Introducing Kevin French

Hello,

My name is Kevin French and I want to tell you how I got involved with the Little Dunmow Community Buildings Trust.

In June 2023, the Parish Council met with Dandara Eastern Ltd to discuss issues with the 160-house development on Moors Field. On the agenda was a community building which the developer is obliged to build and gift to the community. This building was to be a 100 square meters in area (the size of a semi-detached house).

This started a train of thought, the proposed community building is small, what if we could have a bigger building that give more benefit to the community?

At present, Little Dunmow has a security cabin on the recreation ground as the only place available for residents to meet. We had learned from community engagement for the Neighbourhood Plan that a more suitable building was needed.

I spoke with Liz Clark, a fellow Parish Council member, and we decided to investigate the possibility of securing a larger building. Dandara Eastern was approached and was very supportive, basically saying, tell us what you want, we will help deliver it, but further funding will be required.

The Parish Council is not the best organisation to apply for grant funding, we needed to set up a charity. We also needed to find like-minded people to put themselves forward as trustees. I am amazed how generous and hard-working my fellow trustees are, and on 18th June 2024, the Little Dunmow Community Buildings Trust achieved charitable status (registered no. 1208720).

Our aim is to deliver the best community building possible for the residents of Little Dunmow.