Helping People to Help Themselves
Redcar Development Trust
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RDT was born out of the Coatham Memorial Hall Association (CMHA) which was established in 2006 as a multipurpose community led and driven organisation that served and supported local communities of both place and interest throughout its primary resource – namely Coatham Memorial Hall situated in the Coatham ward area of Redcar and Cleveland borough.
The CMHA evolved from the Redcar Amateur Boxing Club which was established in 1998, moving into the Memorial Hall in 2000. Historically, CMHA ran on a voluntary basis but received Tees Valley Partnership delegated grant assistance in 2007 to employ a full time dedicated worker. The rationale for this post was to increase youth user participation, effectively meeting the needs of more members of the community. It was also felt that such a position would lead to the sign posting and development of other opportunities, specifically in terms of other training, business start up, education and employment.
The progress of the CMHA and the available activities in the Hall revolved around the enthusiasm of the then Centre Manager, Frankie Wales (a very high profile character in the Town), without whom the Centre's valuable work was at risk of disappearing. Frankie and some of the work he does from the Hall was featured in Channel 4's 'Secret Millionaire' programme. Additionally, during his visit to Redcar in May 2010, it was Prince Charles's expressed wish that he meet Frankie Wales. This took place at the opening of RDT's Enterprise Hub within the Mayfair Centre situated on Redcar sea front. Frankie was also recognised by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his work as Community Enterprise Ambassador.
The increase in the number of activities by the CMHA for the youth of the region, coupled with the increase in the request for additional community impacting activities, resulted in the CMHA needing to change its status and review its business development needs (hence the setting up of RDT).
The aim of RDT is to develop the company to generate income, from which realised profits will be reallocated to support the youth and families within the region through the development and growth of existing and future projects; this leads into the overall aim of providing maximum positive impact on the regeneration of the Redcar and Cleveland area, one of the areas of highest deprivation within the UK. Many of the planned initiatives will incorporate developing life skills, increasing employability, improving health and well-being and empowering youth, adults and families with the ability to become productive, sustainable, contributing members of their communities
Redcar Development Trust feels that its unique mixture of support, self reliance and real life practical solutions to the issues impacting upon the area has produced excellent results for those who interact with it.
In order to guarantee the future sustainability of the work carried out by the Trust we intend to access opportunities to draw down funding for the outcomes we provide: thus far national organisations operating locally have been the major financial beneficiaries of our endeavours. We have decided to strengthen our team by recruiting staff members with a 1st rate track record in the delivery of private sector Welfare 2 Work contracts and to combine their talents with the Trust's existing approach to produce what we feel to be the best balance of support, encouragement and development of self reliance required to sustain employment within the local economy.
The Trust has a strong belief in the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and exercise in helping to motivate and develop individuals. We make use of our in house fitness facilities and our NHS trained healthy lifestyle coordinators to develop person specific routines.
The trust has close working relationships with a number of large local and regional employers, we are in the process of setting a number of businesses with the support of Business in the Community, and its members Northumbrian Water, Johnson Mathey Catalysts, PD Ports, Greggs, and GE Electric (amongst others). We are working closely with UK-CPI to establish a number of sustainable power projects and an operation to recycle construction materials.
We have a close relationship with Redcar & Cleveland Council; we work in partnership with the local PCT on a number of health related projects and have excellent links with several local schools and colleges. We have run community transport on behalf of Redcar College and have a joint venture Print Business with Redcar Community College.
We run incubators units for new start businesses and provide meeting space for over 50 different community groups. We also promote music and sports events and have recently restarted the iconic Redcar Jazz Club.
As an organisation we feel that we optimise our performance as a result of a local focus, lean management, a can do attitude and our credibility at community level.
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