No 4, Market Street
Inspiring Cooperative Action for A Greener Life
We are now transforming No 4 Market Place into a new friendly, creative, multi-use space at the heart of Cockermouth's historic Market area.
Follow this project as it emerges from the floods and building dust!
After its opening in April, Riversmeet Community Resource will be offering information, practical workshops and sustainable development project services. Riversmeet Community Resource is a space we want to share, to try out new things and inspire creative cooperation with new members and partners.
It will provide a focus for our networks and projects offering:
1. Ideas and Information on Home Energy, Community Food, Design and Reuse of Materials
2. Green products and services
3. Skills workshops and training
4. Community Meeting Space
As well as a community facility to hire and a shop window and street presence for Riversmeet Projects, the space will be used flexibly; so one day maybe upholstery workshops and the next bread baking, the windows will be used to advertise workshops and events in the building and off site.
Upgrading the Building
Groundwork purchased the flooded former Home Housing Offices on Market Street in 2011 and Riversmeet have worked with them to secure the resources and skills to turn our long term vision for our Community Resource Building into reality.
Riversmeet Member Ian Headford is Project Managing the retrofit of the building to improve its energy rating from G (the lowest possible) to B and will be recording the progress on site as it happens. The upgrading of the building will provide a demonstration model for how to upgrade existing buildings and improve their thermal efficiency. Local residents can then come and see how we did the upgrade, what our limitations were and how we made the decisions.
Our aim is to use local suppliers and craftsmen wherever possible and the work includes:-
- Raising and insulating the floor and installing underfloor heating
- Install cavity wall insulation + 70mm Kingspan External wall insulation and Silicone Render.
- 300mm of Thermafleece sheep's wool insulation in loft.
- Install Monodraught Sunlight Tubes to first floor.
- Replacing the existing single glazed windows with wooden framed double glazed window
- Installing a condensing boiler
This will be the first phase of a three phase strategy for the Riversmeet resource centre.
For more information on the upgrade of the building, consult our section in Community Energy.
Future Development
The upgraded building will be a catalyst to the development of the local green economy, addressing fuel poverty, waste, local food production and the need for help and guidance to the local people, budding entrepreneurs and fledgling green businesses. Creating opportunities and providing support for young people, the unemployed and those in career transitions is an important focus. We will support the transition to a Low Carbon Economy by bringing together the development of people and skills with support for community entrepreneurship and emerging environmental enterprises centred on the Market Town of Cockermouth.
Riversmeet are developing training and skills programmes in Local Food, Home Energy and in creative reuse of materials to provide the fixtures and fittings: seating, tables, display and storage. Training will be supported by professionals in different areas to provide inspiration, technical support and equipment. The participants will gain new skills and engage people in shaping a new community facility. For more information on the Upcycling of the centre, see our section in Design&Reuse.
A Community Response to Sustainable Renewal
The Riversmeet Community Resource Project is a practical community lead response to a rapidly changing context, that will practically support emerging projects and community initiatives.
Following the recent Cockermouth Locality Planning process, the importance of social enterprise in tackling local problems was emphasised. Riversmeet Community Cooperative and its new Community Resource providesa focus for active citizens seeking support for new sustainable community enterprises.
Low Carbon Community Enterprise
Our aim is to work in partnership with Groundwork over the next two years to develop our long term business plan to enable the Resource Centre to become financially viable by developing revenue streams from Green Products and Services including Practical Skills Training for Sustainable Living. Riversmeet will initially use the building to deliver their current work programme, that brings together its network of over 200 actively involved local people. In the first two years Riversmeet will further develop our business model and work with partners to provide stepping stones for people and organisations to contribute to building the Green Economy.