A mental health and trauma hub in Lincoln celebrated its 34th birthday on Monday with the perfect gift – £185,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund to help save it from potential closure.
As previously reported, [email protected] on Mint Lane needed to raise at least £70,000 so the local charity running it – Community Assets Plus – could potentially buy the building, which is currently owned by Lincolnshire County Council.
The council previously said it would be putting the building up for sale by 2022. Volunteers said the charity which runs the centre were invited to buy the freehold and it appealed for the community to buy shares towards the cost.
Some of the latest money from the National Lottery will be used to help purchase the building, along with the proceeds of the Community Share Offer.
Mint Lane Cafe volunteer coordinator Anastasia Oyebanji, directors at Lincoln Trauma Centre Andrea Stott & Michelle Freeman, [email protected] centre manager Charles Cooke, Renew member Kim East and Cafe manager Angeletia Padmore-Clarke. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The remaining money will be used to refurbish and improve the building and support its operations over the next two years. This will see the future of the centre saved from the threat of closure at the end of its leases in 2022.
It will mean it can potentially attract additional investment and house more long-term activities and services. It will also help the centre become more sustainable as the rent currently payable comprises nearly half the running costs.
Martha Vahl, Chair of [email protected] said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to be certain that the centre can survive and go on with its work.
“This is important because the burden of poor mental health is increasingly recognised and the work that goes on in the centre is so important for hundreds of people a year, helping them stay well and avoid the need for expensive clinical care in the NHS etc.”
Centre Manager Charles Cooke added: “All members of the community can buy shares from as little as £50. Over £40,000 has been pledged so far and it is expected that at least £70,000 will be needed to enable the purchase of the building to go ahead. The good news from National Lottery should ensure that that target is reached and we can then go ahead.”
The Mint Lane centre opened its doors on February 3, 1986 as an NHS facility, but since 2012 it has been run by Community Assets Plus. [email protected] offers a range of services to help improve people’s wellbeing and is largely centred around mental health.
The latest news was also welcomed by Kim East, who has been a regular and frequent attender at the centre since it first opened. He said: “This is fantastic news. I have been coming to Mint Lane since it opened as an NHS facility on February 3 1986 and I cannot imagine a better 34th birthday present for the centre than finding out it might be saved for years to come.”
Kevin Kendall, assistant director for corporate property at the county council, said: “We had positive meetings with Community Assets Plus following their request to buy the Mint Lane building instead of renting it from us, and this funding announcement is great news for them. We’re looking forward to helping them progress their plans.”
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Plans for a £12million redevelopment of Mablethorpe Station Sports Centre have been submitted.
East Lindsey District Council’s proposals for the Station Road facility will see a new “Leisure and Learning Hub” created including a four-lane 25 metre swimming pool with changing village, an adventure play area, multi-purpose rooms, studios, fitness suites, cafe and external playground.
According to documents submitted to the authority’s planning portal, around 78 car parking spaces will be provided, including nine disabled spaces. A total of 16 cycle spaces will also be included.
The new centre will hire 16 full-time equivalent employees, three times as many as currently.
It will open 7am-10pm Monday to Friday and 7am-8pm Saturday and Sundays according to the documents.
The project has been part funded by the by the government’s £3.6billion Towns Fund initiative.
The proposals have been developed by the council, along with Magna Vitae and leisure development specialist Alliance Leisure.
How the new build could look.
It is hoped the new build will meet the needs of local people, have the right mix of facilities and be affordable to the local population as well as generating enough income to make it sustainable for years to come.
ELDC’s Town Funding has gone to a series of initiatives as part of the “Connected Coast” project.
They also include a new nature reserve at Sandilands near Sutton-on Sea, revitalisation of shop fronts in Skegness and Mablethorpe and a new Cultural Skegness project at the Embassy Theatre.
The unbelievable moment a seagull got its beak round a duckling on a riverbed in Lincoln has been captured by a local wildlife photographer.
The picture was taken by Tony Cooper, 66, who is retired from his day job and has spent about 12 years photographing wildlife as a hobby, using a 400mm lens on a full frame camera.
He saw it take place at Hartsholme Park, with the seagull grabbing the duckling by the head and forcing it down its throat. Tony shared the footage on social media, garnering a mixed reaction and prompting a debate.
Some say it is just an act of nature captured on camera, while others have said it is too much and should not have been shared, but Tony argues there’s more to wildlife than the nice shots.
He told The Lincolnite: “From a photographic perspective it makes for a dramatic story and shows people the other side of nature, which is not all about bunnies and butterflies.
“I get out doing wildlife most days and see this side to nature a lot, but don’t always get a shot so it makes a change to be able to put this side over in spite of mixed reactions.
“Wildlife programmes show a lot worse than this so I’m a bit surprised by some of the reactions I get.”
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