Provident Financial @ Sedbergh Centre

The community partnership between Provident Financial and the Sedbergh Centre is a shining example of how the private and voluntary sectors can work together to bring about real change in the District. As well as bringing real benefits to the local community, both organisations are still enjoying the lasting benefits from their partnership work, it’s a great success for all those involved in delivering the project and all those that use the Sedbergh Centre.

Provident Financial were initially introduced to the Sedbergh Centre through the Be Involved and Bradford Cares initiatives that facilitate businesses to make vital contributions towards the Districts most disadvantaged communities.

In 2008 a team of 50 volunteers from Provident went into the centre to undertake a substantial programme of renovation and redecoration, changes to the centre that were otherwise out of the reach of Sedbergh in terms of time and resources. The team cleared outside areas to create a nature trail, brought a tennis court back into use and gave a new lease of life to the changing rooms by re-decorating them. Over the course of one day the team addressed hundreds of small maintenance tasks with a dramatic effect on the appearance of the centre:

“The centre has not looked this good since 1978 and there is now a real buzz about Sedbergh. We rely on the volunteers and grant funding. Having this support from a large company makes a real difference!” Arnie Butterfield, Sedbergh Centre Manager.
The Sedbergh Centre made a real impression on the volunteers from Provident, they were offered refreshments throughout the day and home cooked food! It’s easy to re-engage businesses into volunteering opportunities when a project goes so well and Provident were back with a team of over 60 more volunteers soon after. This time the volunteers laid a new floor in a training room to create a dance studio and re-decorated throughout the building including the main sports hall and offices complete with carpets, blinds and furniture donated by Provident.

Providents support only began with the physical improvements at Sedbergh. They also contributed to the long term success of the centre through a series of initiative that aim to increase the use of the centre and make it a viable sustainable business. Provident offered a financial contribution of £20, 000 per annum to employ a development worker. This has enabled the centre to increase its offer to the community through additional activities and to begin to look at social enterprise activities that will provide a lasting income. Sedbergh now operates a tool store that loans tools to teams of volunteers working across the district including Providents own staff. Provident also paid for Sedberghs marketing materials, helping them to design and print a suite of posters and leaflets to generate interest in the activities at the centre.

The benefits from the partnership don’t all sit with the Sedbergh Centre though. Provident have used the Team Challenges as an opportunity for staff development, helping them to build teams and refine and strengthen the skill base of their workforce.
“We use team challenges as a way to get people working together and build team spirit. It is also a fantastic opportunity to give staff a chance to develop and demonstrate their leadership skills” Cathy Atkinson, Provident Financial

This is just one example of Providents contributions to the local community over the past few years they have undertaken work in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Bradford, delivering projects that will leave a lasting legacy for years to come. They have developed their corporate social responsibility programme into an effective business tool, which not only benefits the local environment and community, but also develops our local workforce by investing in the development of their employees.