Jack Woodley, senior consultant, BookingsPlus and Kajima Community urges councils to think differently about how they save community hubs.
The pandemic pulled into sharp focus just how vital community hubs and public spaces are for communities in times of crisis. While community centres, town halls, and social and educational clubs closed to comply with lockdown restrictions, many of these places were repurposed by communities to offer essential services and then readapted for people to connect when restrictions were lifted.
Despite grants from local authorities and government funding, the economic ripples of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis continue to impact the use of community hubs, and we are seeing frequent headlines about closures up and down the country. But the essential support these places provide for local people and vulnerable groups remains critical, with services and activities to tackle isolation, support mental health and resilience, and even to provide warmth during the winter months for those struggling with rising energy costs.
While it is no silver bullet, local authorities can help prevent community hubs from shutting their doors for good by embracing technology to make public spaces easier for people to access, bringing in vital funds to reinvest in services, and additional health, social and wellbeing benefits for their communities. Proptech is already used to optimise how people research, market, and manage property in the private sector. Online platforms such as Airbnb and Rightmove have revolutionised how people book holiday accommodation or look for a new home. Digital twin technologies like Matterport are being used in new residential developments, restaurants and even museums to provide an immersive virtual tour of the spaces.
But, while many councils have embraced community engagement and digital tools to give residents a voice in public consultations, most have been slow to adopt proptech to manage public buildings effectively.
This is beginning to change, however: Hackney Council is a prime example of a local authority that is striving to do things differently. Until recently, there was very little digital presence for 37 community halls managed by the council, with no information listed on a building’s capacity, price or availability for anyone wanting to book or hire space. Furthermore, if someone knew what they wanted, they had to call to make an individual booking and either pay over the telephone or at the council’s self-service payment centre.
This meant the process for potential bookings was not as efficient as it could have been. The result was that people living in Hackney were missing out and often unaware of the venues and services available in their area. Realising the gap, in February this year, we worked with Hackney Council to help it become the first local authority in the country to offer virtual tours of its community halls. In the coming months the new platform will allow users to book and crucially pay online in one seamless process, dramatically improving the customer experience.
Integrating technology like this on the council’s website means local people and community groups will be able to search for and book spaces quicker and more conveniently from one centralised platform and make payments online. At the same time, the council benefits from a centralised platform which can be easily marketed.
According to our research, the ease of booking community spaces via a user-friendly platform can bring about 1.5 times more page views and 14 times more booking requests. New Kingshold Community Centre in the Victoria Park area of Hackney is a prime example of what can be achieved. The centre is on a quiet residential street without much footfall, meaning many local people might not have even known it was there. However, bookings increased by 124% once the space was listed online.
Another example is Whiston & Goldsmith Community Centre, which is a large centre tucked away on one of the Council’s housing estates close to the vibrant Broadway Market. Once the centre was listed online with a virtual tour, bookings increased by 104%.
The boost in funding provided by increased venue hire helps provide stretched councils with additional resources towards maintaining and even improving their community buildings. Adopting technology can help keep the doors of community centres and town halls open and open up new opportunities for people within communities to come together in good times or challenging ones.
