Category: Stirchley community

It has to be a yes – Rob Gilbert from Stirchley Stores

Rob Gilbert is the committee chair of Stirchley Stores, the co-operative on Pershore Road that supplies ethical, affordable and local food. Stirchley Stores wants to move into the Stirchley Baths community hub. Here, Rob explains why the Heritage Lottery decision due very soon has to be a ‘yes’ for Stirchley…

Stirchley Stores

“The Stirchley Baths community hub is the ideal place for Stirchley Stores. Sustainability and community are at the heart of Stirchley Stores, helping people contribute to the rejuvenation of their High Street. These values are what the community hub project is all about too.

We need a new premises because Loaf – our neighbour in Pershore Road – is looking to expand. We currently use the premises rent-free in exchange for selling their bread and the consensus among our members is that Stirchley Baths is the ideal location for us. It’s a good-value plan and will help us to be even more connected to the local community.

We’re growing too. We’re mostly run by volunteers, although we pay a volunteer co-ordinator and we’re about to take on our first paid worker in the shop too. Moving into the community hub will help us to take Stirchley Stores to the next stage.

The Stirchley Baths community hub will be a real focal point for the whole Stirchley community, enabling more people to connect and get things done for the good of the village. There will be a cafe in there, a cinema, meeting rooms, events – it will be a huge boost for the whole village and we’re really keen to be a part of it.”

The decision from HLF is expected very soon. Please tell us why it *has* to be a ‘yes’ by:

It has to be a yes – Mick Jones from stirchley.co.uk

Mick Jones runs the excellent stirchley.co.uk website for the village. Here’s why Mick thinks the Heritage Lottery Fund decision for Stirchley Baths – due imminently – has to be a yes…

“Stirchley Baths is a beautiful building which has shamed Stirchley for over 20 years through neglect. Regeneration, however, means a focal point so necessary for the wellbeing of a village, somewhere to go with children, adults and the vulnerable.

Stirchley website

I hope there will be dances, not necessarily discos but the sort of dances that families can attend, barn dancing where one can go without a partner. There will be rooms for discussion groups, clubs and meetings.

Throughout the country there are beautiful village halls that are economical to hire, meaning the community can put on a play, a dance or a party, for the community.

We in Stirchley need this facility in what is, after all, a heritage building, married to the library and next to a small park. Could anyone ask for a better location?”

The decision from HLF is expected very soon. Please tell us why it *has* to be a ‘yes’ by:

Peter Evans from the Friends of Stirchley Park

Peter Evans from the Friends of Stirchley Park
Peter Evans from the Friends of Stirchley Park

Peter Evans is the chairman of the Friends of Stirchley Park, a group of volunteers working to promote and improve Stirchley Park for the community.

The group has made a number of improvements over the last 12 months, including the planting of five new saplings, new benches and a noticeboard. Community tidy-ups have been held and a piece of graffiti art, known as The Sleeping Child, was also produced with Place Prospectors. Plans are in place to create more.

The back of Stirchley Baths from the park
The back of Stirchley Baths from the park

Peter says the park has always been “the hidden park”. He’d been living in Stirchley for a couple of years before he glimpsed it from the Gyratory – and then assumed it was private land. Thanks to the Friends’ efforts, though, more and more people are using the green space to walk their dogs or just to relax. A group of dog walkers meet in the park every day at 5pm!

The Sleeping Child
The Sleeping Child

The park sits just behind Stirchley Baths and there’s a pathway to it between the Co-op and Farm Foods buildings. The redevelopment of the Baths into a community hub will bring changes, however, with a green area immediately behind the Baths set to become a car park for visitors. There will also be a children’s play area and pathways around to the hub. Peter – although disappointed at the loss of some green space – hopes the community hub will further open up access to Stirchley Park and help to bin the ‘hidden park’ tag forever.

listen to ‘Peter Evans, chair of the Friends of Stirchley Park’ on Audioboo

You can follow Stirchley Park on Twitter HERE

Peter Evans and fellow Friends of Stirchley Park member Brian Sheridan
Peter Evans and fellow Friends of Stirchley Park member Brian Sheridan

Aspirations for the Baths from local clubs, diverse communities, families and future generations

Last week I was at Stirchley Community Centre on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and spoke to many of the parents who bring their children to Arabic lessons about the Stirchley Baths Project.

Mohammed spoke to me about swimming during his days at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury’s and his aspirations to enjoy the building again with his family. –

listen to ‘Mohammed remembers swimming with Dame Cadbury's’ on Audioboo

We gathered some great ideas from both parents and their children about the sorts of events that they might enjoy together; having fun and learning about the history of the Baths at the same time. These included quizzes and ‘spot the historic feature’ treasure hunts around the building. For the older generation, talks would be welcome, with Bengali interpretors on hand. Women only activities were also suggested as a way to involve the local Muslim community in the centre’s programming.

I also had a great chat with Margaret and Joe from Birmingham Karate Club who see the future move to the Baths as a great opportunity to recruit new members to the club and widen their audience further. They have been running the club from Stirchley Community Centre for 6-7 years. Here is a brief history of how the club has grown in the area, and the mix of excitement and apprehension they feel towards the transition from  the Community Centre to the Baths.

listen to ‘Margaret and Joe from Birmingham Karate Club’ on Audioboo

Paula Aubrey: Why I’m involved in the Stirchley Baths project

Paula Aubrey joined Stirchley Community Group over 20 years ago to get involved in the village’s community centre and she’s been hoping to see Stirchley Baths brought back into use for the community for quite some time. Paula is a member of the Stirchley Baths community stakeholder group. Here she explains why…