Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Cash saves centre at 11th hour
A vital lifeline has been thrown to one of Canterbury’s most important facilities for young people which was facing closure after the collapse of its income due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff at Thanington Neighbourhood Resource Centre were about to be served with redundancy notices when a local developer stepped in with a £75,000 handout.
The crucial money will keep the much-valued centre going for another six months while it attempts to rebuild its revenues from letting out its facilities.
Chief executive Paula Spencer, who has grown the reputation and work of the centre for young people for almost 20 years, admits she was almost resigned to it all being lost.
“We are completely selfsufficient and simply cannot sustain the loss of income which has dropped from around £13,500 a month to £500,” she said.
“It was looking very bleak and, frankly, I was in tears one morning because of the thought of losing all we have built and the effect on our fantastic staff and the young people. Out of desperation, I emailed developer
Mark Quinn who secured planning permission for the new Thanington housing developments.
“I wasn’t hopeful because I was one of those who had objected to it but he came back to me in just 15 minutes asking how he could help.” Miss Spencer, who was awarded the Canterbury Society’s Civic Pride award last year for her work with young people, added: “I must admit when I first met Mark, I wasn’t impressed and thought he came across as a slick salesman. But I’ve changed my mind because he is genuinely concerned about us.”
Mr Quinn is facilitating the early release of section 106 money set aside for community benefit, as well as topping up the sum, to help
secure the centre’s future. “Knowing the vital work they do, I just felt we had to urgently do something to prevent the centre from closing and the impact that would have on the community,” he said.
Mr Quinn says some of the money was already earmarked for the centre, but not for several years time. After discussions with the city council, he has been able to arrange some of its early release while topping up the figure from company funds. The centre has also benefited from loan repayments totalling £28,000 being written off by the city council.
“We are very grateful to them because we know they have done all they can to help us,” Mrs Spencer added.