The Future Development of the Crossways Centre United Reformed Church Yardley Hastings Northamptonshire An Options and Feasibility Report August 2009 1 Crossways Centre, Yardley Hastings. Feasibility Report Sept 2009 Contents Executive Summary 3 1. Introduction 5 2. Stakeholders 6 3. The Regional and Sub-Regional 7 Context 4. Yardley Hastings the Local Setting 10 5. The Existing Operation at 12 Crossways 5a. The Offer 13 5b. Financial and Price Tariff 15 5c. How much is Crossways used? 17 5d. Who uses Crossways? 18 5e. The Church - Mission and 19 Community 5f. Possible New Ideas 28 6. Options Analysis 30 7. The Way Forward 34 7a. Refurbish and Extend 35 7b. Market Niches 37 7c. Immediate Action Plan 37 8. Recommendations 38 Appendix 1 Cash Flow Projections 39 - See also attached Excel Spreadsheets Appendix 2 Other Centers 40 Appendix 3 Possible Sources of 46 Funding Appendix 4 Customer Comments 52 Appendix 5 Curriculum Activities for 59 KS2 Science Appendix 6 Letter from Valuers 71 Appendix 7 Note About VAT 73 Registration This report was commissioned by the East Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church and complied by David M.A. Evans, an independent consultant working for Hope in the Community Ltd (HitC), assisted by HitC staff. Hope in the Community exists to enable community regeneration and to help faith groups and other voluntary sector groups achieve transformation 5a New Road Avenue Chatham, Kent ME4 6BB Tel: + 44 (0) 1634 814240 Hope in the Community Ltd is a Registered Charity No. 1108850 - Company No. 4936763 Director: Revd Peter Southcombe 2 Crossways Centre, Yardley Hastings. Feasibility Report Sept 2009 Executive Summary This report was commissioned by the East Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church and complied by David M.A. Evans, an independent consultant working for Hope in the Community Ltd (HitC), assisted by HitC staff. The purpose of this report was to: • Provide a review of the circumstances in which the Crossways Centre finds itself in terms of the government’s regional development strategy for the Milton Keynes and South Midlands region (a contextual analysis) • Provide a review of the immediate history and performance of the Centre since it was launched as a Conference and Retreat Centre in 2005, including the assumptions made with regard to running costs and potential usage • Examine options for the way forward and make recommendations Three main options were explored: closure and eventual disposal, partial closure with the church congregation continuing to have a home at the Centre; re-launch either as a dedicated URC resource base for training and support of URC personnel or as a Conference, Training and Retreat Centre for a wide range of customers, including the URC. The key findings of the report are: The regional development context as it relates to the future of Crossways Centre is one of significant expansion with the three towns of Northampton, Milton Keynes and Bedford likely to grow by 2021 by a total of 94,400 new homes and by 2031 by a total of 147,000 new homes. The concomitant growth in employment, the community sector and leisure sectors all indicate that the market, in the sort of services a Conference, Training and Retreat Centre such as Crossways can offer, will be growing significantly for the foreseeable future. The team running the Centre have achieved a good standard of service within the severe constraints they have had to operate within. Their passion and enthusiasm to make the Centre run well is exemplary and they are to be congratulated. The financial viability of the Centre is likely to rely on a mixed customer base, serving the URC and other churches as well as schools, young people and other smaller commercial organisations requiring an appropriate conference and training facility within easy reach. The mission of the Centre when it was launched in 2005 envisaged such a mixture of customers but has lacked the necessary financial backing to market itself effectively to such a diverse customer base. The sense of call to mission in these broad terms is shared within the Staff Team and the Management Group. The financial model upon which the Centre was launched in 2005 was not robust enough and did not factor the true costs of running the Centre or the resources required to maintain the facilities effectively. The usage of the Centre has fallen below the projections initially made of through put. The Centre has offered a wide range of options to potential customers, including self-catering. This together with the complication of access to the building, with school groups under Child Protection requirements, has meant that the Centre may not have functioned with the greatest level of efficiency with regard to occupancy rates. This report makes several recommendations and makes some preliminary cash flow projections built on what the authors believe to be realistic assumptions. 