Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust was set up to preserve and promote the heritage and natural environment of Delapré Abbey and the former Bouverie estate. The Trust delivers a range of programmes and activities that support lifelong learning, curiosity and improved wellbeing to their local community.
Social investment has been pivotal in enabling us to accelerate our ambitions for Delapré Abbey as a place rooted in heritage, wellbeing, and opportunity. It provided the flexibility to cashflow a complex capital project without compromising our day-to-day operations, while giving us the confidence to progress at pace. Crucially, it has helped us unlock further funding, meet key deadlines, and demonstrate to grant funders that we have explored all available options to leverage support. The investment has not only supported physical restoration, it will enable us to offer improved wellbeing outcomes, free-to-access facilities, and a long-term sustainable model that serves the community. The help and guidance we received throughout the application and drawdown process was invaluable. It gave us space to sense-check our financial models and approach with rigour, ultimately reinforcing the impact and credibility of our efforts.
Challenge
Delapré Abbey is located within the Far-Cotton & Delapre ward, which is one of the top 10% most deprived wards in the country, where deprivation has a noticeable impact on the life chances of young people & increased health and associated educational inequalities.
Redeveloping underused stables and outbuildings into a Wellbeing Hub will provide access to wellbeing support and social prescribing that may prevent the need for primary care referral.
Solution
Once developed, the hub will contribute to improved mental and physical wellbeing for our visitors and raise local pride. The Trust will be able to provide a new purpose-built community space that will has been designed in consultation through existing users and service providers. This space will enable us to provide more space for community use, at a low and no cost basis aligned to our wellbeing programme.
Revenue
The Trust has already engaged potential long-term and ad hoc occupiers/users for the space. Revenue will be generated from rental and trading income.
Impact
All profits developed from the project through rental income, retail sales, activities and events will be re-invested into our core charitable functions. This will enable funding for our award-winning wellbeing programme in perpetuity and ensure that we can widen our reach and increase our impact.
We are very pleased to be supporting Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust’s ‘A Stable Future’ project. The restoration and reuse of the underused stable block on Delapré Abbey Estate will not only strengthen the Trust’s resilience and ensure the long-term preservation of this historically important site, but it will also deliver significant social impacts for the local community. We’re also delighted to have been able to support Delapré Abbey to access blended finance through the Energy Resilience Fund, which will support the site to become more energy efficient, an urgent need for so many of our historic and community buildings.