Memorandum submitted by Haggerston Pool
Action Group, Hackney
SHOREDITCH NEW DEAL TRUST HEALTHY LIVING
CENTRE DRAFT BUSINESS PLAN FOR HAGGERSTON POOL, HACKNEY
INTRODUCTION AND
SUMMARY
1. Introduction
1.1 Shoreditch New Deal Trust (SNDT), has
developed this Business Plan for a Shoreditch Healthy Living Centre
(SHLC). There has been extensive input from the community, including
Robin Murray from the Haggerston Pool Action Group, Jackie Henry
from the Health Action Zone and Peng Ong from Hackney Co-operative
Development Agency.
1.2 There has been a very active 18-month
campaign run by the local community to save Haggerston Baths,
which was temporarily closed by Hackney Council in February 2000.
The Healthy Living Centre and SNDT input, has been embraced by
the campaigners as a positive way forward.
1.3 The SHLC will provide a hub and spoke
model of healthy living. The hub is Haggerston Poola historic
local landmark in full working order as a swimming baths with
related facilities including a well-equipped gym.
1.4 The proposal is for the Shoreditch New
Deal Trust, a registered charity set up by and for the people
of Shoreditch, to take over the running of the pool, develop the
site and link up with a wide range of local initiatives, including
several from the New Deal Trust itself.
2. Summary
2.1 The Shoreditch Healthy Living Centre
aims to enable people to live richer, fuller and happier lives,
freed from preventable pain and anxiety. We will achieve this
by interweaving health enhancing activities into Shoreditch life.
Shoreditch will become a healthy living environmentbased
around a hub and spoke model. The underlying principle is that,
under one umbrella, a range of complementary, co-ordinated activities
will feed from and to each other. The Hub is a high quality and
high profile building which is already rooted in the community.
The Spoke activities are an integral part of neighbourhood life,
on peoples' doorsteps and very accessible.
2.2 The major features of the Shoreditch
Healthy Living Centre are:
flagship hub and spoke model organically
developed in one of the most deprived areas in the country;
equal access to top quality provision,
with integrated use;
sustainable architecture, environmentally
advanced;
part of a major, community-led multi-faceted
regeneration programme;
broad vision of health and well-being
tangibly applied;
integration across boundaries: diverse
communities (eg ethnicity, class), diverse activities (art and
sport);
development and learning of each
user both individually, but also collectively as part of an organised,
community-wide structure; and
tangible focus of a good size swimming
baths which is widely used by local people. Also provides the
only competitive swimming training to national standards, including
for Olympic and Para-Olympic team members, in Hackney.
2.3 Shoreditch is one of the most deprived
areas in England. So much so, it has one of the Pathfinder New
Deal in Community programmes, who will be managing the project.
It is on the border with the City and several areas with greater
affluence. It is an area of high density, with a growing population
of both residents and also daytime workers due to the City fringe
effect. The business case shows that our Healthy Living Centre's
viability is linked to tapping into the growing market for fitness,
especially based around a life-style model.
AIMS AND
OBJECTIVES
3. Our Vision
3.1 We aim to enable people to live richer,
fuller and happier lives, freed from preventable pain and anxiety.
We will achieve this by interweaving health enhancing activities
into Shoreditch life. The Shoreditch New Deal Trust, as an organisation
led by the community in Shoreditch, will spearhead these activities,
integrating them with a wide number of initiatives regenerating
the Shoreditch area.
3.2 Our Healthy Living Centre approach is
centred on:
1. Taking control of our own mental and physical
health and well-being.
2. Maximising individual mind, body spirit
potentialbeing all that we can be.
3. Constantly developing our self-knowledge
and awareness as social beings and as part of our community/ies.
5. Easy access to appropriate, accessible
and acceptable help as and when we need it, eg on the doorstep,
co-ordination of what is already happening.
7. Making a contribution to helping others.
8. A place where local people want to be.
4. Aims
4.1 To develop a top quality, community-led
provision with a broad remit of health and well-being.
4.2 To be based in principles of equity
and environmental sustainability.
4.3 To raise the health of the mind, spirit
and bodyimproving the quality of life through mutual help
and self-help.
