Senior’s Facilities Project New Futures Senior’s Facilities Project

The project MPSC has 21 Seniors groups, 10 of which are based in dedicated “Seniors Halls”. The project focused on the 10 clubs that occupied Seniors halls to establish what is working and where the challenges lie. Information was gathered from interviews with the committee members of these clubs.

Club usage 5 Seniors clubs- Increasing membership 3 Seniors clubs - Static 3 Seniors clubs - Decreasing Four clubs “hire” space to other groups, Fees vary. Weekly or one off. Ad hoc approach. Four clubs have invited smaller existing groups/ activities to join the club. This increases membership and range of activities available One club doesn’t share at all. Two already have formal sharing arrangements (organised through the shire)

One successful approach Four clubs invited small (senior focused) activities groups to use the club premises. E.g. craft, Scottish dancing, table tennis. These groups become members of the Senior’s club The result was an increased membership, increased activities offered and in some cases, the smaller groups could free themselves from the obligations of incorporation. Clubs that removed the word “Seniors” from their title all noticed a marked increase in membership numbers.

Challenges A sense of club ownership over the premises. Embracing change (those clubs that had recently changed names). Fear concerning being forced to share premises. No “one size fits all” will solve all the issues. Lack of consistency or current policy regarding shared premises.

Supporting change Developed a document outlining the steps to changing the name of a club Helped clubs connect with smaller activity groups Helped mediate where there were issues or concerns between groups. Council is currently developing a policy of shared use of facilities. The findings from this project will be used to inform that policy.