Some questions (and answers) from Alison, The Mill’s Chair

Q: What’s been going well so far and why?
Alison: We’ve been making really good progress and have had hours and hours of hard working volunteer contribution.  We have identified skilled professional volunteers to complement our enthusiastic and hard working ‘amateurs’.  We’re about to have a registered charity (with very well considered constitutional documents) and a 15 year lease on our building with the council (the building was our greatest uncertainty at the start of the project). Our staff have been recruited from a strong and sizeable pool of candidates and start at the end of the month. 

We finally get our hands on the building lease
Q: What are the most challenging things you’ve faced so far and why?
Alison: The sheer pace and enormity of what we’ve been dealing with.  Council pace of working that has often not been compatible with this.
Q: How have the community been involved in the project set up so far?
Alison: We are run by community volunteers and lots of people have been coming forward and offering time and skills.  They have come in substantial numbers to ‘open visiting’ sessions where we’ve thrown the doors open to the public and talked to them about the project’s potential.  The community will have much greater involvement once (within weeks) the building is open and the new charitable structure is in place.
Q: Has anything surprising happened, within or around your project so far?
Alison Erm, we’re still here and this is all happening ?!
We’ll be back soon with more news on our staff, who start next week,