4.4 To develop new synergies between traditional
and complimentary practices.
4.5 To link the wider community and the
wider environment in a hub and spoke provision.
4.6 To integrate health activities, sport,
learning, self-management, advice and information, volunteering,
cultural/skills exchange, links with the local economy and service
providers.
4.7 To foster mutual learning to develop
knowledge and understanding.
4.8 To foster social networks and activities
across and within communities (neighbourhood, ages, gender, abilities,
ethnicity, culture, sexuality, religion, interests).
THE PROPOSAL
5. Healthy Living Centre Hub and Spoke
5.1 The whole of Shoreditch to be a healthy
living environmentbased around a hub and spoke model. The
underlying principle is that, under one umbrella, a range of complimentary,
co-ordinated activities will feed from and to each other. These
are essentially flexible, responsive to change and diversity,
and enabling a sense of community identity and health enhancement
for all.
5.2 The Huba quality centre
led by the community to initiate, inspire, stimulate, resource,
advise, campaign, co-ordinate: the "mother-ship" based
on a tangible and popular symbol of health and well-beingthe
swimming pool itself. A venue for cross-fertilisation, eg art
and sport and social. To be big enough to encompass everyone,
regardless of abilities and status. A visible flagship to give
tangible local identity and ownership of the vision.
5.3 The Spokesan integral
part of neighbourhood life, to be on people's doorsteps, to ensure
access. To feed into, and out of, the central hub. There are a
huge number of activities in the area which are health promoting
and will benefit from being part of a Healthy Living Centre umbrella.
New activities will be developed, eg local walks, the farmers'
market.
5.4 The following table gives some of the
provisional ingredients.
Theme | Hub activities
| Spoke activities |
Therapies and Healthcare | Access to affordable and qualified complimentary therapy.
Provide venue for primary care and mental health group work.
Meeting resource and space for local self-help groups, including initiating new ones where gaps.
Develop local provision of outpatient clinics and tests.
Young people's drop-in clinic.
| Develop self-management/help in chronic ill health: including IT, website development and portal approach, eg Loughborough estate in Brixton.
Link in HIMP and HAZ activitites.
Ditto.
|
Exercise and Sport | Water-based: individual, club and group swimming and water aerobics at all levels.
Swimming: for schools, Hackney Community College, target groups.
Swimming lessons (child in child's pool and adults).
Gym.
Fitness rooms for yoga, martial arts, table tennis, keep fit.
Sauna and possible solarium.
Women only sessions (including women lifeguards).
SHOX card special rates for full range of sports activities.
| Exercise on prescription scheme now in operation.
Fitness classes (keep fit, yoga, t'ai chi, karate) for all abilities.
Restoration of local leagues, linked to Shoreditch Festival, eg 5-a-side, darts, fishing.
Three local trails:
Historic: linking the market, Haggerston Baths, Hoxton Square, Geffrye Museum, Shoreditch Town Hall, Hoxton Hall.
Green: Canal walk linking Shoreditch Park and Haggerston Park.
Gardens: linking the Farm Garden, Thrive, Hoxton Garden and Geffrye Museum Herb garden.
|
Culture and self-expression | Art, music, dance which is integral and visibleworkshops.
Performance space.
Art displays (individual and collective works) and activities.
Ways to link art and sports, eg photographic competitions.
| Ditto.
Link with many local arts projects, including possible local sessions from Core Arts for people with mental health problems.
Synthesis with Shoreditch Festival.
|
Environment | Sustainable building: solar powered, water bored water.
Recycling through community noticeboard.
Possible bike hire centre.
Communal launderette.
| Links with wider environment, encouraging use of green spaces, within walking/pram pushing distance of high-density area, reducing reliance on motorised vehicles.
Links with Agenda 21 initiatives.
|
Leisure | Be-friending, peer education and volunteering schemes.
Café: potential branch of Training for Life's quality training restaurant in Covent Garden, where Prue Leith is pivotal as a Trustee.
Children's play area/cre"che.
| Ditto.
Developed links with other local organisations, specifically including the Holly St gym, the VLC Centre, Hoxton Health group and the Sharp End.
|
Social networks | Informal, as HLC users as well as formally through participation in events and activities.
