What is a Community HUB?
A Community HUB is a model which allows increased use of modern school buildings by local people all year round, and brings together services for children, their families and the local area under one roof.
What are the benefits for communities?
The HUB model is all about giving local people more access to the range of facilities available in high-quality new school buildings.
These schools have modern meeting spaces, games halls, swimming pools, astroturf pitches, gym equipment, computer studios and much more, and the aim is to increase their community use throughout the year, including school holidays, evenings and weekends.
The model also brings together a range of services, including school education, adult education, digital inclusion, advice & support and more in one place for the benefit of service users. Some health-related services may also be included.
The key objectives are:
- offer integrated services to children and their families, making it easier to access digital, sporting, learning, recreational and community services all year round
- build on the partnership relationship between schools, communities and the third sector to support the ambitious plans to close the attainment gap and improve children’s and young people’s health and well-being
- increase take up of Community Learning & Development services and Leisure & Culture Dundee services
- create stronger, more resilient, influential and inclusive communities and neighbourhoods
- improve the life chances for people of all ages through learning, personal development and active citizenship
- implement a place-based approach to better use of facilities – streamlining access to support and care and reducing duplication of services within a local area
Has this been tried elsewhere?
The Community HUB or Campus model is already being used widely in Scotland – research in 2017 indicated that there were 172 primary schools and 99 secondary schools across the country with community services running from school buildings.
Local examples include Brechin High School (Angus), St John’s RC Academy (Perth) and Waid Academy (Fife).
In addition, the pilot in Dundee will take on board learning from the Community Support Centres established during the Covid-19 lockdown, which brought together council services, partners and the third sector to better support communities from school premises.
What has been decided so far?
Councillors have agreed to further exploration of a trial in Kirkton early in 2021 (dependent on the national routemap out of lockdown). This would involve the secondary schools at St Paul’s and Baldragon in Kirkton.
Before that, a public consultation will be carried out to look at how the Kirkton model would be set up and operated to best meet the needs of the community. A report will be brought before councillors after the public consultation has concluded.
The model in Kirkton would serve as a trial for future Community HUBs in the city, but no decisions on future locations have been taken.
Why has Kirkton been chosen for the proposed pilot?
There are a number of reasons why Kirkton was chosen, including the fact that the area has two new high schools, St Paul’s RC Academy and Baldragon Academy, with a range of modern and high-quality facilities.
There is also a community centre complex incorporating a library that is in poor condition and in need of around £250,000 worth of maintenance to tackle a range of issues affecting the condition of the building.
Within Kirkton, there would also be real benefits to free or low-cost access to high quality facilities which had multi-use and allowed a wide range of services and activities to be run from them in a more joined-up way.
Does this mean the local community centre and library would close?
No decisions have been taken on the future of the community centre and library.
It is important to remember that Community HUBs are about improving access to good quality services and facilities, rather than focusing on specific buildings.
The proposal for Kirkton involves delivering these for the community out of the two modern schools instead of the existing community centre and library annexe.
The end result could be community access to six times the amount of space, high quality accommodation and equipment, and more access at weekends when the existing community centre is currently closed.
Kirkton Community Centre currently offers 1780 m2 which includes a games hall, youth space, computer room and a couple of large rooms.
The proposal to use nearby schools could allow access to 11,931 m2 of space including drama studios, music rooms, workshops, gym/dance studio, IT suites, astroturf/grass pitches and swimming pool, a few hundred metres from the current location.
How can I have my say on what’s planned?
The Council is committed to working with the people of Kirkton to further develop and ultimately co-design the Community HUB proposal for the area.
How the HUB would run and operate, and what activities and access arrangements would be required, will be designed through consultation. The process will also look at how best to accommodate the needs of the various groups involved with or using the HUB.
The consultation will allow people in Kirkton and local stakeholder groups to provide their views and also make suggestions for what they’d like to see in the HUB.
Engagement activities will pay particular attention to the views of the existing users of Kirkton Community Centre and Library to fully understand how their needs can be met from a Community HUB in the area.
The consultation will get under way in October and finish in December. Further information about how to get involved will be announced soon.
Would classes and facilities be more expensive than at present?
No decisions have been taken on costs for use of the Community HUBs. This will form part of the consultation and will be discussed with stakeholders in the coming months.
How would it affect existing education delivered at the schools?
The two HUB locations are already busy schools which cater for the secondary school provision across the Kirkton area. This focus on delivering high quality education to our young people will remain central to the entire HUB concept.
In addition, it is the aim that this learning environment can continue to deliver for adults within the community by offering the HUB space for community groups and organisations to run learning classes from the building. Already at the Kirkton Community Centre there are languages, music and sports classes running regularly and this would continue in the new setting.
Is it safe to have members of the public in school buildings?
Before the Kirkton HUB pilot begins, operational models, measures, policies and procedures will be introduced to the schools to help in the effective management of the HUBs and to control and
monitor different visitors and users of the buildings and to ensure that all child protection policies and procedures are followed. How and when the buildings will be used will be guided by the outcomes of the public consultation.
What happens meantime to any services and activities running from Kirkton Community Centre and Library?
There is no change meantime.
Download the Community Hubs Report here.