This month, the team at Norwich Unity Hub announce that they are on the lookout for the next home for Norfolk’s charities, social enterprises and community organisations
When Norwich Unity Hub first opened the doors to Carrow House, we hoped to prove there was a need for affordable, collaborative workspace for charities, social enterprises and community organisations.
We didn’t anticipate how big the need was.
Today, Carrow House is full. Every office is occupied, our artist studios are thriving, our function rooms are in constant use, and our wider membership community continues to grow. More importantly, the building has become home to collaborations that simply wouldn’t have happened if organisations were working in isolation. Conversations over coffee have become partnerships. Shared spaces have become shared ideas. Individual organisations have become a genuine community.
But alongside this success sits another story. We now have a waiting list of 28 organisations and individuals looking for space. Twenty-eight charities, CICs, social enterprises, creatives and community projects that need somewhere affordable to work, meet, create or deliver services. Some need just a small office. Others are looking for studios, workshop space or somewhere to welcome the people they support.
It tells us something important. The challenge facing the voluntary and community sector isn’t always funding. Sometimes it’s simply finding somewhere to exist.
Across Norfolk there are underused buildings sitting quietly behind locked doors. Former offices. Community buildings. Empty commercial spaces. Old schools. Buildings waiting for a new purpose.
At Norwich Unity Hub, we’ve always believed that buildings should serve communities, not stand empty. Carrow House has shown what can happen when an underused building is given a new life. It has become a place where organisations share resources, reduce costs, support one another and ultimately increase the impact they have across Norfolk.
Now we’re asking a bigger question. Where could the next Norwich Unity Hub be?
We’re primarily looking in Norwich, but we’d happily explore opportunities anywhere across the county. It could be a small building that becomes home to a single charity. It could be a larger site where multiple organisations can work side by side. What matters isn’t the size or prestige of the building. It’s the potential.
We’re interested in talking to landlords, local authorities, businesses, trusts, developers or anyone who knows of a building that deserves a second chapter. Because every time we unlock a building, we create opportunities for the people inside it to make an even bigger difference outside it.
If you know of a space that could become the next home for Norfolk’s charities, social enterprises and community organisations, we’d love to start a conversation.
Sometimes changing a community starts with simply opening the right door.
Featured image of a recent Deaf Connexions Workshop at Carrow House – supplied
Could you consider the old Angel Road School in NR3?