A bar and specific social events.
LETS scheme development.
Through participation, social interaction and seeing a range of different initiatives, people will develop their life skills. The scale of the HLC will allow absorption of the more vulnerable, eg people with a disability, the very elderly, people in mental distress. Some targeted work to be undetaken.
| Ditto.
Outings organised.
Ditto.
Ditto.
|
Learning, development, enterprise and employment
| There are a large number of training agencies locally. What many lack is access to work experience and actual jobs. The Centre will be able to provide apprenticeships, and some jobs, in the many roles within itself: receptionist, lifeguards, administration, keep fit instructors, gardening, maintenance.
The café will both train, employ and generate an income.
A Shop within the baths will give opportunities for income generation.
| Swimming and fitness lessons/learning will be part of the core business of the HLCwith an emphasis on individual progression and achievement regardless of age, ability and employability.
The HLC will enable an expansion in training in community agencies such as Laburnum Boat Club and the local Boys' Clubs and Girls' Guild.
|
| Potential to provide drop-off delivery point for e-commerce for those not at home for home deliveries.
Cash dispenser.
Specific "markets" can be held, eg farmer's market linked to farm,
crafts/home-made goods.
| |
Advice and information | Knowledge suite, including on-line support and library, about health and access to healthcare.
| Peer education programmes/outreach advice.
|
| Usable database of local voluntary sector initiatives.
| |
| Potential advice service outreach from CAB, CHC, patient advocate organisations.
| |
| Health fairs.
| |
Giving back to the community | Lots of scope for volunteering, including peer support programmes.
LETS/Time Bank scheme.
| Ditto.
Community and neighbourhood development through building HLC activities into organic structures.
The existing SHOX card to develop as electronic card to enable discounts and access to services for most marginalised.
|
SETTING THE
SCENE
6. Location and users
6.1 Haggerston Pool is situated in a largely residential
area of Shoreditch, located in the southern part of the London
Borough of Hackney and in the City Fringe, about one mile from
the border. It is also about half a mile from the border with
the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
6.2 It is an area of high density. This density is increasing
as old, possibly derelict warehouses, particularly by the canal
and in the southern tip of Shoreditch, are brought into residential
use and new housing developments are taking place on any patches
of unused land. There is also a substantial increase in the daytime
population as the area becomes more attractive to business. However,
it is also an area with a dearth of leisure facilities.
6.3 The area south of the Baths is predominantly made
up of council estates, built in the 1950s and 1970s, and some
pre-war housing. This includes many high-rise blocks. To the north,
around Queensbridge Road, there is one large estate, Holly Street,
recently subject to a massive development programme and a number
of smaller estates the other side of the canal. There are also
several streets of Victorian and Edwardian homes, many a substantial
size, which are largely in private ownership. The Baths is, therefore,
situated between areas of high deprivation and high income households.
6.4 The Baths is next to the canal and to Haggerston
Park, where a City Farm is located. In the building next door
is the Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian (VLC) Centre, a large
community hall. Laburnum Boat Club, which runs canoeing and has
a long boat for local youth and adults to use on the canal, is
located in the road at the back of the pool. The Boat Club uses
the pool extensively for training.
6.5 Sixteen local schools use/d Haggerston Baths with
over 500 children. There are also a large number of swimming clubs.
In addition, the pool is used for training by Laburnum Boat Club.
7. The Building
7.1 Haggerston Baths opened in 1904 and was in public
use until February 2000. It was closed by Hackney Council as they
identified a need for urgent maintenance work, having had no financial
investment for the past 10 years. Appendix 3 [not printed]
gives the immediate work needed to the building, as well as photos,
layout and design. Appendix 4 [not printed] gives some
initial options for development of the site.
7.2 The building has suffered from both poor maintenance
over the last 10 years at least and no modernisation. Some of
the maintenance which has been carried out has been of a poor
quality. It is a tribute to the good design and quality of the
building that the building is still in relatively good condition.
7.3 The pool is Grade II listed and on English Heritage's
At Risk list.
