Send to: Lauren Humber, Property Strategy Manager, One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton, NN1 1ED

Or email: lauren.humber@westnorthants.gov.uk

Please also include your address.

Dear Lauren,

Re: Supporting the Umbrella to continue at the Pavilion, The Racecourse, Northampton.

I write to you in support of the Umbrella Fair’s application to continue to lease the Racecourse Pavilion and continue to provide much needed services to the local community.

The Umbrella has occupied the ground floor of the Racecourse Pavilion since 2013. During that time the organisation has refurbished the building, taking it from a closed, boarded up, disused building which attracted significant levels of anti-social behaviour into a valuable community resource used by a wealth of groups and individuals. They have done this work following their values and ethics; using local volunteers, re-using materials destined for landfill and funding it by their own activities.

They are a values led, grass roots organisation and incredibly unique. We are incredibly lucky to have such a committed local group of people doing such valuable work in our community.

The Umbrella is the only Climate Emergency Action Hub in the UK. The climate crisis is a real and imminent threat to all of us although timely and appropriate levels of response from our Governments & corporations is sadly missing. As the threat of the climate crisis becomes ever present with storms, flooding and wild fires all being regular occurrences, even here in Northamptonshire, we need a centre like the Umbrella Pavilion more than ever. The information, education and inspiration the Umbrella provides will help people understand the reasons and need to change their lifestyles to more sustainable, de-carbonised ways of living. The work they are doing will additionally support WNC to meet their ambitious target of net zero by 2040.

Music & art has always been at the core of the Umbrella and the events they hold at the pavilion have become a staple offering on the music and arts scene in Northampton. With the focus always being on local and heavily on original material and unseen talent, the continued provision of this much loved venue has to remain part of the cultural landscape of Northampton.

Ever since the Umbrella moved into the pavilion it has been a lighthouse for people experiencing turmoil in their lives. Many of those people once engaging repeatedly return to access the support and safety which the Umbrella provides. This is a service they have never advertised or promoted; it’s just happened organically, due to the nature of the way they operate. It can be said without doubt that Umbrella have saved lives and will continue to do so if they stay at the pavilion. Where will all those who feel safe there go if the Umbrella is not at the pavilion?

Many of the well being services they provide are informal. People just drop in to talk, come looking for some company and the next thing they know they are sharing with someone who is attentive to them, making them feel valued and valuable. Not being ‘done to’ but simply being engaged. This ‘individual focussed’ approach makes what Umbrella does, something very unique. Theirs is a non-medicalised, non-prescribed, person centred and individually focussed model. It’s also provided ‘free’.

Fundamental to the Umbrella is providing a ‘safe space’. It’s constantly being considered and worked upon. Not in a medical or corporate way, but in a relational, personal way. What they say to people, how they say it, how they approach people, particularly those in crisis or vulnerable is constantly and carefully considered. Because of this the Umbrella community and pavilion has become a sanctuary for many people. The place they feel safest. The place they feel accepted, understood, loved.

The Umbrella is a fantastic example of the ‘social enterprise’. Year on year they have increased the level of self generated funding and have provided their services and activities without any grant or local authority funding for many years. For value for taxpayers money they have no comparisons.

The vast majority of the services and events at the Umbrella are nil cost. For services and activities to be accessible they have to be affordable, which for many people is ‘free’. However at Umbrella they view ‘free’ from a different perspective. The exchange, the transaction is on a reciprocal arrangement, people bring their goodwill, their energy, their resourcefulness and most importantly their love. In a society which is fragmented and struggling with incredibly difficult times coming our way due to the climate crisis, we need communities built of mutual understanding and giving, that is the model which is the Umbrella. We need communities like the Umbrella more now than ever, they have to stay in the Pavilion. They are a shining example of what we need, they have to carry on.

The work they do is unique. The way they do it is unique. I fully support their application to stay at the pavilion and continue to do the incredibly valuable work that they do.

Please say yes to their application.

Yours sincerely.