage books and keep record of financial health. Work with bookkeeper or accountant on this.

12. Minute meetings where necessary, and circulate documents.

13. To be responsible for holding and monitoring petty cash for the service.

14. For the initial renovation period in particular, work closely with the community organiser to co-ordinate renovations including the role of volunteers

15. Look after day to day aspects of the building and work with the community organiser and management board where necessary to resolve problems

16. Have a focus on environmental sustainability concerning all activities in the building including administrative and maintenance duties

17. Carry out health and safety and property maintenance procedures

18. Respond appropriately to emergencies and use own initiative

19. Undertake all appropriate security measures and deal promptly with hazards

20. Complete minor repairs promptly and effectively

21. Maintain and keep tidy all refuse, spaces, systems and equipment to the highest level

22. You will be responsible to the Community Organiser

Person specification.  The person successful in this job role will have the following skills:

1. Ability to communicate effectively with the public, and sensitively with a wide range of people of different ages and cultures.

2. Outstanding ability to manage and organise information and people effectively

3. Experience of building and facility management of a public building.

4. Computer literate, with relevant experience of book keeping software.

5. Bookkeeping and invoicing experience.

6. Experience of administering health and safety regulations.

7. Able to work without supervision.

8. Able to adhere to The Mill’s vision, constitution and policies.

9. You will be subject to a CRB check if successful at interview.

To apply, please supply CV and covering letter, and 2 professional referees to jobs@blackhorseactiongroup.org.uk or to The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane, London E17 7HA.

Closing date: Friday 6th May

Sorry about the short notice. It’s been a rollercoaster ride since we announced that Waltham Forest council was allowing us to return the former library to community use.

Our original partners had to drop out, for reasons beyond their control. They had been going to sign a lease for the building and allow us to use part of it. Faced with losing our chance, we took a deep breath and jumped in.

Now we’ve persuaded the council to let us rent the building ourselves, on a 15-year lease. We’ve given it a new name – The Mill — to reflect the activity that this community hub will bring to Coppermill Lane.

We picked up the keys this week and, though the building’s not ready for use, we couldn’t wait to fling the doors open. After all the paperwork and negotiations, we’re entering the new phase we’ve all been waiting for.

So come to The Mill this Saturday 16 April, from 11.30 to 1.30.

We’ll be taking photos at noon and you’re welcome to do the same.

Bring your ideas. Tell us what you want to do in the Mill. What are your skills for helping maintain the building? Your interests, for running groups and activities? Your expertise, for sharing or teaching?

If you miss this spur-of-the-moment celebration, don’t worry – there will be an official launch when the building is ready for use again.

Big thanks to all our helpers. And thanks to the council too, for dropping its plans to auction the building and giving us this chance.

We were up against more than 600 other groups but our plans were chosen for one of 17 NESTA Neighbourhood Challenge grants. So we’ve now got £150,000 to set up a community hub and run it for the first year.
The money is allocated for specific uses; unfortunately not for refurbishment, and the building has deteriorated in the year since we last saw inside. But we’ve come this far, so we’ll be fund-raising like mad and everyone’s welcome to help with redecorating!

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Janet Wright
The Mill - Website / Facebook

PS: Here are some pictures of inside the building and some of the work that needs done. If you can help out in any way with time, skills or know someone who might be able to help us get the building ready for community use please get in touch.

“Private company PHCC East London Ltd wants to build a health centre in one of the units with 19 flats above, with shops and 45 flats in the other structure.

The application states that both blocks, which would be at the junction with Brunner Road, could be four to eight storeys tall“.

The ever vigilant Fight The Height sent us details on three “tower blocks” planned of upto 8 storeys right by St James Street station.  That’s at least twice the height of anything in the surrounding area, and 4 times higher than the predominantly Victorian Blackhorse/St James Street skyline.

1: Construction of 4 to 8 storey building to form (1-4 storey) health centre and 19 self contained flats on upper floors (2×1 bed, 15×2 bed & 2×3 bed). Provision of associated access, parking and servicing area.

2: An outline application for construction of 2 blocks (4 to 8 storey) comprising retail unit (use class A1. A2 & A3) 65 sqm at ground floor level in block A and 45 self contained flats in block A & B (9×1 bed, 29×2 bed & 7×3 bed). Provision of bin store, cycle stand and disabled parking.