8. Access
8.1 The pool specifically aims not to rely on private
transport. 68 per cent of Shoreditch residents have no car. The
current means of transport are:
walking: the link to a scenic route along the
canal and through Haggerston Park will be promoted;
buses: Kingsland Road and Hackney Road have many
bus routes, but they are both about five minutes walk away. The
new Hoxton Hoppa, providing a service across Shoreditch, will
be able to take people door to door in the SNDT area;
bicycle: we will ensure secure bicycle storage
near or in the centre. We will investigate separate bike paths
serving the Hub, linked to GLA strategy and having a bike hire
centre at the Hub; and
cars: parking in the area is restrictedthere
are yellow lines, resident only parking areas and several metered
areas. There is, however, a large free car park in Haggerston
Park, which could be linked up with the Centre. Bearing in mind
the high density of the area and location of the HLC in the heart
of the community and stress on local provision, the shortage of
car space is not seen as an insurmountable problem.
8.2 Disabled access is currently by ramp at the Laburnum
Road end of the building. The Healthy Living Centre will be designed
and adapted to be fully accessible to all members of the community.
9. Equity
9.1 Part of the uniqueness of this Healthy Living Centre
is its ability to reach marginalised communities, who don't currently
have access to the wide range of facilities vital to health and
well-being. For example, through its charging policy, by being
on the doorstep and by raising the quality of provision usually
available to the most marginalised.
9.2 Swimming and bathing are enjoyable activities which
span most cultures. People of all ages and levels of disability
can also enjoy it. We will ensure that the baths can be used by
all, eg ensuring women lifeguards for women only sessions.
9.3 Haggerston Baths itself is widely used and supported
by the community it serves, with a howl of protest from local
residents to the closure. The HLC will respond to the needs of
the diverse communities, addressing health inequalities based
on class and ethnicity. It will forge innovative links between
health, leisure, sport and cultural activities and new forms of
training and employment.
9.4 It will address some of the access to health service
issues locally based on lack of information, geographical barriers
and motivation.
10. Catchment Area
10.1 In the Shoreditch area, the major challenge involves
addressing poverty: high levels of sickness and long-term illness
exist alongside high unemployment rates, lack of opportunities
in education and low standard of living. Affordability is a major
issue for local people across the whole spectrum of daily life,
as is access to local services and facilities.
10.2 Set within a national context, Hackney itself is
the second most deprived Borough in England and Wales, and scores
high in many measures of deprivation, including unemployment and
overcrowding, with large numbers of lone parent households and
pensioners living alone. (City and Hackney Public Health Profile,
1999.)
10.3 But even Shoreditch's deprivation levels are above
the Hackney average:
33 per cent of residents are on income support;
47 per cent are in receipt of Housing Benefit;
and
68 per cent of households do not have access to
a car.
The Shoreditch population also has:
a registered unemployment rate of 16 per cent
and 28 per cent for black and ethnic minorities, double the average
rate in inner London;
30 per cent of school leavers do not get a job.
Only 13 per cent go into higher education;
a mean weekly income per household of £169.80;
the chief dislike among young people is the lack
of facilities;
all of the estates in the SNDT "core"
area are included in the DETR list of the 1,000 most deprived
estates in the UK; and
66 per cent of residents do not feel involved
in their community.
(SNDT Phase 2 Delivery Plan, January 2000.)
10.4 Health in Shoreditch is poor:
the standardised mortality ratio for men aged
15-64 is 76 per cent higher than the national average and 50 per
cent higher for women;
illness rates are 40 per cent higher than the
national average;
over 12 per cent of babies are underweight, compared
to 10 per cent across Hackney as a whole and 8 per cent nationally;
male mental health admission rates are almost
five times the national average, and double that for women; and
16 per cent higher Limiting Long-term illness
levels than Hackney.
10.5 The area has a rich cultural mix, with people form
a variety of ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds, presenting
many opportunities for a local Healthy Living Centre.
10.6 In the SNDT area alone over 37 per cent of the population
is black, (including Black British, African-Caribbean and African).
Of the 62.8 per cent white population a significant number are
Turkish, Kurdish, Cypriot and other Europeans, and some of mixed
race. There is a small Asian population made up of Indian, Bangladeshi,
Vietnamese and Chinese residents. This rich mix brings benefits
along with problems of discrimination leading to disadvantage.
