One year on...

So this time a year ago we were proud owners of a derelict former Presbyterian church, full of hope and dreams of running a lovely community center and cafe, maybe in 9 months or so. Well a year on, we are not quite there yet, in fact, we are no nearer to realizing the dream.

Has it been a wasted year? Or made mistake? Let's stay positive and say no!

We have been continuously reminded of the quote by Arthur Ashe:

"Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome."

And it has really felt like that to me. Although the building doesn’t look any different that doesn’t mean people haven’t been busy. I think my favourite thing about the project is some of the like-minded people I have met along the way.

Amazing people who have given their time so generously and passionately with no expectation of reward, other than to realize the same vision. The main group of people are the board of directors who have formed Wace - a social enterprise that will operate the building once it is open. We have had an acting project manager, who has figured out how much we need to get the building open (£190K), and he has been busy applying for large grants. He has listened to people's hopes and dreams and tried to help facilitate making those happen, forming strong relationships with the locals so we are ready to move forward when we can and he has been willing and ready to give anything a go in order to move our project closer to our goal.

We have had someone develop the branding, the Facebook page and start to test out an idea that seems has been on his heart for a long time. This vision of saying ‘yes’ to people; trying out their ideas that they would never normally have the confidence to do.

It has felt a privilege to get to know these people, and become friends with them, to be excited with them and disappointed with them, knowing that we are all in this big enthusiastic team.

The second group of people is the local people who we have started to engage with: the local hub of the community and some of the kids we have chatted to who are currently using the space as a place to hang out. My favourite story is when we met an amazing lady who lived in the chapel for an entire winter in 2012. She shared some fascinating stories such as how she put rubble into carrier bag and placed them in a circle around the leaking roof to stop the water spreading, and how she hid her belongings in ‘plain sight’ so people wouldn’t know she was living there.

We feel like we have been given insight into a world of people living on the fringes of society, and these are the very people we want to open the building up to. It has really shaped our thinking about keeping it accessible for all.

We have had offers to have architect concept drawings done; people to carry out surveys and engage with the locals; a space at Go Outdoors to begin fundraising; and building materials given to us at cost price. We have also began to - very slowly - clear the land!

More recently, it has given us a reason to connect with old friends and after only one meeting, we are rethinking the way we go about the project, they have re-injected life into us and motivated us to think differently.

We have started using the community house in Saltney Ferry to run activities regularly to start to be able to prove the concept for the bigger grant givers.

So a year on, we are still totally convinced that the building will be restored, and it will be a great community space. What we don’t know is how we will make that happen! We have to just keep saying YES!