News / eastville
Crowdfunder launched after community building project failure
Volunteers of a community hub in Eastville have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise £50,000 towards much-needed accessibility improvements.
The money is needed to remove an unsafe extension from the Old Library and rebuild a fully-functioning accessible toilet and baby changing facilities.
Nicky Sweetland, volunteer and director at the Old Library, said: “We strive for the Old Library to be a welcoming, accessible space where everyone from the community can feel welcome.
is needed now More than ever
“The lack of an accessible toilet has been holding us back since the community took on the building. We desperately need an accessible toilet so that the building can be used comfortably by everyone.”
The Old Library in Eastville has plans to rebuild the “unfinished and unusable” extension to include a new accessible toilet with improved baby changing facilities – : Old Library
The Old Library, a community centre on Muller Road, is a fully volunteer-run space, which was transformed by local residents in 2015 when the former Eastville Library was closed due to council funding cuts.
The original building included a small kitchenette and small toilet for staff use, which the community opened up for public use after taking on a community asset transfer for the building.
The Old Library runs a community cafe alongside regular activities, which would benefit from an additional accessible toilet and improved baby changing facilities.
The Old Library have engaged with We Care, an organisation to oversee and manage the new building extension – photo: Old Library
Kate Staniforth, who runs the Bristol Umbrella Singers, an inclusive choir at the Old Library, says that the current toilet is impossible for some of the choir members to use.
She said: “There is only one very small toilet without enough space for a wheelchair to manoeuvre in – it is the only issue with this otherwise marvellous welcoming community space.
“It’s vital that the Old Library makes these building improvements to allow access needs to be met.”
Users of the Old Library include the Bristol Umbrella Singers, an inclusive choir whose wheelchair users would greatly benefit from accessible toilet facilities – photo: Kate Staniforth
The building work had already started in 2020 – but the Old Library say the building company left them with an “unfinished and unsafe” extension that didn’t comply with building regulations.
Bristol24/7 understands the company has since gone into liquidation and cannot be named due a legal agreement between them and the Old Library.
Sweetland added: “The volunteers at the time trusted the builders to carry out the works professionally, and 60 per cent of the funds raised for the project were transferred upfront.
“Unfortunately the improvements were scuppered when the unscrupulous builders failed to comply with building regulations.
“Everything that they did is having to be demolished and started again.”
The current directors have engaged We Care, an organisation used by Bristol City Council to oversee the upcoming building work, which will start in the summer 2023.
The Old Library directors are calling for help from the Bristol community to help fundraise for the extension project. Photo by Nicky Sweetland.
Sweetland added: “We really hope the local community and the wider Bristol community can help us raise much needed funds to make the Old Library an even more welcoming and accessible space for everyone.”
The Old Library is hoping to be able to reopen with the new facilities in September/October 2023.
You can donate to the crowdfunder by visiting: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/olbuild23
Emily Shimell is reporting as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media
Main image: Old Library
Read more:
- Former library turning into community hub
- Saving the Old Library
- Libraries are the lifeblood of our communities
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