Sorry for lack of contact for so long.  A quick update on what is happening re the Livesey.

At last year’s local elections there was a change in administration at Southwark and with it came a more positive approach to the future of the Livesey Museum.  We met with Cllr Ward (Member for Culture/ leisure) and she indicated that the Council would be looking for new proposals for a future use of the building.  However there was no commitment from the Council for any funding and given the current financial situation for local government, it seems likely that the Council will be looking for a self sustaining solution.

We understand that there have been various proposals put to the Council and we have offered to provide financial support using the money that was raised during the initial campaign (provided that whatever is proposed falls within our charitable remit).

The Council have now told us that a report on the future of the museum will be presented at the Cabinet meeting on 21/6/2011.  We have not yet seen the report but have been promised a copy plus a copy should be available on Southwark website when the meeting papers are published. 

Sorry we can’t be more informative at this stage.  We suggest that if you want to express your views on the report when it is released you contact Cllr Ward directly (would be helpful if you cc us to let us know the level of reponse) – her email is veronica.ward@southwark.gov.uk  

Regards

Liz Wilkinson, Friends of the Livesey Museum

Councillor Veronica Ward writes in the foreword: “I believe now is the right time to review the decision taken in 2008 to close the Livesey Museum for Children. The museum provided a stimulating educational experience for all children in Southwark. Unfortunately Theatre Peckham was unable to take up use of the building when offered in 2008. Since May 2010 we have sought to find organisations that may be interested in re-creating a community based educational centre and have kept in touch with the Friends of the Livesey Museum for Children, who wish to see continued community education and cultural use for this building. We believe that enough interest has now been raised to re-open the search for an alternative user for this building which can work within the terms of the Trust.”

You can read the full report here: http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=20061

If you have any thoughts, please comment below this post. We’ll be issuing a newsletter soon, to include our responses to this report.

We haven’t been in contact for a while so this letter is to update you on the current situation regarding the Livesey Museum and to ask for some feedback.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED

1) The new Livesey Trust Deed

Last October we asked you to write to the Charity Commission to object to revised Livesey Trust deed (“the Scheme”) proposed by Southwark Council, which kept Southwark Council as the sole trustee. This was very successful and due to the large number of objections received, the Charity Commission asked Southwark Council to reconsider the form of the trust deed. This process took so long that Charity Commission eventually closed the Scheme in May 2010 and have asked the Council to come forward with a revised proposal.

This means that until a new scheme is devised the building is governed by the original Livesey Trust deed of 1890 which says that it should be used forever as a free public library. Southwark Council believe that they need to resolve this issue to move forward with an alternative use for the building.

2) Theatre Peckham Withdraw

The Council voted in December 2008 to hand the building over to Theatre Peckham to use as a theatre workshop. After carrying out a feasibility study, Theatre Peckham told the Council in July 2010 that they were unable proceed due to the difficulty of raising the money they considered was necessary to convert the building.

3) The Election and its impact

In the May election, Labour gained control of Southwark Council. We have been in contact with the new cabinet member for culture, Veronica Ward, and she has indicated that the Council are now committed to finding a positive outcome for the building. In July 2010 the council published a press release on its website which contained the following statement:

“Given the importance of securing the future of the museum, Councillor Ward has asked officers to urgently look into the other options. Councillor is also going to speak to local groups connected with the museum. A report will be heard by the cabinet into the options. Keeping the building secure, in good condition and free from squatters is crucial to finding a permanent solution. In the short period while the council looks at the options, the building is being used by the popular Guardian scheme, which gives people the chance to rent affordable space to live in empty buildings”

The full text of the press release can be found here:

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/press/article/134/southwark_council_statement_on_livesey_museum

LET US KNOW YOUR VIEWS

We have been invited to meet with Councillor Ward and the council officers to discuss the future of the building. We would like to hear from you about what you would like to happen to the museum. Given the current economic climate, re-opening as a museum may not be the first choice so alternative ideas would be welcome, especially those which don’t require a huge amount of funding.