10.7 When residents of estates were asked about the social
and community facilities on the estate, 24 per cent responded
that there were none and 29 per cent did not know. Only a minority
of 11 per cent of the sample enjoyed good or excellent facilities,
16 per cent acceptable ones and 19 per cent poor or very poor.
(Phase 1 Baseline Resident Survey, User Research, July 1999.)
10.8 The catchment area of the Haggerston Baths is taken
to be within 10 minutes drive time, or about a mile radius. The
population is about 260,000. 68 per cent of this catchment area
falls into the poorest ACORN category F: "striving",
and 28 per cent in the comfortable "rising" category
C.
10.9 ACORN also provides an analysis of "Swimming
propensity". In Haggerston itself, there is a lower than
average swimming interest, but weight training scores considerably
higher than the national average. However, within the 10 minute
drive catchment area, there are high and intense swimming interests
in the north.
11. Other facilities and services in the area
11.1 Swimming pools: the closest pools are at:
York Hall in Bethnal Green (20 minute walk from
Haggerston, longer from other parts of Shoreditch), and no direct
bus route). An old, traditional pool;
Kings Hall in Clapton, about two miles away. A
bus does go direct along Hackney Road, but not from the west side
of the Borough (ie from Kingsland Road or New North Road). Another
old, traditional pool;
Ironmonger Row, in Islington, is about a mile
from the western part of Shoreditch, but not very accessible from
the east, although one bus route goes from the Hackney Road down
Old Street. A modern pool with traditional lanes structure;
Britannia Leisure Centre is in Shoreditch and
therefore accessible. However, it only provides a modern leisure
pool, which does not allow for traditional swimming;
there has been talk for some time about re-opening
the old London Fields Lido. This was an open-air pool in London
Fields, which is about a mile from Haggerston Baths; and
Clissold Park Pool is now near completion. However,
it is not a natural contender for use by local people as totally
inaccessible from all parts of Shoreditch.
11.2 Health: The Shoreditch hospitals, St Leonards and
the Mildmay, closed as community hospitals over 10 years ago.
The nearest hospitals are now the Homerton, which is inaccessible
both in terms of location some three miles away and in terms of
public transport (it can take three buses to reach from parts
of Shoreditch). Barts Hospital, in the City, has a walk-in Minor
Injuries Unit open Mondays to Fridays from 8 am to 8 pm.
There are quality Health Centres on the other side of Shoreditch
(N1) and in the grounds of St Leonard's Hospital. Several GP premises
locally, however, are poor quality and even when standards are
higher regarding the fabric, there is a shortage of space to run,
eg clinic sessions.
Since the recent closure of the Drop-in at the Shoreditch
Centre, there is no local mental-health specific facility in Shoreditch:
outreach is the main service. There is a Clubhouse style provision
in Stoke Newington, some three miles away and inaccessible from
as many parts of Shoreditch. Core Arts is an innovative arts project
for people in mental distress based in the north of the Borough,
but looking to run sessions in different parts of Hackney, including
Shoreditch.
11.3 Sport: Haggerston Park has an all-weather football
pitch and the remains of a trim trail now over 10 years old. There
are several sports pitches at the back of Haggerston Girls' School,
which is a stone's throw from the pool. These are used as part
of a youth centre provision in the evening. The other sports pitches,
including tennis, are in Shoreditch Park in the west of the area.
There is a new gym on the Holly Street development, and at
the Britannia Centre. The Hackney Community College, based in
the centre of Shoreditch, is building a brand new gym, for use
by students as well as commercially. Just over the border in Tower
Hamlets, there is a new sports hall at Bethnal Green Technology
College. However, neither have a pool attached. There is a mixed
use gym in the crypt of St John's in Hoxton. There is a commercial
gym based in Hoxton Square, where martial arts are also taught.
The Boy's Clubs locally (Lion and Crown and Manor) and local
schools run a wide range of sports, and have associated facilities.
The TA/TRA halls host a variety of sports activities, including
martial arts and keep fit.
