The Mill is a community hub for Cottingham and Middleton. It’ll be located on the Village acre, a piece of land next to the recreation field on Berryfield Road.
This linoleum block picture of the old water mill (above) was produced by Alston A Kisby, former headmaster at the old Cottingham School.
The name ‘The Mill’ is inspired by the old water mill on Mill Road which was a favourite of the late Keith Allsop, who kick started the new hall project over 15 years ago.
As the entrance to the new hall will be on Mill Road, the name also ties in nicely with its location and we hope ‘The Mill’ will eventually become a vibrant and active hub for the whole community. Planning permission for The Mill was granted in August 2019.
The Cottingham and Middleton Mill community hub was formed as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in October 2019, replacing the previous charitable body, the Cottingham and Middleton Village Hall Trust (Northants).
The board have seen a significant reduction in available funding pots to support the construction of new buildings. Typically, the small amount of funding that is available has tight “green” credentials within its criteria. This means that the current plans for the proposed new building would need significant tweaking and, potentially, re-submission for Planning Permission. We recognise that these factors will cause significant delays to the long-term objective of building a new structure.
Set out below are the agreed goals for the next few years to ensure we have a future-proof solution to the sustainability and profitability of our current community facility.
Short, Medium & Long Term Goals
| Short Term | Medium Term | Long Term |
| Transfer the Village acre & annex to The Mill Board | Fundraising for longer term objectives. Inc grants, lottery funding etc., local/national businesses. | Review short and medium term goals. |
| Centre Management Plan | External land review, what it could be used for? i.e football, hockey, rugby, athletics. | Have we achieved what we set out? |
| Conduct new insight, review current facility to meet the needs of the community | Park refurbishment | Assess do we need a new community hub? Based on decisions, review fundraising |
| Annex improvements, to improve current offering, increase bookings to maximise income | Outdoor facade inc possible outdoor patio/ seating/ tables/ umbrellas etc | Build next phase plan |
The Mill Board of Trustees are made up of the following people who are all responsible for driving the above goals forward:
- Simon Hempson-Medwell, Chair
- Leigh Morrell, Vice Chair
- Joanne Leaning, Treasurer
- George West-Robinson
- Sarah Brant
- Andrew Butcher
- Mike Curtis
- Owen Davison
- Peter Tyldesley
- Sian Coughlan