Still waiting to hear about shops – this is the bad part of the project …..I’m not good at waiting around :(
I have made an offer on the one next door to the post office but with some stipulations – haven’t heard back yet.
Time wise, I really want to be in the shop by April to give us a full month in the run up to the Butterfly Park annual Open Day in May so I hope things start to move a bit faster soon.
I’ve only had 2 official submissions now but so many have requested the details I think there will be a flurry of them right at the last minute. Cannot wait to go through all of the proposals, the team and I will have tough time deciding who to choose I think as just via emails some of the ideas sound fabulous.
I saw this today http://www.bringbackthebutterflies.org.uk/ it’s a great site about a community in Camden trying to work together to have butterfly attracting plants in the empty spaces, so similar to what I am trying to achieve in New Ferry, really glad I found it and have contacted the guy who is running the project, it would be great to get his slant on things, see how it’s working there and how it could work for us too.
I went to speak to Ladbrokes today as they own/pay rent + are based right next door to the empty shop within the shopping precinct that I have my eye on.
Their shop is like a tardis. you go inside the small facade of a Ladbrokes shop and they have extended internally so their space now covers the whole of the back of the other shop too, obviously why they have that one.
Don’t understand why they didnt just have a massive double fronted shop though.
So the shop I’d like to use is half the length of any of the others in the road.
This wouldn’t be a major problem, artists are used to working in small spaces, it would use less electricity etc but I still haven’t seen inside. I suspect there is no bathroom or even a sink to wash brushes as it would make sense these would have been at the back where the Ladbrokes extension now sits.
Just guessing mind. Perhaps there is a way to incorporate a sink but a resident artist would need a loo you’d think.
I’ve left a message for the manager to call me tomorrow.
The Co-op still haven’t got in touch so it’s looking more likely we may use the one next door to the post office. I might write and make an offer next week, try to see if the landlord might give us a bit of a discount, we are a charity and we are doing a community project, it has to be worth his/her while to be supportive you’d think….hope.
More enquiries coming in from artists, suprisingly quite a few now from out of the area. I keep having to write back and explain there is no accomodation attached to the residencies nor any money to help pay for that unfortunately.
There’s always couchsurfing.com tho.
The no accomodation thing doesn’t seem to have put many people off thankfully.
Pricing up banners and signs today and contacting potential sponsors re supplying a multitude of butterfly and bee attracting seeds for us. I’d like to be able to make up arty packs to give away to New Ferry residents or sell to any visitors out of the area.
I have been offered a property now, it’s not my first choice and I’m holding back to hear from one of other shops before I sign anything but at least we’ll have somewhere now.
Its next door to the post office and on the main road so I know it’ll have passing traffic both by car and also on foot.
I really would like to be in the heart of the community though and to me thats right in the ‘town’ centre. I say town in inverted commas as New Ferry seems (to me) too small to be classed as a town, maybe village would suit better.
The village of Port Sunlight with all its historic beauty and tourism is hopping distance away. I’d love one day for New Ferry to be as sought after a destination. Not may other small villages have 4 butchers and a fruit and veg shop, a bank, a post office, a pet store, DIY shop and multiple charity shops. It has so much potential!
We’ve had lots of interest from artists about the mini residencies, I am really excited now to read how ever many proposals we get through, I have a feeling there will be many and so far all of them sound really amazing. How thrilling to be on the brink of this amazing project, cant wait to see how it all turns out.