11.4 Parks, Gardens and open space: Haggerston Park is
opposite the pool. Its facilities include sport, play and a City
Farm. The other side of Shoreditch, and joined by the canal towpath,
is Shoreditch Park. Shoreditch Park is subject to major development,
funded by the Shoreditch New Deal Trust. There are also three
public community gardens in the area: Thrive in Haggerston, the
City Farm in Haggerston Park and Hoxton Trust garden in Hoxton
Street. The VLC Centre, next to the pool, has a developed communal
garden.
The Regents Canal is a stone's throw from the pool and accessible
from Queensbridge Road. The tow path runs across Shoreditch, and
up to Victoria Park, about a mile away.
There are several small parks, notably Hoxton Square and
in Shepherdess Walk.
11.5 Play: there are large playgrounds in Shoreditch
Play Park (adjacent to Shoreditch Park) and Apples and Pears Adventure
Playground in Pearson Street, Haggerston. There are also small
play spaces around the estates and in Haggerston Park.
11.6 Voluntary sector provision: there is a huge range
of voluntary activities in the area. Notable groups include:
the Hoxton Health Group, which provides complementary
therapies to people, aged over 60 at nominal cost;
the Sharp End for elderly people which runs a
host of initiatives including exercise sessions and art classes;
youth groups include two Boys' Clubs, the Girls'
Guild, Laburnum Boat Club; and
the Turkish Advocacy and Counselling Service.
BUSINESS CASE
12. SWOT Analysis
Strengths | Weaknesses
|
Local flagship to be proud of.
Tangible, visible healthy living centre.
The pool as "the heartbeat".
Widespread community identification and support.
Existing range of activities, both in community and use of pool.
Swimming as a unifying activity across cultures and ages.
Link to park, neighbouring projects and canal.
| Building not maintained.
Not on main bus route (at the moment).
Poor primary care in the area and access to secondary.
Weakened user base because run down and closed for past six months.
Balancing different expectations of users.
|
Opportunities | Threats
|
Lots of space/potential for pool itself.
Links with local health providers.
Community involvement in running (management, community enterprise and volunteering).
New Hoxton Hoppa bus service stops at door.
Income generation possibilities.
Link with HAZ.
New Opportunities Fund.
Joint work with others, eg Pool Action Group, Queensbridge Trust.
Multiplicity of spokes ensures network continues even if some disappear.
| LBH financial situation.
Pools always run at a loss.
Competitioneg gym or other pools.
Building could have greater problems than currently identified once work starts.
Victim of own success, eg overcrowded pool.
Crime deters people coming out, notably after dark.
If mismanaged, different charges could be divisive.
SNDT only 10 year programme.
Community burnout/disillusionment, particularly with pace of development.
|
13. The Operating Environment
13.1 The sports and fitness sector includes leisure centres,
sports clubs, gyms and health clubs. The market is substantial
and growing rapidly. Some areas that will impact on the HLC are:
13.2 Sport and fitness:
the sports and fitness industry was worth an estimated
£6.3 billion in 1998, of which £1 billion was spent
on the fitness industry;
participation in regular exercise has actually
fallen from 46 per cent in 1996 to 43 per cent in 1999. However,
the number of adults involved in at least one activity (excluding
walking) has grown since 1987 from 62 per cent to 70 per cent
in 1999;
although swimming remains the most popular, accounting
for 27 per cent of the top 10 sports and leisure activities of
the population aged over 18 years in 1999, it is in decline;
in general, the trend appears to show a move away
from participation in traditional sports. One notable growth area
has been in activities which emphasise fitness rather than competition,
such as aerobics and the gym;
more women are taking part in sports such as swimming
and keep fit, in particular aerobics, whereas more men are taking
up weightlifting. One of the fastest growing groups of sports
consumers is the over 50s;
almost as many women as men now use equipment
in fitness, although more women than men take classes;
leisure expenditure relates to disposable income.
Medical statistics indicate that adults in higher income groups
enjoy better health: health awareness does now extend to other
social groups, but they may not have the means to take action.
Young people from all backgrounds may see keeping fit as part
of a stylish social scene. Possible market opportunities exist
amongst the under-represented sectorsmiddle aged women
and older people; and
the Government's recent White Paper "Saving
Lives, Our Healthier Nation" states that exercise should
not only be affordable for all at a local level, but should also
be offered as an alternative to medication prescribed by GPs.