Here’s what Fight The Height say:

“There are little-publicised plans to build up to eight storeys in St James Street – it’s near the station, on the site currently occupied by the health centre.

The development is in two phases. The first (planning application 2010/1635) is for a new health centre with 19 flats on top. The second (outline planning application 2010/1636/OUT) is for another two blocks of flats with shops on the ground floor. Both planning applications are for “four to eight storey buildings”.

Four to eight stories makes it sound fairly modest. But bear in mind that it’s two or three times the height of the surrounding area. The only equivalent height in central Walthamstow is Tower Mews, opposite Walthamstow Central station (nine stories) and we all know what an ugly sore thumb that is!

Click on the application numbers above for more info. And you can object online here (the site address is 47 St James Street E17 7PJ).

Finally, we got the info from the rather wonderful Planning Alerts website – highly recommended for alerting you to planning applications in your area and making it easier to respond to them online“.

We need the community to come along and show their support.

The meeting is organised by a collective of residents groups working to try to secure a future for the St James St Library building.

Representatives from the St James St Library Campaign, Senior Citizens Asian Group, Blackhorse Action Group along with local councillors and MP Stella Creasy will be there to talk and listen to residents views.

PUBLIC MEETING – A FUTURE FOR ST JAMES STREET?
Sunday 28th November 2010 @ 8pm

Blackhorse Road Baptist Church Hall
(Corner of Southcote Road & Blackhorse Road, entrance on Southcote Road)

View Larger Map

Waltham Forest Council want to sell it to the highest bidder and it may never be a community space again. What do you think?

Residents groups are working together to keep the building open as a community centre, and are looking to raise funds to buy the building. Applications are also being made for grants.

Your views are important, and will show the Council that the local residents really care about what happens in their area.

It’s the last chance to save the building

To keep up with the latest news join BAG and The Library Campaign on Facebook.

Waltham Forest council wants to auction the St James Street Library building, valued at £350,000. But it has given protesters till the end of the year to offer an alternative. If they find a tenant who will let them share the building, the council will consider renting it out.

New Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy is taking campaigners to meet communities minister Greg Clark, who will be overseeing the Big Society Bank. With a cooperative lead tenant using the office space, campaigners hope to create an arts and community centre. And, they say, they have realistic plans.

“There are so many things local people want to do with the space,” says Janet Wright, of St James Street Library Campaign. “No one would consider funding us till we had use of the building, but the council wouldn’t even speak to us until last month. Being offered the chance of renting it is a breakthrough – if we can do it in the time.”

Local estate agents say the 395-square-metre building is worth about £30,000 a year in rent.

“There’s a huge unmet need in this area,” say campaigners. “The building is at the heart of a densely populated area with few public amenities. The library offered books and a social space and so much more. We can recreate part of that, and add some of the new ideas local people have come up with.”

St James Street Library was closed without consultation in 2007, sparking a campaign that has fought off earlier efforts to dispose of the building. The library was used by many old people during the day and by parents with children on the way home from primary schools. Students living in overcrowded housing did their homework there.

The council has ruled out reopening the library, which cost £70,000 a year. But local people have drawn up plans for an arts and community centre including a reading room, meeting rooms, workshops and a gallery — the borough has a large number of artists and the last council-owned artists’ workshops are currently being demolished.

“The economics of selling it to developers don’t make sense,” says Janet Wright. “We would lose an irreplaceable asset and whoever bought it would get a bargain, subsidised by the public. We don’t need more flats. We need facilities for the people living here. Leaving it empty costs at least £20,000 a year in security. If we had use of the building, we could provide many of the services that have been missing since the library closed.”

The campaigners are looking at various financing options and welcome all offers of practical and financial support from the community.

———–

Join us on Facebook:
Blackhorse Action Group
St James Street Library Campaign

Politicians from all three main parties are now all – to differing degrees – challenging Waltham Forest Councils plan to auction it off to the highest bidder.

At a meeting with campaigners on the 13th of October, the Councillor in charge of the sale, Afzal Akram confirmed plans to “dispose of” the building but promised residents he would delay any auction until January.

That gives the community two months to put together a business plan, raise money to buy the building or find a tenant or developer who would share some of space with the community (eg keep ground floor for community use).
Do you know of anyone who needs 400sq m of space, with class D use?

