Nudge Community Builders bring back empty or derelict spaces in fun or inspiring ways on Union Street in Plymouth.
The business was started by Wendy Hart and Hannah Sloggett on a main route into Plymouth City Centre, where morale has suffered as the street has fallen into disrepair.
In September 2018, they will complete a Crowdfunder to complete their work on the Clipper, a former pub turned cafe and street market.
What is the point of the project?
Wendy: Both Hannah and I have volunteered for over 10 years in the neighbourhood. We met lots of people here and closed a road every year for a street party.
From that people said why don’t we do something to improve the area, where people often feel unsafe.
“We’re interested in doing the buildings. That’s the only thing holding the street back – there’s no shortage of people who want to do things.” Two days with the amazing @nudgecommunity on Union Street in Plymouth pic.twitter.com/ZFMORXrUxa
— Far Nearer (@far_nearer) September 14, 2018
We brought back a derelict shop through crowdfunding in 2016 and that gave us an idea that we should buy buildings to bring back life and to think about the impact that we had with our community.
We are thinking about how people can get jobs out of it and feel safer, but also a greater sense of pride and that things will change on a street where big things that were promised have fallen through.
That’s where the name came from: we wanted to nudge the street.
Incredibly honoured and excited to be picked as one of @nesta_uk and the @ObsNewReview New Radicals today #50Radicals what a list! #plymouth @PlymSocEnt @realideasorg @peoplesbiz @RankFoundation https://t.co/Da9quKPKKd
— Nudge (@nudgecommunity) September 16, 2018
When did you decide to do this?
Hannah: There was a moment over a pint (or two or three). I think it got to the point for both of us that we were spending so many hours volunteering that we had an appetite to do more, but we had families, we were working full time and there was no more give.
So we felt if we were going to do it we had to take a leap. It got to a crunch point where people wanted us to do more, we wanted to do more but Stonehouse Action, the group that we were a part of, wanted to stay as a community group not owning buildings.
It got to a crunch point in the spring of 2017 and it took us a while to get our stuff going as we learned how to get a building, how to get incorporated, all those sorts of things.
We were on different courses: Wendy was on the Power to Change community business leadership course and I was the School For Social Entrepreneurs start-up programme, so we were learning a lot and beginning to feel we could do it.
What’s been your proudest moment?
Wendy: Opening the Clipper as a community market on Thursday was a pretty big moment. It was fantastic to have the keys. We worked really hard and welcomed a load of people in on Thursday night, which was fantastic.
But there are lots of small moments: the volunteers that had given their time to renovate the buildings found it difficult as the pressure started to ramp up. There were some wobbles, so it was great to see how proud they were when we finally did it.
What’s been the hardest moment?
Hannah: There was a really hard moment when we were trying to buy the building in October 2017.
Someone had said they would put in the deposit. We had a loan for £85,000 from Plymouth Council for providing two homes for local needs and we needed a deposit of £35,000. We were just about to transfer the money and they pulled out, leaving us £35,000 short.
We rallied the community and had it all by lunchtime from people who had seen what we were doing and supported it. It was difficult, but a real turning point in terms of our resilience.
Last week we opened the community space and by December we’ll have two flats above. The share offer is to pay back that finance. We’ll end up paying back the loans and having our members and shareholders.
We are past our min target of £120k thanks to over 100 investors – amazing! People have asked for more time to invest so you now have 25 September to make an #ethicalinvestment #letsdothis https://t.co/viQl5OTy17 @PlymSocEnt @CooperativesUK
— Nudge (@nudgecommunity) September 14, 2018
What keeps you going when it gets hard?
Wendy: It’s the best job. It’s something that we’ve both been passionate about for a long time but had to manage around our jobs and families. Now it’s an opportunity to do that full-time.
When it gets hard we still go back to those principles of making a difference. We’re on a street that has suffered from market failure so it’s brilliant to show that communities can do it, we don’t have to wait – the community can say what they want to see.
Hannah: It’s also about showing there’s a different way. Top-down regeneration happens in our area, so this is about showing there is a different way for our local communities than building things that aren’t necessarily going to have an impact.
There’s a lot of talk when the big regeneration schemes are done that the impact will ripple out, but we rarely see that in practice.
We also have a lot a fun even in the bad times. That’s important.
What’s next?
Wendy: We’re actively engaging our community and supporters to invest in our community share offer. We are aiming to unlock £100,000 locally and then gain match funding to raise our optimum amount of £200,000.
We also want to breathe life into the local area, but we have already noticed that there are lots of people painting their properties since we took on the Clipper. We are worried that we could gentrify the area, which would make prices rise, pushing us out.
Hannah: We need to move quickly so the landowners aren’t the ones who benefit.
How did you vote in the EU referendum and why?
Wendy: I voted to stay. I thought it was really important to remain for loads of reasons.
I felt grief the next day because I didn’t realise that we were going to leave. The next day was awful, especially if you are bringing up children and thinking about the consequence over the next 20 years.
Hannah: I voted to stay. Our local area voted to leave but Plymouth was a leave. So there’s a lot of stuff in our community about not feeling engaged, or not having power to influence what’s happening, that played out here.
It is something we need to be aware of. We worked hard to keep Union Corner politically neutral. That’s challenging because we do have our own views, but it’s important to make sure people feel welcome.
How will the outcome of the referendum affect what you do?
Wendy: It feels too far away. There may well be things around funding that will impact us, for example when there could have been European Funding available. It could be a direct lockout.
Hannah: Some of the stuff around communities taking ownership over things happening locally, that’s part of the learnings from the referendum. People have realised we have to do things differently in local economies. That changed after the vote and I think we’re benefitting from that.
What would you say to someone looking to do something similar?
Wendy: Do it. It’s about giving yourself permission to step into this space. When Hannah talks about being on the courses, that helped us learn what is a community leader and what’s a mandate.
We did hold ourselves back because we come from background of years from volunteering. Someone saying you could have it as your paid work – that was nerve-wracking and you end up working harder for that money.
It’s about giving yourself permission and if you don’t, who will?
What does community mean to you?
Wendy: It’s one great big messy group of people. There isn’t one strand, there’s multi strands, and while we are lucky that we so are multicultural, we lack opportunities to meet people across those divides, which can be difficult. Community is about crossing those divides.
