Aren't we lucky to live in Ottery?

We thought THE OTTERY HUB (formerly the Station/ YOUTH CLUB / HELP SCHEME should be the subject of our 9th contribution.

The present Ottery Hub (formerly The Station) in Barrack Road officially opened its doors on December 17th 2014, after the Town Council stepped in to save it from closure and took ownership of the premises. The centre was one of the many hit by slashed council budgets and had been forced to close in September, sparking a community campaign to get it back into operation.

On the words of Reverend Mac Dick who headed the campaign: “There had been a lot of bad news with council cuts, but DCC and Ottery Town Council have been very supportive. Equally Cllr Glyn Dobson, Mayor of Ottery showed his enthusiasm about the new project by saying: “we are going to use it as much as we can for the good of the community, but the main thing is to get the youth centre going again!”.

The centre received a £10.000 start-up fund from DCC, which was matched by the town council followed by a £5.000 fund approved by the Council from the Parishes Together initiative as the centre had been identified as a place that benefited many young people from Ottery and neighbouring parishes.

Although the lease had just been signed Reverend Dick had big plans for the Station to become a real community centre, used by a broad section of people in town, from parents and children, to the elderly, to bands and choirs, etc. Reverend Dick indicated he was also rolling out a community trust with representatives of organisations that would use the centre.

A new logo, which was designed by the late editor of the Ottery Gazette, John Gaffney, who died shortly before judging took place, was chosen for the venue out of numerous entries received in a competition to design a new one in August 2015.

Ottery Help Scheme was one of the first organisations taking up residence at the Station. By October 2015 we could read in the press of the community efforts that had transformed the Station into a thriving hub, had then secured charitable status. A cinematic projection equipment, complete with 120-inch screen and surround sound had been installed; students from King’s School had started a cinema club; Ottery Silver Band was holding rehearsals at the venue; among other community groups using the facilities at the centre.

Although its transformation into a community hub was a great success, it had been a rocky road for the centre – which was forced to suspend the fortnightly youth nights in January 2016 due to a lack of staff. A “leap of faith” had paid off after the Youth Club secured £7.680 through the National Lottery’s Award which allowed them to recommence regular youth centre nights in the first week of March.

By February 2019 whilst the community aspect of Ottery Station was going well, the number of youth attending had declined, members of the youth worker team had stepped down and the trustees felt that they needed to reassess what they could offer the young people of Ottery and the surrounding areas and the Youth Club stopped.

The future looked promising for the Station in all aspects with numerous community activities taking place, from Adult Education language classes to training events, club meetings and after partnering with the Youth Genesis Trust early 2020, the Ottery Station Trust was planning to relaunch the Youth Club again in September.

The decision made by OSMTC at the Full Town Council Meeting held on 1st March 2021 of terminating the “Tenancy at Will” with Ottery Station Charity in respect of part of the Station premises, forced a change of plan for the Charity. Since then a few changes have taken place. The Men’s Shed has moved to new premises but an interest from four local organisations for the use of the porta cabins has prompted the Council to ask for an extension to the planning consent for both porta cabins which would run out in July 2021 (OSMTC Minutes of Monday 11th January 2021). Also the Station Trust has had numerous talks with members of OSMTC in order to achieve a lease agreement with the Council and DCC.

The Station Trust believes the cooperation between the Skatepark and the Youth Club can provide the right combination to secure the continuity of the proven success of the skatepark, while adding another supervised and suitable activity for the youngsters attending the Youth Club.