3 Crossways Centre, Yardley Hastings. Feasibility Report Sept 2009 The overall recommendation is that, of the options examined, the Centre should be re-launched as a Conference, Training and Retreat Centre serving as wide a range of customers as possible within the governance structure of a Community Interest Company with Directors appointed by the URC at the level of the General Council Trustees or the East Midlands Synod. See section 6.3b. The report suggests possible ways forward for the longer term which include expansion of the facilities at the Centre. The report makes several more detailed recommendations relating to the implementation of option 6.3b. An action plan within Section 7 of the report sets out the following steps over the next twelve months. 1. Report adopted by Synod (By end November 09) If recommendation 6.3b accepted: 2. Initial levels of investment by General Assembly Trustees and East Midlands Synod indicated (By end November 09) 3. Architects brief compiled for initial modifications/refurbishments and put out to tender (By end December 09) 4. Architects recruited (By end January 2010) 5. Cost consultants recruited and briefed (By end February 2010) 6. Full Business Plan completed (By end March 2010) 7. Creation of Company and appointment of Directors (By end March 2010) 8. Funding applied for and secured (By end June 2010) 9. 18 month transition (From June 2010) 4 Crossways Centre, Yardley Hastings. Feasibility Report Sept 2009 1. Introduction Yardley Hastings United Reformed Church has a long history of being a spiritual centre for its community dating back to 1670. In 1992 the buildings were given to the national church who, with support from churches across the country, created the National Youth Resources Centre (NYRC). This was developed as a residential centre, sleeping up to 40 people, with suitable catering and conference facilities. ‘The Chapel’ served as the spiritual hub both for the centre and the church. In 2003 the NYRC was closed by the URC’s General Assembly Trustees. The East Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church proposed that a conference and retreat centre be established at the centre which was called the Crossways Centre. In 2005 a 5 year lease was negotiated with the General Assembly Trustees on the basis of an annual rental of £10,000. The East Midlands Synod approved an annual grant of £15,000 per year for the 5 year term, of which £10,000 was to cover the rental to the national church. This review and feasibility study is commissioned by the East Midlands Synod in recognition that the current arrangements are financially unsustainable in the longer term. Four of the five years of the original lease have now passed and rather than wait for the end of the term of the lease, the East Midlands Synod is committed to exploring all options to present to the General Assembly Trustees as possible ways forward beyond 2010, these include the following: 1. Closure of the whole site including the church and realising the asset through sale on the commercial property market 2. Closure of the Crossways Centre whilst retaining the Chapel area for the worshipping congregation 3. Relaunching Crossways under the management of a not for profit CIC/Company Limited by Guarantee with a sustainable business model for the Centre to operate within The need for a root and branch review is therefore pressing. This report explores the viability of each option and makes a recommendation of the preferred option. The report seeks to be strategic with the longer term context firmly in view. That context includes the wider regional setting in terms of the economic and social development of the area beyond the life of the United Reformed Church. It is clear from the outset that any viable strategy for the future of the Crossways Centre has to satisfy some basic criteria, namely there is a need to create a strategy which: • is financially sustainable; • doesn’t represent an open-ended drain on Synod or wider church resources; • offers a sustainable, transparent and accountable system of governance; • serves the original constituencies identified1 in the original vision for Crossways; • creates a resource which is an asset recognised for the services it provides within the church and beyond the church; • operates in ways consistent with the values and missiological principles of the church; • convinces the primary stakeholders that there is a sustainable future for the Centre 1 These were: The Synod, the URC, ecumenical partners, schools, not for profit organisations, and commercial organisations. 5 Crossways Centre, Yardley Hastings. Feasibility Report Sept 2009 2. Stakeholders This report is designed to inform the decisions of a number of stakeholders. The principal groups are as set out in the table below. Group Nature of stake in Crossways 1. URC General Assembly Trustees The freeholder of the Centre who will decide its future after the 5 year lease has expired.