13.3 Alternative lifestyles:
martial arts may also be seen in the context of
interest in alternative lifestyles. The oriental holistic approach
means that emotional and spiritual development is as important
as fitness. Certain arts lend themselves to such ideas more than
others, eg Tai Chi;
the complimentary medicine market (both therapies
and remedies) is experiencing major growth. The complimentary
medicine market was worth £555 million in 1996, a rise of
£450 million since 1992;
this growth indicates a need that is not met by
conventional medicine, and is increasingly stimulated by the increasing
trend towards self-treatment. Increased purchasing by the NHS,
notably GPs, will also have an effect;
one of the areas increasingly questioned is qualifications.
The HLC will be able to address these concerns by only working
with appropriately trained and experienced practitioners; and
Yoga and Tai Chi are suitable for a range of people.
It is possible for everyone to progress to their own level of
ability. Tai Chi has been identified as one of the most effective
ways to prevent accidents in elderly people.
OPERATIONS
14. Organisation and Management
14.1 The Shoreditch New Deal Trust is negotiating with
Hackney Local Authority to take over Haggerston Baths. The Trust
was established in 1999 as one of 17 Government Pathfinder New
Deal for Communities programmes. It has been community led from
the start. The Board has 16 elected representatives. The Trust
is a company, limited by guarantee and a registered charity number
(to be inserted once received).
14.2 When the SNDT takes on the management, we will operate
it through a sub-committee of the Board representing wider community
of interest and neighbourhood. Once established, we would anticipate,
spinning off the committee as a Community Trust.
14.3 Pool users formed the Haggerston Pool Action Group
and Haggerston Pool Trust in February 2000 when the Council first
closed the Pool. They have been instrumental in keeping the baths
on the local political agenda and are major stakeholders in the
new development. They have been involved in developing this business
plan and will be fully involved in the management.
14.4 There are three main management tasks in the initial
stages:
running the pool and associated fitness areas.
This can be sub-contracted to an experienced management agent.
Aquaterra are a non-profit making management company with a good
track record running Islington's pools. Initial discussions have
been held with them;
project management of the redevelopment process,
major capital works, including building design, environmental
innovations etc. It will also be necessary to work with future
service providers; and
generation of new activities other than the swimming
and fitness core. Development and co-ordination of the spoke activities.
14.5 We will undoubtedly require a site manager and probably
a high quality project manager to fulfil the above tasks.
15. Marketing
15.1 The following principles underpin our marketing
strategy:
integrated provision for people of all incomes;
a high quality service for all;
use by those better off subsidising use of those
who are disadvantaged; and
catchment area of a mile radius, but also those
working in the City on the way to and from work.
15.2 The target groups for marketing are:
leisure and fitness centres rely heavily on their
reputation in the community. It is therefore beneficial to include
in the SHLC local community and sports events;
local residents individually, ie those in the
SNDT area and pram pushing distance (half a mile radius). Means
will include referral by GPs and community nurses, use of SNDT
newsletter. Also use and promotion of existing SHOX card;
local organisations (group membership) eg Community
College, schools, fire station, police, Primary Care Trust;
user groups: swimming clubs, Laburnum Boat Club,
diving schools; and
externally, encourage meetings, training seminars,
performing and exhibitions at the HLC with local community groups,
private, voluntary and statutory organisations.
15.3 A full Marketing Strategy will be developed. This
will include other factors such as the attraction of a historic
building, specialist services such as film location, getting listed
in restaurant guides.
16. Pricing policy
16.1 There are two aims: to bring enough paying users
so the HLC can operate viably and to provide an affordable HLC
for local people who are disadvantaged. The intention is to have
the best quality provision that will attract people from a wide
area. Systems will be developed to enable local disadvantaged
people to have a subsidised rate. The use of slack hours during
the weekdays are one obvious means of achieving this.
16.2 There are three basic approaches to charging:
membership which entitles the individual (or group
members) to use all the facilities;
membership where additional charges are made for
certain facilities; and
no membership scheme with each activity chargeable.
16.3 We will benchmark membership fees with other leisure/fitness
centres.
