Since taking on Brierley Hill Civic we’ve found that everyone from local small groups to international music promoters are very excited in the work we’re doing to bring new life into this amazing building.
We took on on the Civic in February and we’ve had great support from the council, staff at the Civic, businesses and charities, all helping us in the early stages of this exciting journey. In March we kicked off with an open day to learn more about what the community, organisations, schools and businesses want from their Civic Hall.
We are really starting to grow in usage. Since March, the Civic has had 42 bookings, one-off and regular. Of these,
- 15 have been from existing users, running events such as
- Statutory partners meetings
- Open meetings
- Civic events
- Theatre and dance
- Awards presentations for sports clubs
- 28 have been from brand new users, excited by the prospect of hosting their events at the Civic, such as:
- Charity events
- Seminars and workshops
- Corporate use
- 2 weddings
- Dance shows
- Fashion shows
- Wrestling!
This all means that occupancy has increased from around 22% to 41.96%. There’s still work to do but we’re really happy with the progress and with the array of activities and events that happen there.
We’ve also launched catering facilities, offering exclusive deals with Lunch on the Run, who provide varied buffets at events. Our coffee shop offers fresh bean coffees, teas and cold drinks at any function and they’ve been really popular!
Finally, we’ve launched the Brierley Hill Civic Hall website, Twitter and Facebook pages. We’re getting some great feedback:
If you are interested in using the Civic or just interested in what’s happening in the future feel free to get in touch.
Dudley CVS blog 
[…] How far we’ve come with Brierley Hill Civic Hall. […]
I’m Secretary of a community group trying to save Ballarat’s (Victoria, Australia) Civic Hall from demolition, and for community use. It’s remarkably similar in style – ours is 1956. Up until the 80s and into the 90s it was Ballarat’s main venue for large scale exhibitions, meetings, concerts etc. But no maintenance was done and it was closed by Council in 2002.
Because it’s prime real estate they planned to demolish it to build commercial developments, even though we have no similarly large flat-floored halls in Ballarat, and it’s structurally sound. However, after much community action, Council has now approved a community participatory design process, and it we think that demolition is probably off the agenda.
Our main challenge now is to work out how our hall can be managed successfully into the future. Yours sounds a very vibrant operation and I’m sure we can learn from you.
I’m coming to London 2 September, travelling to Kent, Bucks and Yorks, leaving from Manchester 30 Sept. I note your food and ale festival 25/26 September. Sounds great.
Is there any chance of talking to someone about your challenges and successes?
My mobile when in England is +372 5310 1173 and I’ll check my emails regularly.
regards
Merle Hathaway, Secretary, Save Civic Hall
Hi Merle and welcome to the UK!
Thanks for getting in touch with us and for the email you sent through to us via the Brierley Hill Civic Hall website. I understand that my colleague David has responded about potentially meeting during our festival later this month, which would be great!
Ballarat’s Civic Hall does look remarkably like Brierley Hill – a beautiful, art deco-inspired building – and I’m really pleased that your community action has made a huge difference so far. There’s obviously lots to do and I hope our experiences can help you along your way.
Best wishes,
Becky