Speaking to the Waltham Forest Advertiser Janet Wright, from the St James Street Library Campaign said: “At last we’ve got a chance to make the library a well-used asset again and it will be good for everyone if we can do it.

“It’s a bit frustrating to be given just over two months to accomplish this, after years of trying to persuade the council to let us show what we can do.

“However, once we have access to the space, we’ll be able to show potential funders what we can do and how popular the building is with the community.

“It’s harder now than if the council had let us start this before the credit crunch, but it’s certainly not impossible.”

High Street Councillor Clare Coghill has been instrumental in finally getting the council to meet with residents, and shes also enlisted the help of MP Stella Creasy.  On the 29th Stella tweeted that “progress was being made on St James Street” after raising the matter in parliament a week previously (Watch the Library question below).

Stella Creasy: Residents living near the former St James street library in Walthamstow want to be part of the big society by buying the building and turning it into a community centre…. Rights and announcements are all very well, but what actual funding can residents in my area expect to be able to bid for, to help to turn the rhetoric surrounding asset management into a reality?

In reply Greg Clark representing the government said the big society bank was designed expressly to make capital available to communities, and he hoped the “project will make one of the early applications to it“.

A meeting is being arranged to discuss community plans, although whether applications to the big society bank will be possible before the council’s self imposed deadline of Christmas is a huge concern. Read Stella Creasy’s press release here.

On Saturday (31st October) the newly installed Lib Dem High Street Councillor Mahmood Hussain led “a protest against the sale of the Ex-Library site“ outside the library building.
Banners (see above) were held up declaring “No Sale of this site” and “Keep this building for the community“. Hussain told campaigners that even if the council insisted on selling, provisions should be made to set aside some of the building for community use.

A member of the campaign group for the library – closed without warning 3 and a half years ago – put in two separate bids for community council funding.

The funds will be allocated at a community council meeting on the 4th of October but the letter (see left) shows the council are only interested in community bids that fit its own agenda, not the wishes of residents.

The suggestion to carry out a study of community space in the area and the needs of local community groups was turned down on the basis that, in the view of the council, the area already runneth over with community buildings (and a study would therefore be pointless).  Residents and local MP Stella Creasy (who struggled to find any space in the area in which to hold election surgeries) will be amazed to discover that St James Street apparently has as many community spaces as Walthamstow has pound shops.

To give WF Council credit, their rejection of the 2nd funding application does at least show a gift for the comical. Whilst maintaining a straight face they state that community council funding cannot be awarded to improve the dilapidated buildings exterior as this is clearly the councils responsibility.  They go on “It would not be appropriate to fund repairs to the building as it will be sold or acquired by a third party“.  Quite why repairs or maintenance were not carried out over the 3 and a half years they’ve kept the building closed is not clear.

Of course the reason for the rejection of both is because the council closed the library and decided to sell the building (both in secret, and with no consultation or respect for the expressed views of the community), and now wishes it to disappear from the agenda.

In order to save the £70,000 a year running costs, the council were prepared to drag the entire area down by allowing a key building to sit dormant with only the drunks outside to decorate it. They’ve also paid out £20,000 a year to have the building “occupied” and out of the hands of the community.

In a later letter the councils community council manager states “the property at Coppermill Lane is surplus to the Councils requirements and its disposal has been approved. The property is most likely to be sold at auction and the council would as always consider any offer received prior to the auction date, once such a date has been set“.

This confirms what the council has long denied, that the building was added to a “disposals” list at a meeting back in July.  At that meeting Councillor Afzal Akram made the decision to sell the library, unless in his words “a serious fully costed business plan comes forward from the community“. The council have since ignored all business plans or requests for information from community groups, and in an email, Oliver Craxton
Senior Committee Manager declared that the Library “was not discussed at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. I have attached the minutes of the meeting anyway, in case you wish to see them“.

The attached minutes show no record of the Library being discussed… because the “disposals” section of the meeting is marked “Confidential” and not disclosed.

Campaigners from St James Street Library campaign and Blackhorse Action Group organised a ‘Love your Library’ Day on Sat 4th July. As ever the community gave us the message that the building was important to the area and the people.
We were also pleased to have visits on the day from Councillors Liaquat Ali, Clare Coghill and MP Stella Creasy who said they were supportive of the campaign aims.
The event was filmed as a record of the importance of the building and the communities feelings. The video was also screened as part of the Walthamstow International Film festival.

