Foundry Street Community Centre Newsletter – August 2026
Welcome to our August newsletter!
August may have been quieter than usual because of the school holidays, but there has still been plenty happening at Foundry Street Community Centre.
We've welcomed new volunteers, carried out lots of maintenance and improvements, strengthened our links with local organisations and continued planning some exciting activities and events for the autumn.
Centre News
Our Trustee meeting took place on 11 August, followed by the Management Meeting on 24 August.
Maintenance & Improvements
August has been another busy month for our volunteers and trustees, with lots of jobs being tackled around the building.
Inside the Centre
Our ongoing jobs have included:
- Painting the new dado rail in the Undercroft with two coats of Willow Green
- Cleaning the boiler house
- Preparing the cage area for future decorating
- Repairing the service cupboard frame in the hall
- Repairing and adjusting the side entrance door handle
- Cleaning the kitchen and dishwasher
- Cleaning trestle and card tables
- Organising books and storage boxes
- Deep cleaning the hall extractor fans
- Measuring hall light fittings with a view to changing them to LED lighting
- High-level cleaning in reception, the porch and toilets
- Moving the Ring camera back to the side-door area to give a better view of the car park
- Carrying out a litter pick around the car park and Waterloo Street
- Cutting back saplings near the wall in the top car park
We had Leodis Lifts attend to repair the broken key in the stair lift chair arm. The repair itself was quick, although the call-out cost was £240.
A lesson has definitely been learnt about leaving the stair-lift key in place!
New Volunteer
Our volunteer morning on 29 August saw two trustees and three volunteers attend, including Beccy, who is new to the team.
Beccy first met us at the Sowerby Bridge Lock Festival, where we had a stand. She decided she wanted to get more involved in the community and came along to see what we do.
We're delighted to say she enjoyed herself so much that she has already volunteered to help at the Chat Lounge and at our September talk.
Welcome, Beccy!
Sowerby Bridge Memories
We were very kindly given around 30 photographs of old Sowerby Bridge by a local resident who was clearing her grandfather's house.
Many of the photographs are framed, with others in an album.
We're planning to display some of these around the Centre so that visitors can enjoy them, changing the photographs around every few months.
They will also become part of our growing heritage collection.
Improvements Outside
We've continued improving the car park area.
New signage has been installed, including signs making it clear that the car park is private land and unauthorised parking is not permitted.
CCTV warning signs have also been installed on the entrance doors, together with internal signage explaining the CCTV system.
One of the old steel grab handles at the front entrance has also broken. These will be replaced with new high-grip plastic handles.
What's Happening at the Centre?
The summer holidays continued to have an impact on attendance during August, with some groups taking breaks and others experiencing lower numbers.
There were no Guides during August, Tuesday Yoga was also on holiday, and the Spanish and French classes took a break at the end of August and into September.
However, we still had a great range of regular activities taking place.
Our Regular User Groups
We continue to provide space for:
- Sowerby Bridge Boxing Club
- Sowerby Bridge Karate Club
- Sowerby Bridge Table Tennis
- Thursday Table Tennis Club
- Cindy's Silver Stompers
- Keep Active Fitness
- Languages for Fun – Spanish
- Languages for Fun – French
- Narcotics Anonymous
- Yoga with Deb
- Unmasked Mental Health
- Big Hugs
- Tai Chi with Olivia
- Chat Room & Family History
- Art Therapy
- Youth Justice Team
- Rainbows, Brownies & Girl Guides
- Seated Stompers with Carolyn
- Rugby Tots
- Spectrum – Neurodivergent Self Help Group
- Decades Reloaded
Monthly Activities
August also saw:
- Medicine Drum Journey – 8 August
- Grief Café (PCN) – 14 August
- Children's Clothes Swap – 27 August
Other Events
The Overgate Jumble Sale took place on 23 August and proved to be very successful.
📅 September & Beyond
September is already looking much busier!
Upcoming bookings include:
- Simon Zonenblick – Nature Talk – 1 September
- Sowerby Bridge Town Board Meeting – 1 September
- Sowerby Bridge Wellbeing Meeting – 3 September
- Rushbearing – 5 & 6 September
- Skate Park Meeting – 8 September
- Community Anchor Network Meeting – 8 September
- Integrated Network Team Meeting – 17 September
- PCN Mental Health Training – 18 & 25 September
- Block Buddy Meeting – 22 September
- Pennine Calder Scouts AGM – 24 September
- Children's CSS session – 24 September
Lime Mortar Training
We're particularly excited about our plans to work with Todmorden College on lime mortaring courses.
Representatives from the college visited the Centre during August to look around the building and discuss the possibilities.
The plans have now developed further, and we're looking at potentially running two lime mortaring courses and one lime rendering course.
These would combine classroom learning with practical work on our stonework.
We'll share more information once dates and details have been confirmed.
Pickleball
We're continuing to investigate a beginners' Pickleball class in partnership with Queens Tennis Club.
The proposed class would have eight participants, with four on court and four resting before rotating.
We've advertised the idea on Facebook and have already received several replies.
We're also looking into grant funding to help with equipment and tutor costs, with the aim of keeping the sessions affordable.
Community & Partnerships
We're continuing to build relationships with other community organisations and look at ways we can work together.
Community Resilience
We've been discussing our Community Resilience Plan with Fire & Water, Grassroots and Memory Lane Café.
Finding a date when everyone can meet has proved difficult, so we'll now develop our own plans and look to bring everyone together later in the autumn or winter.
Locality
We were pleased to welcome Josie Baker, our new contact at Locality, to the Centre.
Josie was given a full tour of the building and we discussed our journey so far, as well as our plans for the future.
Learning from Others
We've arranged a visit to Fire and Water on 17 September to look at their solar panel installation and heat pump system.
We're hoping to learn from their experience and consider what might be possible for Foundry Street in the future.
Rushbearing
We're getting ready to take part in Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing on 5 & 6 September.
We'll have a presence in the procession on both days, with volunteers walking alongside the cart and helping to collect funds.
For us, it's not really about the fundraising – it's about being visible, getting involved and showing that Foundry Street Community Centre is part of the wider Sowerby Bridge community.
We hope to see plenty of familiar faces!
August at a Glance
During August:
Trustees' hours: 116
Volunteer hours: 49
What's Coming Up?
September is the start of a very busy period for Foundry Street.
We're already planning ahead for:
Table Top / Bric-a-Brac Sale 18 October
Energy Fair October – date to be confirmed
Christmas Fayre
End of November
There is plenty to look forward to, so keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for further details.
Thank You!
A huge thank you to all our trustees, volunteers, user groups and everyone who supports Foundry Street Community Centre.
August may have been quieter, but the work behind the scenes never stops.
From maintenance and fundraising to community partnerships and planning future events, we're continuing to build a Centre that is welcoming, useful and at the heart of the local community.
Thank you for being part of Foundry Street Community Centre.
Here's to a busy and exciting autumn!