16.4 We will develop a Leisure Card system. Haggerston
baths is already equipped for an electronic card, and this will
be linked to the SNDT's SHOX card.
17. Opening hours
17.3 Early and late opening will allow people to attend
outside of working hours. If the centre has a bar, then a visit
to the gym or pool can be more of a social event than a simple
workout.
17.4 The HLC will open from 7 am to 11 pm.
FINANCE
18. Funding the future
18.1 The basic economics of the hubthe pool plus
fitness activities (on the model of a health club)is that
they require public finance if they are not to exclude substantial
numbers of local people through the level of admission charges.
The Shoreditch Healthy Living Centre aims to solve this economic
deficit in two ways:
committed core funding; and
capital grants which increase space for revenue
raising.
18.2 The intention is to develop the HLC in two stages.
The first is to reopen the Centre with the core activities. The
second stage is to develop the site at an estimated cost of £6.5
million.
18.3 The core proposition can be boiled down to the following:
the running of the pool and gym area: net costs
of £275,000 per year. This would account for, say, 20,000
square feet; and
the letting of the remaining rentable space for
uses specified within the overall concept of the project. In stage
1, this rentable space is limited and might be let for £10
per square foot = £15,000 per year. We estimate that 10,000
square feet can be reclaimed in Stage 2 for some sort of use at
£30,000 per square foot = £30,000 a year. Overall, that
would mean 30,000 square feet out of 44,000 square feet are in
some form of use prior to rebuilding. (Note: Office accommodation
in South Hackney is currently @ £16 per square foot, rising
now to £23 per square foot.)
18.4 After rebuilding, these simple propositions change
as follows:
the expanded pool/fitness suites might now cover
30,000 square feet and have reduced costs; and
there will be 40,000 square feet of good quality
space for other developments, including rental. Different uses
will afford different rents, but if we took £7.50 per square
foot as a norm, 66 per cent paying occupancy would give us £200,000
per year.
18.5 Annex 1 gives details of the costing, revenue and
capital, for Haggerston Baths as the hub and Appendix 6 [not
printed] for the provisional spoke activities. The Baths costings
include details of the Council's actual running costs prior to
the Bath's closure in February 2000.
19. Fund-raising
19.1 A fund-raising strategy is being developed for the
capital costs and potentially subsidised activities. This will
focus on six elements:
link to an existing leisure facilities management
company;
bringing together potential supporters to cover:
property development, power providers, health/fitness specialists,
and heritage;
links with City companies with traditional links
with Shoreditch;
target relevant companies (eg Thames Water, Powergen)
for gifts in kind;
investigate landfill tax funding re environmental
aspects; and
develop a continuing relationship with major Trusts.
19.2 Income generation activities within the Haggerston
Baths hub itself are:
19.2.1 Core activities:
swimming: fees, school swimming, pool hire;
gym and exercise, yoga etc classes: fees;
health suites: hire for personal training, private
classes;
complimentary therapies: either rent of treatment
rooms, or possible employ and have fees;
children's play area/cre"che; and
19.2.2 Trading activities:
one stop shopsports goods, art and craft
materials and goods, on line, mail order, magazines and books,
healthy snacks; and
19.2.3 Club membership:
new leisure card to cover use of all main activities.
19.2.4 Space rental, including the flat:
for film or location hire;
meeting/training/conference rooms; and
ACTION PLAN
Stage | Action
| When and who |
Stage 1 | Approve Business Plan.
Negotiations with LBH.
Agree arrangements.
| August 2000.
August-September 2000. |
Stage 2 | Essential maintenance repairs to enable baths and fitness suites to re-open, eg clearing gutters.
Council estimate of @ £350.000.
| Work starts in September for two months. HBC to do before handover.
Baths re-open in November 2000.
|
Stage 3 | New initiatives: café and shop, plus rent of space for low value miscellaneous uses.
| January 2001. |
Stage 4 | Design work and firm up service provision and management arrangements. Include environmental plans. Fund-raising starts, including bid to NOF.
| Start September by SNDT. Anticipate at least six months.
Marketing campaign planned in 2000. NOF bid December 2000. Fund-raising starts in December 2001.
|
Stage 5 | Development work takes place on building.
| 2002. |
|