I'm Marc. I live in Devonport, Plymouth and I work for Zebra Collective, a local community coop. We're based at Mount Wise Neighbourhood Centre (MWNC) in Devonport, a long-neglected but much-loved community building on which Zebra signed an 11-year lease with Plymouth City Council in April 2024.

We see MWNC as belonging to us as a community (i.e. everyone who lives here), with Zebra stewarding the progress. Lots of local people are actively involved in running the place, and together we're working hard to bring the Centre back to life: we run and host a growing number of community projects, groups and events - with our youth clubs (50+ kids per week) and children's and families work at the heart, permanent weekly bookings - Slimming World, the local Baptist church - and increasing numbers of one-off bookings for birthday parties, courses etc.

But the building we took on was in a sorry state, and the project to tackle this is a long one. We've completed thousands of pounds of work already: new windows, loft insulation, painting inside and out (note our new mural, pictured - by Kate Crawford and funded by Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest) , some soundproof walls and extensive improvements to the garden and surrounding green spaces.

All this has been through grant funding, social value input from e.g. housing associations such as SNG and Livewest, building businesses such as Bradfords, direct contributions from Zebra, as well as hundreds of hours of work from a number of us here in our community.

And now we're moving into a new phase: extensive internal works that will greatly improve versatility, capacity, accessibility, and the look and feel of the place: accessible toilet, new doors front and back (the current doors are from the 1970s - old, wooden and broken, and with perspex windows), installation of a corridor to enable simultaneous bookings, creation of a separate office, repurposing two small rooms to create a larger hall with more natural light, and new flooring.

We've raised the funds to cover most of these costs, with generous grants and donations from e.g. Asda Foundation and Bradfords - but we have a shortfall of £10k.

We've divided this programme into 4 phases. Work will begin in June 2026, and our ideal is to complete all 4 phases during this period. But this will be dependent upon the success of this campaign...

We welcome all help - big donations, small donations, your time - to help us continue developing this precious resource in our community, one which is short on public community spaces.

Thanks -

Marc Gardiner

Want to talk? Text or ring me on 07784 950308

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