This summer, people in Shap are celebrating ten years since they took over the Old Courthouse in the village.
It now houses art exhibitions and performances as well as the village library, a playgroup, and meetings by a number of local groups. The Old Courthouse also jointly stages a monthly Farmers and Makers Market alongside Shap Parish Council, showcasing local produce and crafts.
Local beekeeper Dave Staples is a regular at the Market during the summer months when he has jars of his own honey to sell. “It's a great asset to the community all around. And the market gives local traders a chance to show off their produce and wares.”
Another regular is Teresa Martin of Cake-a-Licious in Shap, where she is also the school dinner lady. “The market brings a lot of people here, it brings everybody together. It's very community based.”
It was in 2013 that the then Shap Building Group first began talks with representatives of all the different groups in the village and local council members about the future of the Old Courthouse. The Shap Building Group became the Shap Community CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) which took over the building from the former Cumbria County Council. This was done as a Community Asset Transfer, which gives local people greater control over local assets. Such transfers are vetted to ensure the proposal is sustainable and financially viable so it can bring long term benefits to the community.
Janet Wood chairs the Trustees of Shap Community CIO, which has overseen a number of changes to the building since they took control in 2015. “It's improved enormously with the various things we've been able to do. The main feature really would be the introduction of the gallery and exhibition space, which has enabled lots of different things to take place in there. It's also fully accessible throughout. And we added the terrace outside as well.” The terrace is now used on market days by a band who entertain visitors.
As a charity, the Old Courthouse aims to increase visitor numbers to Shap as well as providing a social space for the community, such as the celebration they hosted for local people to commemorate the VE Day anniversary. Various groups, including writers and musicians, meet there regularly, and the building hosts regular concerts and performances. Janet Wood said it is a significant achievement to have reached the tenth anniversary. She hopes the next ten years will see the Old Courthouse continue to flourish. “We have plans to make the Old Courthouse more sustainable, increasing the energy efficiency to reduce the carbon impact and the cost of keeping it going. We also want to see more people from Shap and elsewhere using the building. We have a variety of rooms available for hire, our venue has its own parking space and is easy to access from the A6 and M6 making it an ideal meeting place for groups across Cumbria."
Helen Chaffey, the Westmorland and Furness Council Cabinet Member for Communities, Customer Services, Culture and Communications has praised the Shap Old Courthouse reaching this tenth anniversary. “The Old Courthouse in Shap is an excellent example of a successful Community Asset Transfer and Community Power in action. By passing the building over to the local Trustees, they have been able to create a thriving community hub with a very wide range of activities. Westmorland and Furness Council welcomes applications from other communities where people are passionate about new or expanded uses of council-owned sites, as Community Asset Transfers provide an opportunity for more efficient and effective use of buildings and land currently owned by the council, giving local people and communities greater control over local assets and the services delivered from them.”
See this video for more about this story: https://youtu.be/hzNEJ9zC0ck
For more information about Shap Old Courthouse visit: Home - The Old Courthouse
For more information about applying for a Community Asset Transfer visit: Community Asset Transfer | Westmorland and Furness Council