Selsey Pavilion - Our Journey Part One

The Beatles hit "The Long and Winding Road" sums up the journey taken so far. There are plenty more hills to climb and bends to negotiate but the Selsey Pavilion Trust is on track towards achieving its ultimate dream. This is the first of two blogs that will chart the steps that we have taken along the way. The aim is to provide a behind the scenes insight into what goes on to facilitate achieving such a dream. Hopefully it will be of interest and possibly help other organisations who may wish to embark upon a similar journey.

The Trust was formed in 2017 and a Blue Plaque was unveiled on the Pavilion by Ellis Berg who launched a "Call to arms" to save the Selsey Pavilion. The ambition was to bring the building, that had largely laid empty and unloved since the closure of a food packing station, back to life. The first step was undertaken in March 2020 when a meeting was held with a representative from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to assess the potential viability of such a project. The feedback was positive but the message was laced with a warning that the journey would be far from being straightforward. The outbreak of Coronavirus shortly afterwards further complicated matters.

The trust applied to the Architectural Heritage Fund in 2021. The A.H.F. exists to help communities find enterprising ways to revitalise old buildings through their "Transforming Places Through Heritage" programme. The initial grant of £15,000 was designed to support a robust community-led feasibility study, business plan and fundraising strategy. In 2022 additional funding of £40,000 from A.H.F. was secured. This allowed us to conduct further surveys, update our business plan, and develop a phase 1 architectural plan in preparation for an application to the Government's "Community Ownership Fund".

Many groups face the predicament of requiring finance and needing a guiding light. The support that the Trust received from the A.H.F. was the crucial factor in transforming a "pipe-dream" into a realistic target. The financial input was vital but the advice and expertise offered so willingly was a key element in helping the Trust move forward. The Trust felt that it was now ready for the next step on the journey, the daunting prospect of putting together a detailed application to the "Community Ownership Fund". This fund formed part of the "Levelling Up" process initiated by the government. Applying for funding is fraught with potential downfalls. The majority of applications fail for a variety of reasons. Applying to a fund does not entail a guarantee of success, but there are ways to mitigate that risk. Firstly, to ensure that you meet the funder's requirements for the category of cause they support, then to answer each question within the word limit, followed by acknowledging how the success of the outcomes will be quantified. Applications can run into many pages and require careful proof reading to correct basic spelling and grammar errors, avoiding needless repetition and above all, should be custom built to fit the funder's requirements. A "one size fits all" cut and paste application is likely to fall flat. The funding bid was completed in December 2022 and then the nerve wracking wait began.

March 2023 was a defining month in the history of the trust. The news broke that funding of £299,400 had been secured of which almost £250,000 was earmarked for capital funding. This represented a huge step towards securing the purchase of the Pavilion. Crucially, this award would also give the trust greater credibility with other funders. However, there was no cause for complacency as the clock was ticking, as this award had a 12 month shelf life, and considerable matched funding had to be acquired within a short time frame to avoid the C.O.F. fund lapsing. What we did not envisage was how much of a cliff-hanger was going to develop in the next twelve months. Nails would be bitten and nerves shredded.

The second blog will complete the story.