Financial sustainability workshops

A few months ago, the myplace Support Team ran a couple of financial sustainability workshops. These were held in already open myplace centres; the first in Halton's C-RMZ and the second at the Bridgwater YMCA. This was a great way of showing projects that are still being planned or built just how existing centres are dealing with financial sustainability. It also gave delegates a good opportunity to mingle with their peers and trade tips and experiences. In both cases the centre managers were asked about what had gone right and wrong, the highs and lows, and the challenges that still lay ahead, and they were very honest in their answers; something that will undoubtedly help the projects that attended.

Presentations were given by support team member Tom Calderbank, Dave Adamson from Blackpool's Southpoint project, and Jerry Glover MBE, CEO of OnSide Northwest.All presentations were excellent with Dave Adamson giving some great insights into social enterprise and how to incorporate this into a myplace centre.

Jerry Glover also gave a very inspirational presentation on various topics including networking and fundraising. Jerry spoke of ways to approach the programme and how to best perceive your own project by publicising and networking effectively.He also talked about how important it is to put young people at the heart of the project and letting them speak for themselves. One of his sentiments was that in the ‘adult world' we expect a very high level of facilities and yet young people are rarely afforded the same respect.

During one anecdote Jerry held up a shoe and went on to explain that the most valuable thing you have when trying to make a youth facility work is your shoe leather. He said that it's important not to rely on using phones or computers, and instead you should go and meeting people to build up relationships, such as funders or young beneficiaries. Essentially, it is hard work but you need to put the work in to get results.

Sustainability Presentation by Tom Calderbank (1.12 MB)

Financial Sustainability Presentation by Dave Adamson (173.65 kB)