In early June 2024 shortly before we were due to find out if our bid had been successful we received an email from the fund confirming that due to the general election no further decisions would be taken until after the election.

Below is a timeline which gives an update on the last few months and what our contingency plans are should the Community Ownership Fund  not reopen.

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YMCA Timeline:

 

OCT / NOV 23

HAVA aware the YMCA is for sale.

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DECEMBER 23

HAVA submitted an expression of interest (EOI) to the Community Ownership Fund (COF) to purchase the YMCA. The EOI was successful and

we received details of the full application process. BEAT (Belonging, Empowering and Thriving, H(AVA’s legacy organisation)) were identified as being eligible for dedicated support with the application and were given a contact at Locality to work with.

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MARCH 24

BEAT received Charitable Status and is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

HAVA instructed a financial valuation of the building and a Building Condition Report to support the COF application.

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APRIL 24

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with responsibility for COF, announced two final rounds of COF funding which would be brought forward rather than following the usual submission dates of previous years.

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BEAT submitted an application to COF. Due to the limited time available before the new deadline (originally expected to be mid-May) we had to use cost estimates, for required renovation work, to arrive at the financial forecast required by COF. This made our financial management application weaker than we would have preferred but we had a very strong strategic case. We anticipated the possibility of our application being rejected on this basis, but were aware we would be eligible to re-submit in the final round.

 

MAY 24

To prepare better financial information in regard to the costs to renovate and refurbish the YMCA, required HAVA  to commission a further survey including a Quantity Surveyor to cost the work required, this is more detailed and specific than the cost estimates used in original COF submission.

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In mid-May we received an email confirming the final round of COF would open in June and those who submitted in April would find out their success (or otherwise) in time to re-submit before the closing date for the final round. The April round was identified as being very competitive and all applications which met the minimum scoring criteria would be sent to Government Ministers to make the final decision.  This differed from all previous COF rounds, which funded each application which met the minimum scoring criteria without ministerial involvement.

At the end of May the Government announced a General Election to take place on the 4th July. Shortly after, the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities released a statement by email confirming no decisions would be taken on the success of COF applications until after the election.

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JUNE 24

HAVA met with their funder Local Trust, to discuss their continued support of allowing HAVA funds to match fund money requested from COF, due to the change in the timeline brought about by the uncertainty of the fund due to the election. Local Trust were unable to confirm at what point their support would be removed, but did confirm there were other Big Local’s like HAVA who are in the same position, and they would be as flexible as they are able to be within their own funding spend out requirements. We will meet them again next month to discuss further.

 

NEXT STEPS

1. Continue to work with Local Trust and Locality to identify and apply for alternative funding options for the purchase of the YMCA.

2. Continue to work towards an agreement with the YMCA on the sale of the building to BEAT and the community.

3. Launch the BEAT charity more widely and encourage membership of the community board.

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