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Community hub 'revives village soul' after Covid

Bea SwallowWest of England
News imageBBC A view into the entrance of the Staunton and Corse Community Hub, through the sage-green exterior door of the Swan pub. There is a chalkboard on the inside of the door with scrawled white handwriting welcoming visitors inside. BBC
A group of volunteers rallied together to create a community space to combat social isolation

Volunteers who founded a community hub say it has restored a sense of "purpose" in their village following a prolonged period of isolation.

The Staunton and Corse Community Hub in Gloucester is run by a group of residents who rallied together after the village lost its garden centre, shop, and only remaining pub - leaving people without a place to meet or socialise.

The group bought the Swan pub from its previous owners and reopened in 2022 through a combination of community fundraising, grants, and share offers.

"It's an integral part of the community," said resident Stephen Joule. "The village had lost a lot of soul, but it's places like this where the soul will be revived."

News imageJulie Capper sitting in the community hub, wearing a black blouse , a gold pendant necklace and black framed glasses. She has short strawberry blonde hair and is wearing a peachy-pink lipstick, smiling at the camera. Behind her you can see various tables set up in the room and people playing skittles in the restored alley.
Community hub chair Julie Capper wanted to create a welcoming space where people could meet new friends and socialise

Group chair Julie Capper said the pandemic had led to a loss of resources and a gradual erosion of "community spirit" among village residents.

"We had no focal point," she said. "It became a desolate, meaningless existence.

"There was nowhere for people to meet up, it was just empty space. The village didn't have any purpose - people were isolated and it was very depressing.

"I just thought 'I need to do something'."

News imageA woman wearing black bowling a skittles ball down a long wooden aisle inside a pub.
Local builders wanted to give back to the community by restoring the skittles alley, which had been covered since around 2010

The hub officially opened its doors in June 2022.

The venue now offers group activities three times a week - including a book club, bingo and quiz nights, knit and natter group, and rhyme time for mum's and babies.

On Wednesday, volunteers got together for a skittles competition to help celebrate the official reopening of its alley - which had been covered since 2010.

They played against a team of local builders who helped restore the wooden structure as their way of giving back to the community.

News imageNigel Gisby wearing a colourful checked shirt and black framed rectangular glasses. He has black and grey hair and facial hair. He is standing inside the pub, which has cream walls, wooden furniture and warm overhead lighting.
Local resident and volunteer Nigel Gisby said the group helped restored his sense of self

Volunteer Nigel Gisby told the BBC he had become "tied to the village" after suffering chemical poisoning, a heart attack and two major strokes.

When resources shut down around him, the former carpenter and builder said he felt isolated and lost.

"I didn't know who I was, what I was, or where I belonged," he explained.

"When I came here and started to do things I began respecting myself. It's given me a meaning, to be quite honest.

"I got to know a different group of people and those people gradually started to help me know who I was again. It's made me a better person."

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