Our mission has always been to provide a community facility in Hereford which promotes health, wellbeing, fitness and social inclusion for all ages, backgrounds and abilities through the all-inclusive sport of roller-skating as well as a community hub for local groups and charities to use for social, promotional and recreational projects.
We offer practical support for ideas and dreams that people of the community have. We encourage them to try things for themselves, organise and run events and get involved with running the Core; learning new skills and getting more active. The Core is a socially accepting and diverse project open to the whole community to put their dreams into practice and this is shown in our partnership with the local SEN school and college and home educated children who use our space for a wide range of activities- including roller-skating!
In August 2014 a small group of 6 volunteers took over an empty industrial unit helped by an online crowd funding project (which raised £3000 in two weeks), and set about to transform it into somewhere that could be a multi-discipline roller skating hub, a community centre and an alternative venue just outside the centre of Hereford. Now the Core boasts over 20 regular volunteers, 60 hours of roller skating tuition a month to skaters young and old, and the county's only unaffiliated Junior Roller Derby Team, The Poison Berries. We have given a permanent home to the county archery group, enabling them to practice through the winter months, where previously there was nowhere for them to go AND we host regular events for local charities and foundations. We have increased voluntary participation and helped bring awareness of many charities and community groups to the wider community and improved the participation of disabled people in sport with our structured and specialised groups.
We also share our space with local people wishing to begin fitness and sports groups of their own as well as community and disabled groups needing a little bit more room. All our coaches, directors and managers are voluntary and work The Core around their busy lives. We are the only roller rink in our region, possibly the country, to operate in this way. As a result of this we can regularly have up to 200 people rollerskating over a weekend, getting active and being with family and friends where there was no facility to do so before.
Since the beginning The Core has worked tirelessly to secure funding from Sport England to provide a beautiful sprung Canadian maple floor for the rink, skates and safety equipment and grown our tuck shop into a small cafe, offering healthy snacks and drinks.
We have come a long way from one session a week roller skating in a school hall to turning an industrial unit into a family friendly accessible sports and social facility in just 18 months and need to step up the work we do in the community to grow even more.
We were awarded Herefordshire Community Project of the Year 2015 (runners up in 2014) by Hereford City Council for our work with young people and adults; we are incredibly proud of this achievement as there were many other worthy causes in our category and our team of volunteers work exceptionally hard seven days a week to support our community. With our winnings we were able to secure a bouncy castle which we share with our community, lending it to charity and community events for free so they can raise funds for their charity/community group.
The Core offers a variety of roller-skating sessions for all ages and abilities, from British Roller Sports Federations basic skills courses run by Level 2 coaches, to social roller events and team roller sports activities. We work with schools, colleges and groups to provide the kind of activities they require.
We also run regular craft clubs and classes for the local community of all abilities to learn something new at an affordable cost.
We benefit local community groups such as a local Archery club, a children's holiday activity club, an autism and Asperger's support group and a local Laser tag community who all find it difficult to access indoor facilities that will allow them to run their community groups safely and on a regular basis.
The Core also offers hall hire to local residents with one off and regular bookings at a reasonable sustainable cost as well as holding regular fundraisers for local and national charities.
Our venue is also a place where people can source information on how to get involved voluntarily or as a participant in roller skating and other community groups using the facility, strengthening community links across the region.
The opening of The Core has allowed groups to grow participation with regular sessions promoting social inclusion, raising self-esteem and confidence in vulnerable individuals and groups.
In short: our facility is not just for sport and recreation; it also serves as a key hub for community and charity groups across Herefordshire and the surrounding areas.
