After 7 long months, the final major phase of the refurbishment of Hilltop Community Centre was completed in November 2021 with a kitchen extension and renovation and a new bar serving facility.
The project involved construction of a new extension and demolition of the old kitchen with the refurbishment throughout and new appliances installed.
The project was funded by external partners which included: Red Kite Community Housing Springboard Fund, LHC Community Benefit Fund (in association with Locality), Buckinghamshire Council, Bernard Sunley Foundation, John Apthorp Charity, Rothschild Foundation, Heart of Bucks, and Heart of Bucks BP Collins Fund have all contributed a combined total of £70,000 to make the space more spacious and modern.
The overall aim of this project was to improve the community kitchen to make it fit for purpose so that we can support the re-engagement of local residents and community groups who use the facility especially those affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This was crucial as we were facing a time when space was not only essential due to social distancing requirements but in general for the best user experience and for safety reasons. We have achieved what we aimed to do which has been the positive outcome from this project. However, the challenges we encountered as a result of the pandemic and Brexit affecting supplies, led to material shortages and price increases which could not have been foreseen. This impacted the project significantly and resulted in the need to seek further financial help to complete the necessary milestones and caused major delays to the overall timescale for completion.
Although this project was challenging, the positive outcome far outweighs the negative issues, as the community kitchen has so much potential to achieve enhance healthy living and wellbeing opportunities for many years to come.
We are very grateful all the funders for their generous contributions to this project, as the funds have enabled us to extend the community kitchen to improve the quality of the space so that we can support a wide cross section of the community, particularly to help them address the health issues, social isolation and anxieties they continue to experience as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
With thanks and appreciation to the funders of this project:
