Care Co-ops are moving
I am pleased to announce that Care Co-ops now has a lease in place for The Vicarage (St Paul’s) and Wagner Hall, West Street, Brighton. This will soon become the Brighton and Hove Social Enterprise Centre.
Change of Use was initially granted by Brighton and Hove City Council in 2008 for five years and in June 2011 this was further extended to 30th June 2018. The lease was signed on 9th September 2011 and is in place until 30th June 2018 to mirror the change of use period, with potential to extend further.
The refurbishment of The Vicarage is due to commence shortly, with The Hastings Trust secured as building contractors for the works. The aim is to relocate Care Co-ops’ main offices from Moulsecoomb to The Vicarage and provide a number of serviced offices. We have identified Friday 27th January 2012 as the moving date.
The Brighton and Hove Social Enterprise Centre aims to provide serviced offices, desk hire, meeting and training rooms, events space, social enterprise resource centre and a cafe for the benefit of the local community.
This will increase social, economic and environmental impact, with a focus on supporting disadvantaged local people to develop their ideas into viable and sustainable social businesses.
The centre is aligned with a range of local, national and European strategies, including the Brighton and Hove Social Enterprise Strategy and the City Employment and Skills Plan.
Neil Holmes, Deputy Chief Executive of Care Co-ops, said ‘Care Co-ops has been working closely with the Diocese of Chichester and the Wagner Hall Trustees to give a fresh lease of life to these under-utilised buildings and we are really excited that our plans now underway to create what we all hope will be a valuable community resource for Brighton and Hove residents’.
