Alongside our partners at Equans, we have recently helped to transform a popular community centre with a stylish makeover. Columbia Community Association is proving to be a huge hit with local residents as a home from home while their own properties benefited from improvement work.
Volunteers and groups using Columbia Community Association, in Hillthorne Close, Washington, say they are delighted with the new facilities that will be enjoyed for years to come, including a new kitchen which they say resembles “a palace.”
Working on behalf of Gentoo, Equans has completed internal improvement work in more than 650 properties in Washington, most of which involved kitchen replacements and rewires.
Knowing that such work can be quite disruptive for people, we worked with Columbia Community Association to see if they could adjust their opening hours and provide a warm and safe place for customers to go while work was being carried out in their home.
In return, Equans installed a brand new kitchen. But it’s not just cuppas on offer but computers too, as they also decorated an IT room and we donated 12 laptops so the centre can help local residents improve their online skills.
Jennifer Kelley, a Gentoo customer who used the community centre during improvement works to her home, continues to use the centre every week.
Jennifer said: “The staff from Equans did a lovely job with the improvement work to my kitchen. I would often pop into the centre for a coffee on a Wednesday. I love coming over to the centre, I visit every week. We all know each other, and it is like a big family.”
Marion Taylor, Columbia Community Association Secretary said: “During the centre’s recent refurbishment, we strived to accommodate our community on a daily basis, with the help of Equans, who had an amazing input throughout and went far and beyond for us to achieve a positive outcome, with little disruption.
“Our new kitchen has been transformed from a shack to a palace! Also, with the fabulous donation of laptops from Gentoo we are now able to offer computer training to the community and put our IT room to good use.”
Louise Bassett, Chief Executive Officer at Gentoo said: “We have listened to our customers and know how disruptive necessary internal work, such as rewires, can be. We hope the new facilities helped to create a comfortable environment where they could spend some time while the work was being carried out.
“We’re delighted we were able to help improve the facilities, alongside our partners at Equans, for the local community to continue using long after their improvement work is complete.”
As well as a fresh look inside, the outside of the centre has also benefitted too after the award of £3,309 from the Empower Sunderland Local Community Fund towards the installation of new solar panels. The community fund was set up by Gentoo and Empower Community as a result of Gentoo’s solar panel portfolio, with vital funds being generated and distributed to local community groups with sustainability and low-energy related projects.
The funding was also matched by Sunderland City Council through their BREEZ (Business Renewables Energy Efficiency Sunderland) fund.
Lisa Coverdale, Resident Liaison Manager at Equans, said: “While we’re carrying out works in resident’s homes, we always want to make sure they have a space they can visit to take a break from the works. I want to thank Marion and her team at the Columbia Community Association for helping us provide facilities for customers.
“The new facilities the team built for the community centre are the least we could do to repay them for their support and generosity in allowing us to create a safe space in the centre. Hopefully, the new kitchen and the IT room can be enjoyed and benefited from for years to come.”
Columbia Community Association is open 5 days a week and provides a place for residents to meet for activities including yoga classes, coffee mornings, and a range of courses and classes.
