This month sees the beginning

of a new phase for one of Bristol's most exciting community health projects.

Wellspring Healthy Living Centre opened its doors in 2004 following investment

from Community at Heart, the £50m New Deal for Communities programme funded by

central Government.

 

For the past eight years the

centre has been managed by a resident Board of Trustees and delivering health

and wellbeing services to over 9000 clients. Until December 2011, the building

itself was still owned by the successor organisation to Community at Heart,

Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Management.

 

Both resident Boards wanted

to ensure Wellspring's sustainability in the future. One way of doing this was

to increase fundraising opportunities. In tough economic times there is fierce

competition for grant and public sector funding. Wellspring Board now has the

advantage of owning the building freehold and can use it as a resource to

generate additional income.

After 18 months of hard work

the final details have been agreed and the building is now firmly in the hands

of Wellspring Board. They took possession of the £2.8m property for a

peppercorn fee in December and both Boards hope this will help the centre

continue to offer health services to local residents long into the future.

 

Wellspring currently offers a

range of services beyond the traditional GP and dental surgery. Its mental

health wellbeing project, arts programme, learning kitchen and complementary

therapy clinic have all been innovative in improving the health of local residents.

 

Chairman of Wellspring Board,

Margaret Castle said: "The Wellspring Healthy Living Centre has reached another

milestone in its history. It is now the proud owner of its freehold. Wellspring

was the brain child of local resident Reg Gregory, now sadly not with us and

thanks to funding from Community at Heart and the belief and commitment of

local people, this beautiful building was built and is now the responsibility

of the community. We very much thank everyone involved for their continued faith

in our ability to manage this centre that local residents and the wider

community find warm, welcoming and caring."

 

Dominic Murphy, Chair of

Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Management added: "By handing over the

freehold of Wellspring to their Board, we are keeping true to our own

principles of supporting the local management of services and ensuring

decisions around important local services are made as close to the community as

possible. We wish the Wellspring every success for the future and look forward

to working in partnership with them for many years to come."