The Hub
The hub is a community owned space that is used to bring local people together to address the priorities for Whitley Bay. It is located at 158 Whitley Road, Whitley Bay, NE26 2LY. Until 2017 it was Whitley Bay Job Centre and a lot of people still remember it as the Job Centre.
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Whitley Bay Big Local bought the building in November 2021 with a plan to develop it into a community owned asset. Today the hub is a multi-purpose community space with a cafe, garden and meeting rooms. But it hasn't always been that. Here you can learn a little about it's history, the changes we've made, and our plans for the future
The building was purchased for the local community, thanks to a grant received from the Government Department of Levelling Up and is managed by Whitley Bay Big Local. Our shared ambition is to convert the building into a fit for purpose community hub and 'near zero emissions building. We have recently completed two major projects and several others to bring the make the building work as a centre for communities and be less 'Jobcentrey'
The first major project was completed in January 2023. The works replaced the aged felt roof with a modern UPVC surface. We have upgraded the insulation and added a 23KWp solar array to reduce our running costs and reduce our impact on the world around us. The modern UPVC surface allows us to eventually keep plants on the roof and is recyclable at the end of it's life. The solar array produces all of the electricity used at the building, unless it's dark or raining, or covered in snow. Surplus electricty is sold back to the grid. Thanks to our funders - Department of Levelling Up, North of Tyne Combined Authority and Local Trust for their support.
The second major project was completed in June 2023. This project converted the ground floor of the building into a fit for purpose community hub. It created new accessible doors into the building and into the garden. A corridor was created to allow direct access to the upper floors. Accessible WCs were added to the ground floor. A kitchen/cafe was added and the garden was refurbished and tidied up. The ground floor is now a much more welcoming space and we are seeing more and more people coming in every day. Thanks to all of our funders who made this possible - Co-op Foundation, Biffa Award, Local Trust, Joicey Trust, SIB Group, North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Other projects have included the replacement of a very old boiler with a modern condensing gas boiler. This has seen a reduction in heating bills of almost 40%.
We have split a large room on the middle floor of the building into two, creating a large activity room and a separate room that is currently occupied by SPARCS, a local charity supporting people with Autism.
We are in the process of freshening up the rooms on the top floor, ready for meetings and community activities to take place. The Hub's official relaunch will be on September 21st, at which point the hub will truly be a space for everyone.