A sustainable community hub from an old police station
In Kent, Lynd Taylor, the chair of Big Local Eastern Sheppey (BLES), had a vision for turning an old police station into a hub that would connect the area’s three villages – a project that became his legacy to the community.
With a clear ambition to connect three villages, we found out how Big Local Eastern Sheppey (BLES) have already created a vital gathering place with their community hub.
When Emma was interviewed for the role of worker at BLES, she was taken to a disused police station.
“At first, I thought to myself, ‘What’s going on here? What have I done?’” Emma could still see the bars on the window of what was once a prison cell.
This was [Lynd’s] dream for Big Local. He wanted to leave something for the community.”
Paul Murray
She was being escorted around the building by BLES chair Lynd Taylor, who wanted Emma to understand his vision for the area, which included converting what used to be Leysdown Police Station into a community hub.
“This was his dream for Big Local. He wanted to leave something for the community,” says BLES partnership member, Paul Murray.
A key ambition for BLES was that each of the three villages that made up the Big Local area – Leysdown, Warden and Eastchurch – could work together and become more connected. While they each had a village hall, there wasn’t a community space that everyone could access at any time.
Acquiring ownership of the old police station
In 2018, Leysdown Police Station became one of five police-owned premises in Kent identified by the county’s Chief Constable as ‘operationally obsolete and no longer cost-effective’.
The Leysdown site had been empty for several years. As soon as it became available to potential buyers, the BLES partnership wasted no time lobbying the local Police Crime Commissioner.
The Big Local partnership knew they had to act swiftly – another opportunity like this wouldn’t come along anytime soon. While the population across Eastern Sheppey continues to grow, the same cannot be said for community spaces.
On 30 July 2020, BLES posted on Facebook: “It has been a long time coming, but we are pleased to announce that as of today, the old Police Station in Leysdown is under new ownership!”
The building is not a typical police station as some might imagine. It is more akin to a bungalow in terms of size and shape.
The old Leysdown Police Station.
“The major worry I had at the time when we bought it was size. But we’ve got a lot of land attached to it. So, if we have the money, we could extend it. But the main thing was to have something permanent,” says Paul.
Purchasing a building can be the most straightforward part of a redevelopment. This has been especially true of projects delivered post-COVID-19, when the cost of materials and services continued to rise.
Emma came into the role of Big Local worker in 2021 at a point when BLES was looking for architects, solicitors, and structural engineers.
“You would go to meetings, and people would always ask, ‘What are you doing with that building?’ when a lot of work was happening in the background to get to a point where builders could start.”
I remember that first partnership meeting was brilliant. There were so many ideas.”
Lee-Anne Moore
Making the new community hub sustainable
Given that Big Local partnerships are predominantly run by volunteers, each one was assigned an LTO (Locally Trusted Organisation). They administer and account for the spending of funding, and in some cases deliver activities and services on behalf of a Big Local area.
“Our LTO was Swale Community and Voluntary Services (Swale CVS),” says Paul. “They’ve been a superb partner for us and helped every step of the way in getting this building to where it is today.”
BLES spent £230,000 on the Eastern Sheppey Community Hub – £160,000 to purchase the building and £70,000 to renovate it. The work was completed in June 2023.
The following year, the Eastern Sheppey Community Hub CIO was set up as a charity to ensure that once the partnership had spent its £1.15m of Big Local funding, they could continue to serve residents and manage the building.
The hub also needed to be sustainable, which has meant a steady flow of organisations and groups using the space, but also being a bit entrepreneurial.
“We have a car park at the front and workspace at the back,” Emma explains. “We’ve also got two garages that we rent out, and we receive rent for hosting In Post lockers, which guarantees additional income for us.”
(Left to right) Paul Murray (chair of Eastern Sheppey Community Hub), Lee-Anne Moore (BLES chair and local councillor for the Sheppey East Ward) and Emma Dunnicliffe (BLES worker) outside the Eastern Sheppey Community Hub.
The hub has already hosted summer fêtes, coffee mornings and a local authority community roadshow, which provided advice on how to cope with the cost-of-living crisis. The roadshow also featured a health bus that offered free health checks for local residents.
“We are in the process of working with One You Kent, who will be offering free health checks and advice, including smoke free support and advice at the hub. We are hoping these will be held once a month,” Emma adds.
Representing residents in a ‘left behind’ area
Sadly, Lynd wasn’t able to see the project completed. He passed away in 2022, but left another significant legacy to his community.
His daughter, Lee-Anne Moore, went on to become BLES chair, having attended the very first Big Local partnership meeting for Eastern Sheppey around 12 years ago.
“We’d always been involved in tenants’ associations and community groups, even when we lived in London. It was a natural progression when we moved here to be involved in the community as much as we could,” says Lee-Anne.
“I remember that first partnership meeting was brilliant. There were so many ideas, but also hearing the number of people who had the same opinions and thoughts on local issues.”
Lee-Anne has also had her own personal challenges to overcome.
“I didn’t get any qualifications, and I’ve got dyslexia. But through working with Big Local, it helped to build my confidence.
“I’ve had good people around saying, ‘You can do whatever you put your mind to,’ rather than putting up barriers or saying, ‘You can’t do it.’ Big Local has helped to make me the person I am today.”
Having proven to be more than an able successor to her father in Big Local, Lee-Anne felt confident enough to take on another significant role, one also previously held by Lynd. On 4 May 2023, Lee-Anne was elected as a local councillor for Sheppey East.
“This is a ‘left behind’ area. Whenever you’re at council meetings, you’re always emphasising, ‘What about this end of the island?’” she says.
“Irrespective of whatever party politics or anything else is at play, for me, it’s about making sure the voices of the residents at this end of the island are heard and that they are put first.”
Interview by Ryan Herman
Top photo: Lynd Taylor, former chair of Big Local Eastern Sheppey
Discover more inspiring stories from Big Local areas on our Voices page. You can also listen to the latest series of our community power podcast to hear from more people making change happen through Big Local.
