Hub News Blog Posts

We Love the Pollinators Our bookings coordinator came to the gardening group in a panic. She had found a wasp infestation in the ladies' toilet. "Oh no!" exclaimed our gardener, "we have an event happening this weekend, and we can't close them off!" We needed to deal with the wasps. He went to investigate the infestation, making sure there were no ladies in the toilets. Sure enough, he found a lot of wasps flying around. He managed to get some out the window, but more quickly returned. He had to figure out how they were getting in. It didn’t take long to realize they were entering through a gap at the bottom of the wastewater pipe, which we easily covered to stop them from accessing the toilets. At least the event would be safe to use the ladies' restroom. Further inspection revealed that many wasps were coming through the brickwork to the underside of the building. We contacted the lead of the local wildlife group, who came to assess the situation ...

Let's be honest: due to a lack of maintenance on the exterior paintwork over the past years, our hub has become an eyesore. The woodwork on the brick end has lost all of its protection, and the remnants of the brown wood stain Are? Lets say quite unattractive. This situation has made it a bit of an embarrassment for the management team to share photographs with potential funders and governmental bodies. However, let's not dwell on the negatives; we don't believe in a blame culture here at the hub. This is how we inherited the situation, and it's now up to us to change it. That process has already begun. In truth, it started quite some time ago, but everything takes a while to set in motion. The need for painting has been a topic of discussion since we began working to save the center from closure. Everyone who cares has pointed out just how much it needs a fresh coat of paint. Painting serves two purposes: it enhances the appearance and also provides much-needed...

PATesting Compliance When we took over on the first of October, we had so much to do that we initially never considered whether the portable appliance testing (PAT) had been conducted? and; was it up to date? was this part of the council's leaving strategy. The council granted us a license to operate under what they referred to as FR Insurance. We pay this insurance to continue our operations with full risk coverage the council dealt with their insurance company, we dealt with ours But pay for both thess insurance`s, As a small group of busy unpaid volunteers, we found ourselves overwhelmed with tasks and compliance requirements during that time. We deserve a big PAT (pun intended) on the back for getting through the first six months, which seemed to the groups that use the hub like a seamless transition from council to community management. We couldn’t anticipate every detail during the takeover period, especially since we received no instructions from the form...