Welcome to the new Elmsbrook Community Hub (or “The ECO Hub” for short”) page.
What is it?
It is a Community Centre – a community asset built as part of the original planning conditions for the
Exemplar Phase of the NW Bicester Ecotown (i.e. Elmsbrook). It is “long overdue, and provides a
vital resource at the heart of the Elmsbrook community, where it serves as the focal point for groups
and clubs, entertainment and social activities that directly contribute to the health and well-being of
the local community”, “located in accessible locations within walking distances to homes and
employment.” (…quoting from Cherwell District Council’s Ecotown Masterplan and the ECO Hub’s
Business Plan.)
It’s part of the ground floor of a building, containing a large Main Hall (190 square metres), a
separate Community Room (45 square metres), plus a “galley” Kitchen between them. (There is also
an Office/Reception room, toilets, and an Entrance Hall/Corridor). Out the back, there is a small
community garden, which the Main Hall back doors open onto. Here are some photos of the
different rooms and garden :-
What clubs, groups and activities take place here?
It is for community groups of all kinds here on Elmsbrook – education, fitness/sports, mental wellbeing, entertainment, children/family, etc. Existing groups on Elmsbrook include:
Games Group, Mums & Babies Group, Hope Church, Bumble Creatives Art & Craft sessions, Strictly Ballrooms dancing lessons, Yoga and Pilates classes, Elmsbrook United Football Club, Knit & Natter, and starting soon we have Elmsbrook Youth Club, Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes, Baby Messy Play and Sensory Disco sessions and hopefully many more in the coming months, as we can finally begin to use the Hub properly, at last!
It is also available for hire e.g. for private children’s parties, other special events, and (in connection with the Eco Business Centre next door) for business event hire.
Where is it?
It’s on the Phase 2 end of Phase 1, between the Eco Business Centre and the first park areas, on the right side of Charlotte Avenue as you drive from the B4100 end. It’s a red brick building, which has two sets of double-door entrances on the front (roadside) wall – the right-hand of these is for the Community Café; the left-hand of these is the entrance to The ECO Hub!
Its address is Elmsbrook Community Hub, The Hub, Charlotte Avenue, Bicester, OX27 8FU. Here’s a map showing exactly where it is!
SITE PLAN AND PARKING
How can I hire it?!?!
By email to [email protected] – please include your name, the date and time range you are interested to hire, whether you want the Main Hall or Community Room, and detail of what the hire is for (e.g. “daughter’s 6th birthday party”, etc.). If the date/time is free, we will email you a bookings form (with terms and conditions, how it all works, etc) and go from there.
The Hire Costs are set according to a multi-category model, depending on whether the event(s) or sessions are open to all or to a private guest list, if they’re free or cost to attend, etc. The current set of hire costs per category are given by the following table:
How do I find out what the latest clubs/groups/events are happening there?
We will try to keep the above list of regular (i.e. weekly or monthly usage) groups up to date. For other activities and one-off or “non-regular” events which are open to all (e.g. quizzes, live music nights, pop up pubs, etc.), we will put these on the Notices page and also advertise them via social media.
There isn’t a ____ club yet – could I start one?
Absolutely! – we have already undertaken a couple of surveys, regarding what types of clubs the local community would like to see, but we haven’t found people to run all of these yet, and we’re always very happy to have new ideas for clubs and volunteers to run them!
Please email [email protected] – and ensure to include your name, the name of your proposed club, details of what it would involve, how you would run it, how long each session for it would need to be, whether it could be weekly, fortnightly, monthly etc, and what preference of day and time of day you might have for it; plus what help you might need – e.g. X more interested persons to help run it, or Y total interested people to start coming to make it work. And we can go from there!
What if I have a complaint to make about the ECO Hub, or a suggestion to improve it?
Please email [email protected] – and ensure to include your name, the nature of your complaint or concerns: we will take all complaints very seriously (we have a complaints procedure as part of our operating model); and all suggestions will be discussed within the group, considered carefully, and implemented if a good idea.
What if I have attended a session or event and have some form of Safeguarding concern?
Our Level 3 trained Designated Safeguarding Lead is Ian – please email him at [email protected] – and he will look into this; further details and support numbers are also given on posters within the ECO Hub. We have a formal Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, and we will take all concerns very seriously, as required by these.