Email livesey.friends@googlemail.com

Thank you for your continued support

Liz Wilkinson, Treasurer, Friends of the Livesey Museum for Children

Dear Friends

Happy New Year.  This letter is to update you on the latest developments with the Livesey building and the Friends. It’s a year since the Council voted to lease the building to Theatre Peckham and progress has been slow but hopefully the Livesey Trust will soon be registered with the Charity Commission and Theatre Peckham can get cracking on the building.  In the meantime some Friends have been working on other projects designed to keep the legacy of the Livesey Museum alive and we need your help to progress. Thank you for your continued support.

Liz Wilkinson, Treasurer

A company limited by guarantee, registered in England no 6557697 and registered charity no 1126001. Website: http://liveseyfriends.wordpress.com Email: livesey.friends@googlemail.com Phone: 0207 635 8790. Registered office: 50 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BL

OCCUPATION OF THE BUILDING – SEND US YOUR VIEWS?

Last week a message appeared on the Facebook site as follows:

“Enough talk! It is time for this much loved building to be returned to the local community. A group of people recently moved into the beautiful Livesey building on the Old Kent Road. They are very aware of the history of the building and the amazing campaign to save the museum from closure and they will soon be announcing an open meeting to be held sometime over the weekend of 6th and 7th February. There will be an open invite for local people to come together and discuss their dreams and visions for the use of this space and together they can begin the practical steps needed to make these become a reality. We hope that you will support this initiative and come along to get involved. If you want to get in touch before the meeting then please email:livesey.museum.occupiers@googlemail.com”

Southwark Council have confirmed that the Livesey building has been occupied and that they are currently addressing this. This group are nothing to do with us and the posting on the Facebook site was the first we knew of this.  We have written to the occupiers explaining that the building has been promised to Theatre Peckham and that this will go ahead as soon as the Livesey Trust is finalised by the Charity Commission.

We have received some further information from the occupiers which states:

“We want to reassure you that nobody involved in this occupation would want this initiative to stop the building being re-opened in an official capacity as long as it is for a community use as George Livesey intended, however we think that two years is much too long for this building to be empty and unused. It could have been used productively by the local community for the past two years while the negotiations went on and we believe that while the next stage of the transition comes to fruition, we can open up the space and use it productively alongside the local community.”

We will post any further information about this and the occupier’s public meeting on our website. We will try to go to the meeting if it happens so please let us know your views so that we can represent your opinions fully. What do you think?  Email us on livesey.friends@googlemail.com

THEATRE PECKHAM – PROGRESS

We spoke to Suzy Smith, Executive Director of Theatre Peckham recently and she has told us:

“With the support of Southwark Council (who funded part of the feasibility), Theatre Peckham are carrying out a feasibility study into how much it will cost to renovate, fit out and run the building as a Performing Arts Education Space”

The results will be reported to the Theatre Peckham board in March and they’ll be able to update us with more information then.

CHARITY COMMISSION – THANK YOU TO ALL WHO RESPONDED

Thank you to everyone who responded to the Charity Commission about the draft scheme as for Southwark to be removed as sole trustee of the Livesey Building and replaced with a mixed board of councillors and local residents.  The response was sufficient to make the Commission go back Southwark to ask them to reconsider the composition of the Board of Trustees. We understand that Southwark has now responded to the Charity Commission and we are waiting to hear the outcome. We’ll post the news on the website as soon as we hear.

A NEW LIVESEY MUSEUM AT NEW CROSS GATE?

We recently met with New Cross Gate Partnership to discuss the possibility of a new home for a Livesey style museum in their new NDC centre at New Cross Gate.  The Centre will include GP Surgery, gym and other complimentary health uses, café, creche and multipurpose space. The main space identified for a Livesey-style facility is a 650 sqm area spec’d as a library and other uses. Although not in Southwark it is only 750m away from the old Livesey. Hence it can be easily accessible to people who used to use the Livesey.

