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A Perfect Partnership: Connolly and Broughton & Bretton Community Centre
For over 30 years, Broughton & Bretton Community Centre has been a vital part of the local community, offering everything from children’s activities and youth clubs to large-scale events like wedding receptions and bingo nights. The centre relies on generous support to provide its crucial services, such as free coffee mornings and a free Christmas lunch.
Five years ago, we began our relationship with the centre, initially looking for a local base for our work on a Flintshire County Council (FCC) Externals project.
Our Operations Manager, Neil Gibson, said “We needed a local base with plenty of space in a great location and the centre’s car park was a perfect fit. We set up our full site—with offices and storage—in the back and in return, the rent we paid became a much-needed, reliable income for the centre.”
Like many organisations, the centre was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. All community events were cancelled and the premises closed in 2020. During this difficult time, our continued rent payments became a financial lifeline for the centre, providing a steady income when all other sources had ceased. The building then played a crucial role as a Covid test and trace centre, becoming a critical hub for the surrounding population during the vaccine rollout.
After this, our work on the FCC externals scheme expanded, and we returned to the centre as our permanent base.
Giving Back to the Community
As our site teams got busier, we got to know the centre better and noticed a few essential maintenance jobs that needed doing. We offered our skilled tradespeople and materials to the centre, free of charge. The work included:
- Works to the roof and gutters
- Removing a broken wall to make a walkway safe
- Regenerating an old patio area at the rear of the building
- Installing an external security light
The impact of our work was clear from the feedback we received. Caretaker Terry Jones said, “We are very grateful for the help with essential maintenance jobs.”
Supporting the Summer Fayre
Each year, the summer fayre is the most important event on the centre’s calendar, drawing around 2,500 people. This year, our team saved offcuts of wood from our fencing scheme throughout the year and provided them as material for a stage. We also offered to help dispose of the waste accumulated at the event. These two simple ideas saved the centre an estimated couple of thousand pounds—a massive contribution for a self-funded organisation.
The on-the-ground support from our team was key. Site Manager Paul explains, “It was a great feeling to see all those wood offcuts from our fencing projects get a new life as a stage for the community. And being able to take care of the waste disposal headache for them meant they could focus on running a successful event, not on the clean up.”
A 100% Client Feedback Score
Our Externals project has reached around 2,500 properties and the success of this project is a testament to our team’s dedication and our positive partnership with the community centre. The project is the only scheme of its kind to have ever achieved a 100% client feedback score, a result we are incredibly proud of.
Our CEO, Chris Connolly, sums it up perfectly: “Our work is about more than just fences and paths. It’s about building and strengthening communities. By being a genuine partner to organisations like the Broughton Community Centre, we can make a real, lasting impact that goes far beyond a refurbished property.”
We are committed to our relationship with the centre and look forward to continuing to support this vital resource for the community for years to come.