Ian Cawley joined the army at 18 and left at 23.
“I’d just done too many tours, I wanted to do different things.”
Working on the hearts and minds campaign in Londonderry, he saw its positive impact on the community. He moved into community work, and set up the Big League.
Operating in the top 1% most deprived areas, the Big League revolved around healthy living and weight loss.
An opportunity came up to take over Burbank Community Centre that had been closed for a few years. Then the pandemic hit.
“We ended up doing 1600 meals a week with 200 volunteers and 35,000 food parcels. It had a massive impact on the town, which got us really well known.”
Ian then heard a major building in Hartlepool, Bovis House, was empty.
“So, we took over Bovis House.” The business centre consisted of 14 offices. With only £70k they were able to double capacity, creating another 14 offices and saving millions compared to other similar local projects.
Bovis House also has a large shop on the ground floor, which they use to sell low cost, pre-loved or surplus clothes, white goods, furniture, and food. It also acts as a social hub for communities.
They operate a waste removal service, which in turn supports its furniture sales. “It’s quite a hub of activity. The last few months we’ve given away £30k worth of furniture to people who are struggling.”
In 2022, the team took over another community centre – the Salaam centre. It supports asylum seekers and refugees as a ‘first port of call,’ with an education hub, IT and training suite, and low-cost supermarket.
Now, with two community centres, two retail premises, and the incubator business centre, they deliver a range of support with a focus on poverty, education, training, and employment.
Turnover is around £600,000. Before the pandemic it was £60,000.
“Need was massive before, but went through the roof with the pandemic. Now it’s gone up again with the financial situation in the country. Homelessness is going up; people are going without food.”
Around 300 people use the community centres each week. The Big League can have up to 100 volunteers, with 15 employees.
“We’ve just got on with it. If we’ve seen the need, or someone asks for help, we say yes.”
Key Fund’s £90k loan/£60k grant helped purchase the lease of Bovis House, which stood empty for 15 years; it represents 60% of the CIC’s income.
Ian says: “It’s brought all these businesses to the High Street, which is run down and needs massive investment.
Key Fund has helped secure that.” “We meet Key Fund regularly; we talk about our issues and how they can support us. I have no education, and all of a sudden, I have all these staff. Key Fund supported me to implement the right processes in HR and accounts, so it gives us a platform to grow. Hand on heart, they’re not just a lender.”
Ian Cawley