The existing New Cross Library will occupy some of the space and the Partnership are looking for something else that will make it a ‘destination’. There is currently no earmarked funding for this additional fit out so any proposals would need to earn some revenue or be funded. Bridget McKenzie (a founder Friend) and her company Flow Associates are hoping to work for the Friends, with the NXG Partnership, on a feasibility study for such a development. The Partnership have offered matched funding for this study. They propose to commission a project with young people called “Grow Your Own Museum”, which will form part of the study. (See below.)

HOW TO SPEND £15K – SEND US YOUR VIEWS

We have received £15k in funding in response to some applications made during 2008, when the future of the building was uncertain. We were going to use this money for a Livesey style project solely with the Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark but there was a delay in progress, during which time the opportunity to work with the NXG Partnership arose. We have identified 2 possible uses for the money which are:

To give it to Theatre Peckham to be promote public access to the Livesey building when it is renovated, for example by supporting a project for young people in the Garden. We would not need to give the money to Theatre Peckham straight away but could hold it in reserve until the redevelopment of the Livesey building has made some progress; OR

To use the money for “Grow Your Own Museum” which involves working with local schools to develop creative learning resources that can feed a new Livesey or, if this does not materialise, stay in the schools. This will form part of the feasibility for the new facility in New Cross Gate but will also be a stand-alone project. It will make links with local museums, including the Fire Brigade Museum. It could be used as a demonstrator to help to raise funds for future similar projects. The Friends will commission people experienced in such work to carry it out.

Please tell us which project you prefer as we need to respond to NXG Partnership with their offer of funding. Or perhaps you have other ideas? These could relate to the Livesey building or could be educational projects designed to keep the legacy of the Livesey alive and ideally to benefit the people, and especially the children, who have lost out as a result of the Livesey closing.

Email us on livesey.friends@googlemail.com or comment on http://liveseyfriends.wordpress.com

I am just emailing to make sure that you are aware of all of the current facts concerning the LIvesey Museum building.

After the Council closed the museum in February 2008, The Friends of the Livesey Museum, our organisation, was instrumental in stopping the Council from selling the building by pointing out that it did not own it but held
it in trust under the terms of the Livesey Trust, set up in 1890.  Under this trust the building is to be used as a free public library for ever and Southwark Council is the sole trustee.

The Council are currently in the process of changing the terms of the Livesey Trust to allow the building to be used for general educational purposes.  This has to be done with the approval of the Charity Commission which is quite a long drawn out process (has been going on for about a year now).

Many of The Friends have made representations to the Charity Commission that the trusteeship of the building should be expanded to include local community representatives.  The Charity Commission have taken note of this and asked Southwark to consider this. The final decision on this aspect of the trust deed is still awaited and is in the hands of the Charity Commission.  See also this article in Third Sector magazine
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/archive/946471/Charity-Commission-asked-remove-Southwark-Council-sole-trustee-Livesey-Trust/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

Once the trust deed is finalised it is Southwark’s intention to lease the building to Theatre Peckham to use as theatre workshops and exhibition space.  Theatre Peckham are an established local charity with a track record of working with children and young people throughout Peckham.  They are committed to raising the money (exact sum unsure but at least £1 million) to renovate the building and turn it back into an asset for the whole community.  We undertand that they have the resources to support the running costs of the building.  They have been very open to all of our suggestions about how the building & garden can be accessible to all, not just children attending thier workshops.  We understand that they have already employed an architect and a fundraiser to work on the 1st stage of the project and I
believe that the local community council have committed funds to support this.

You can read more about them in this magazine, page 7:
http://www.peckhamforum.org.uk/UserFiles/file/Forum%20News-%20Aug%2009.pdf

I hope this is useful to you.  Maybe you knew it already but I am concerned that you realised that it is not just “talk” about the building, a viable use has been identified which will be of benefit to the local community just as soon as the legal processes can be finalised.

Many local people have been involved in the campaign to save the building and through lobbying the Charity Commission they are still working to ensure that local people have a voice in its fate.

We are glad that people still feel strongly about the building – please take care of it.

We’d be interested to come to any meeting you are planning to hear what people have to say.  Please keep us in the loop.