About Newton Abbot CIC
Newton Abbot Community Interest Company (the CIC) has grown over the past 15 years, delivering projects across Newton Abbot's communities.
You can find out more about the work of the CIC and current projects below.
Whilst Newton Abbot CIC was originally established to deliver the Newton Abbot & District Community Plan published in 2008, our work is now broader than the projects of the original Plan, and focuses on three core areas:
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Management of community centres and core project activities;
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Supporting other organisations with their activities;
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Asking people for their views and suggestions about how to change or improve the town.
The CIC is registered with Companies House. We work in partnership with a wide range of public and voluntary organisations in the town. If you are interested in getting involved in the work of the CIC you can volunteer for one of our projects, or become a member. As a member, you can attend and vote at our Annual General Meeting.
Who are Newton Abbot CIC?
Newton Abbot CIC is a not-for-profit organisation. As such, we rely on grant funding for all our project work. Current activities are funded by a variety of sources including the National Lottery, Newton Abbot Town Council, Arts Council England and Teignbridge District Council. Income generated from room rental at the community centres is reinvested in the overhead costs of running those centres.
The CIC has six directors who are all volunteers. The current Directors are:
Lynn McElheron
John Pike
Carol Bunday
John Addy
Rosemary Roscoe
Jackie Hook
The CIC has a small staff team. Whilst the team operates as one team, some members of the team are employed by Newton Abbot Centre Association.
Our Team
Our team work across our community venues throughout the week as well as on various projects across Newton Abbot. You can get in touch with us at:
info@newtonabbotcic.org.uk
The CIC also employs a Weekend/Relief cleaner, Claire Lewis who is based at the Buckland Centre.
Since the CIC was created, its remit has evolved in response to needs within the local community. Our current areas of work include:
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Our Work
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Running the Buckland Centre and the Courtenay Centre in Newton Abbot. Both are busy community centres offering a range of community activities, as well as rooms for private hire. The CIC holds the lease for the Buckland Centre, and works in partnership with Newton Abbot Centre Association to manage the Courtenay Centre on behalf of the Association.
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Managing the Buckland Hub Project. The Project provides advice and support for people living in the Buckland area of Newton Abbot. The Project works in partnership with a number of organisations including Buckland Support, Citizens Advice Teignbridge, Teign Housing, the local foodbanks and Teignbridge District Council. The majority of those seeking help are either in debt, have housing issues or are dealing with significant physical/mental health issues.
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Running The Base Youth Club. The Club meets on a Friday evening at the Buckland Centre and attracts up to 50 primary school aged children. The Club offers a variety of educational, sporting and craft activities. For many of the young people, the Club is the only affordable out of school activity they attend.
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Organising a team of volunteer gardeners. Our gardening team maintain spaces around Newton Abbot with the permission of the landowner. These include the open space under Penn Inn roundabout where our team has carried out extensive planting since completion of the flyover.
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Providing the Newton Abbot Community Fridge. This collects surplus food from local supermarkets and makes it available free of charge to the local community. The fridge is outside, so food is available 24/7.
Managing the Tunnels of Love Project. This project will shortly be installing art in the subways under the River Lemon and at Penn Inn roundabout. The idea is to transform the subways from dingy tunnels to safer, cleaner spaces where art created by the community is on display.
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Supporting Ukrainian guests arriving in the local area. The CIC provides a range of social events, supports guests with individuals needs and delivers English lessons.
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Delivering projects in response to a local needs. For example, we’ve secured the funding for a defibrillator and a toy library at Hele Park.
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Supporting other organisations by providing bookkeeping or project management services in response to their needs. For example, we provide bookkeeping services for Buckland Support, a local registered charities.
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The CIC loves to ask residents what they think about issues in the town. We have supported Newton Abbot Town Council with the preparation of the Newton Abbot Neighbourhood Plan, and the updated Newton Abbot & District Community Plan. We have also carried out extensive consultation in Houghton Barton, asking residents what they think about their community.
This often leads to new project work. For example, the consultation work in Houghton Barton has led to us working with Teignbridge District Council and the local NHS to develop plans for a new Health & Wellbeing Centre for the Houghton Barton area.
