Great, but…
Every year we ask anyone that has used our services in the last 12 months to give us feedback anonymously. We want to hear about what works well, but particularly where there are things that we could be doing better. Amidst the many kind words and compliments of the volunteers, one concern was repeated a few times: confidentiality. A concern shared by volunteers and visitors alike.
With our current setup inside a church hall, this can result in everything being rather close together. On busy days especially we can see a lot of people moving through the space with little room in between tables, meaning that as visitors are talking to the team and sharing about their lives, they’re never that far from another person doing the same. It can end up feeling as though more people than one might necessarily want are listening to what you’re talking about.
This needed to change, but the current venue was clearly not suitable for it. A new home was needed.
Over the next number of months we drew up a list of requirements that a new space would need. Accessible and central to town, it would also have to have smaller breakout spaces for one to one support meetings, whilst also offering enough warehouse space and ‘growing room’ for the Foodbank and future work. One option was the former Barclays bank on College Street, even though the ground floor seemed ideal with a large space and smaller offices off it, the rest of the building was spread over 3 more floors, with narrow stairs and no lift. Not to mention the repair works needed to the listed building before any occupancy.
Another building we explored was those just behind Quay Street, the Crown Buildings. Up for auction, central with good parking, again the extent of the repairs needed were colossal - when we viewed it part of the roof had collapsed and there was free movement for rain and animals from inside to out.
It didn’t take long to exhaust all available commercial premises within the town - the former COOP supermarket, Bethany chapel were also viewed. After many months and lots of thinking we came upon the realisation that the only way we would get the space we need is by building a bespoke centre ourselves. Ammanford Evangelical Church kindly consented to our long-term leasing the land behind their church hall, giving us a good start down this path.
