Lyme Regis: Council steps in to rescue learning centre (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Lyme Regis: Council steps in to rescue learning centre

10:29am Thursday 10th December 2009

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THE future of Lyme’s community learning centre has been secured after the town council pledged a £10,000 rescue package.

The lifeline comes as LymeNet bosses reveal the facility at St Michael’s Business Centre has been struggling financially over the past year and now ‘faces a grave situation’.

The situation comes after its major financial backer Uk Online Centres pulled £10,000 funding in June.

But with more people out of work as the recession bites, centre managers say financial backing for the not-for-profit organisation is more vital than ever.

It provides tuition in maths, English, IT tuition and job-related skills and had earmarked the UK Online Centres funding for a project introducing 250 local people to IT, the Internet and email.

LymeNet, which opened in 2009, has now turned to Lyme Regis Town Council to help save this vital resource for the people of Lyme Regis.

Centre manager Lucy Campbell – who is also a town councillor – wrote to fellow members to ask if they would consider taking the unusual move of allocating thousands of pounds out of next year’s budget.

In her letter, Miss Campbell said: “I appreciate that donations are usually made to local organisations once a year out of the allocated grants pot. However, as the pot is so small, and we are not in a position to wait until next summer, it would not be appropriate to ask for this project to be funded through those means.

“In the scheme of things, £10,000 isn’t a huge sum of money to the council and yet it would make all the difference to LymeNet’s survival into the future.”

Councillors agreed it was vital to save the centre for the community and the Budget Working Group has agreed to a £10,000 grant.

They also agreed to grant the same amount to the Woodmead Halls Management Committee to help replace the leaking roof and incorporate solar panels to generate electricity – a project expected to cost £165,000.

In a letter to the council, committee secretary Philip Evans said: “In investigating possible grant aid it is clear that we will have to provide co-funding and demonstrate that the halls provide a useful community service.”

Mr Evans said the solar panels would eliminate the council’s annual £1,000 electricity bill at the halls and save more than £2,000 a year, helping to keep the cost of hiring the facility down.

Both grants are expected to be officially approved when the full council meets next week.

Budget group chairman Coun Ken Meech said: “They were both made on a without prejudice basis, so they are a one-off and are not likely to be repeated.

“At the Woodmead Halls, because of the particular position they find themselves in with the roof and because so many townspeople and visitors use the halls, we decided it would be sensible to help them.

“At LymeNet, we made an exception because it involves people in learning, especially children, and a lot of Lyme Regis people go there.”

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