Background

Boomerang is a project which has been developed by St. John the Baptist Church, a well established Church situated in the Stobswell area of Dundee. The Church obtained funding from the National Charities Community Fund in 1999 to purchase and refurbish premises attached to the Church and to develop this as a focus for community regeneration. Stobswell is a community to the east of Dundee. It is an area made up of a mixture of privately owned houses and flats, and both private and local authority rented accommodation. It has a busy road, Albert Street, running through its centre linking the city centre to the Kingsway ring road. Boomerang is ideally situated on the main road making it easily accessible to both public and private transport.

Premises

The Project is based in St.Johns Halls at 110 Albert Street, in the heart of the Stobswell community. Both halls have recently been completely renovated to provide office space, a dedicated IT suite, disabled toilets, and a ramp and lift system to allow access to all levels, and the kitchen rebuilt and refurbished to a high standard to provide food and refreshments for the lunch clubs and community events. The premises provide a flexible space and are suitable for a variety of different groups and activities- including lunch clubs, meetings, IT training, parent and toddler groups, social activities, as well as large scale community forums and consultations. The halls are accessible, delivering services and providing opportunities locally, right in the centre of the community.

 

Aims and Objectives

The Key aim of the Project is to develop a safe, welcoming place in the heart of the community, which would become the focus for vulnerable groups within the community, (isolated, elderly, single parents, unemployed, ethnic groups and those with a history of mental health problems) developing activities and drawing the wider community together to identify issues and take action to reverse the general decline of the area and to promote community regeneration.

The rationale underpinning the project is based on research which shows that, by being involved in activities and groups within their own communities, local people experience an increase in confidence, skills, sense of belonging and responsibility, bringing benefits to the whole community, increasing community capacity and thus promoting community regeneration.

 

The Project's Objectives are:

 To provide a high quality of community services in the Stobswell area of Dundee To provide high quality training and work experience for the unemployed, helping them towards a better chance of future employment.

 

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 Boomerang,

110 Albert Street

Dundee