Neighbourhood Stories
Harehills CIC
Harehills CIC is a new community development organisation based in the Harehills area east of Leeds city centre. Harehills CIC aims to support the regeneration of the Harehills area by increasing economic activity within the locality and creating new training and employment opportunities.
Harehills CIC’s first major project is the re-development of a local landmark building, the former Harehills Middle School, into a high-quality business incubator and business support hub called Shine. The new development will incorporate a Local Economic Growth Initiative (LEGI) ‘Catalyst Centre’, office space, incubator space for start-ups, workshop space, community/conference space, a crèche and a café.
The total estimated cost of the re-development of Harehills Middle School is £4.5 million. Funding has been secured from the LEGI programme to support both the working capital requirement of the project and a contribution to the capital costs.
Harehills CIC applied to the Key Fund in May 2007 for support to cover essential costs such as architect fees, building consultant fees, and survey fees. Support is also needed for general development costs such as community consultation, business development costs, and staff wages. In June 2007 the Key Fund awarded Harehills CIC a loan of £50,000. Without this support Harehills CIC would have struggled to move the proposal forward within current timescales.
Todd Hannula, Director of Harehills CIC, said “The support from Key Fund was KEY as you played the early stage funding role to get us to the big money. Without your loan we likely would have not realised this £4.5M project.”