Following on from that day, a resident discovered that far from supporting community use of the building, St James Street Library had been placed on the ‘For Sale’ List by the Council.

On the 20th July the newly elected Labour council held a meeting partly to decide on their “disposals” programme. Unfortunately for the residents of Walthamstow, the section of the meeting deciding which buildings would be marked for “immediate disposal” was declared private and not for public disclosure.
Thankfully a local resident present, clearly overheard the St James Street Library building being declared for sale ASAP.

The Library campaign group and Blackhorse Action Group have repeatedly asked the council to confirm or deny this but have been told by email that St James Street Library was not discussed. The council helpfully forwarded the minutes to prove this (minus of course the private disposals section).

The day before the “disposals” meeting Cllr Akram contacted local groups and asked them to come up with a business plan for residents to take control of the building.
Despite being given only 24 hours notice we did come up with the outlines of a plan, but pointed out that we needed contact with detail from council officers, regarding the terms on which the building could be available to any organisation (rent, purchase, etc, etc). We are yet to receive a reply to these requests or to the plans.

Residents groups also put forward finding a tenant for the building who would give some of it over to community space. We suggested that Council or Voluntary organisations who are currently paying rent to private landlords would make good tenants for the building, giving the Council some revenue and the Community its space. This would also, crucially, enable fundraising to begin to fund longer term community use of the building, using external funds.

One of the St James Street Library Campaigners has also put in two Community Council Funding bids. One to research the needs of the community and what might the community space be used for, and two, to give the front of the building a clean up and repair.

A local artist also applied to use the building temporarily as part of the E17 Art Trail, his request was turned down.

Two months after the disposals meeting we are as ever keen to remain in discussion and contact with Councillors and Council officers, and would like to be kept up do date, with plenty of notice, on developments on the building. We believe we have the ideas and the input that could benefit the whole community.

UPDATE: 13th Sept

With local councillors failing to reply to business plans, ideas or attempts to find out for sure if the building was up for sale, BAG & the Library campaign asked our MP Stella Creasy to apply some pressure or to find out its status.
At a meet your local MP and councillors event she was asked “is the library building for sale, yes or no? Can you ask the Cllrs the answer?”

Her reply “@BlackhorseAG hello just asked them – they say they are waiting for you to come up with business plan as discussion about that?”

Understandably this prompted a mixture of exasperation and/or anger from residents and campaigners who’ve spent months trying to get a reply from anyone at the council (and local councillors).

The group and individual residents have sent numerous emails, outlines of plans, requests for details — backed up with a printed letter hand-delivered to Cllr Liaquat Ali’s front door in at least one case! — and have put time and effort into speaking to them at their surgeries. Everything has been ignored.
Ali also promised he would tell council officers he wanted them to actively search for tenants (internal or external) for part of the premises. Has he done this ? Again we are waiting to hear back from him.

Cllr Clare Coghill has informed us that she is currently chasing the status of the Library Building. We look forward to constructive discussions soon.

Stella Creasy has also undertaken to chase up the situation and actively work to formulate a business plan (and collate the details from the council that would make this feasible). We are encouraged by their efforts and look forward to receiving news, and opportunities to get the building back into use for the community.

Two months on an opening question (which has been asked repeatedly) has to be, is the building on the councils disposal / for sale list?
Hopefully Stella, or the local Councillors can ask their Labour party colleagues for an answer to this?

“It was a beautiful sunny day,” said Mo Gallaccio, who organised the ‘Love St James Street Library’ event. “We promised to provide a fun day for all the family and we did!”

St James Street Library, closed since 2007, was decorated with flowers and artworks, including a mobile of toy animals reading books under a colourful umbrella. Supporters brought homemade cakes to share and musicians entertained the crowd. Among the decorations were banners including residents’ many ideas for community use of the building.

The ‘open-air library’ – a book-swap stall run by a group of library-lovers with donated books – attracted readers of all ages, just as the real library used to. Children who hadn’t brought a swap ‘paid’ for their books with drawings which were then displayed.

New MP Stella Creasey joined in the ‘Love St James Street Library’ event, as did councillors Clare Coghill and Liaquat Ali.

“To have two ward Councillors and an MP join us was encouraging,” said Ms Gallaccio. “We were able to make the point that there is very strong local feeling about the need for a space which serves all the community.”