Sunlight Development Trust, Gillingham, Kent

I met Peter Holbrook in Edinburgh at the Social Enterprises Forum in September, and made the trip to Kent to visit his project as it seemed to have many parallels with Ranui and what could be achieved there. I wasn't disappointed. The Sunlight Development Trust and their new trading arm Sunlight Social Enterprises are an inspiring example of community-led regeneration in a very deprived area of England.

The project started in 2000 when local voluntary agencies won a bid for government funding for 5 years to deliver services to improve health outcomes in the area. From the beginning the focus was on consulting and involving the local community in getting involved and determining what was important to them. Local people were encouraged and supported to organize groups that met their needs, such as parent/toddler groups, breastfeeding support, etc, rather than expect someone else to do it. The emphasis remains on local people volunteering, running and using their own centre, to the extent that currently 80% of paid staff started at the trust as volunteers, often from backgrounds of unemployment, drug abuse or other marginalised areas of society.

Sunlight is based in an old Victorian laundry, leased to them by the local council for the peppercorn rental of £1 p.a. The council also covers the costs of water, gas and electricity, and gives a 100% rates rebate, making the building costs virtually nil. The building has been completely renovated and rebuilt into a bright, attractive and inviting centre housing various facilities and regular users and with several large and small rooms available for meetings and classes.

The Sunlight Cafe is the heart, drawing people in and providing a place to meet. Other social enterprises operating out of this building include a recording studio and community radio station, and some areas are rented out to related organisations such as a doctors' practise and parenting support service. A wide variety of groups such as a Chinese Elderly fitness group, “Suck it and See” (breastfeeding support group), self-advocacy for adults with learning disabilities, and “Aloof Yoof” use the meeting rooms. An area of wasteland out the back has been transformed into a vegetable garden and tranquil lawn area by a couple of grandparents, providing further opportunities for training, and another community place in this high density housing area.

Along with many other organisations I've discovered in the UK, the emphasis has shifted in recent years to setting up enterprises to generate an income and become more independent of grants. They now run 4 community cafes in other local health centres, and also the cafe at the local council buildings. Peter consults around the UK, sharing what they've learned at Sunlight and earning consultancy fees for the Social Enterprise. Sunlight Social Enterprises last year posted a small profit, assisted in no small way by the subsidised buildings costs, but an important milestone nonetheless given all the other social outcomes generated by this inclusive and empowering community centre.