Community Action lease (From Malvern Gazette)

Community Action lease

9:42am Friday 28th December 2007 in Letters

AS Chair of Community Action, Malvern and District. I am writing on behalf of the trustees and staff to express our sincere thanks to the Town Council, who voted at their meeting on December 18 to renew our lease on the premises above the Council Offices at 28 - 30 Belle Vue Terrace. The lease expires next April after seven years, during which Community Action has paid a peppercorn rent but acknowledged an annual grant in kind of £8,000 from the Town Council.

The new lease will be for three years, with an option to renew for a further two years. The annual rent will be £9,600 and the Town Council has kindly agreed to give us a grant of £8,600 for next year. In subsequent years we shall need to apply annually for a grant and we have also agreed to make efforts to raise money from other sources towards the rent.

We are extremely grateful to Councillor Mike Selby, Leader of the Town Council, for the understanding and sensitive way in which he has conducted the negotiations with Community Action and for the report he presented to the Council. We would like to thank those Councillors who have supported us, and also Harriet Baldwin and Richard Burt for their support Community Action is an umbrella organisation for the 45 or so voluntary groups in Malvern, representing their views at District and County levels. We provide advice, information and resources, regular network meetings and also organise the Annual Charity Fair. The Volunteer Bureau recruits and places volunteers in a wide range of local groups. Our community transport projects include the volunteer car service, without which many people would not be able to get to both local and distant medical appointments. The Shoparound Service is a life-line to many house-bound people, and our two minibuses are in constant use.

We know that the 1,000 or more users of our community transport services are also very relieved to know that Community Action will continue to provide our excellent and much valued services.

We look forward to 2008 with optimism, and gratitude to the Town Council.

JEN BOYER, Chair, Community Action, Malvern.