What is The Engine Rooms ?
The Engine Rooms is a vehicle for change, growth and development for individuals and the community of Skelmersdale as a whole. The Engine Rooms provide facilities and support for individuals, organisations and community groups to assist them in developing new and existing skills, projects and initiatives.
The facility currently comprises of two soundproof digital recording studios, a cafe/meeting area and a multi-media suite. A range of industry standard musical and digital media equipment is made available for use within the centre. Alongside the facilities The Engine Rooms staff are on hand to offer technical support and guidance as well as formal tuition and consultancy.
Staff at The Engine Rooms have a broad portfolio of experience within creative the arts and the music industry providing strong links with UK and international creative industries.
Furthermore support from The Engine Rooms extends beyond the facility itself and into the wider community via community groups, local schools, colleges and local events.
What are the aims of The Engine Rooms ?
The primary aims of The Engine Rooms are; community cohesion, skill development and personal and social well being. So what does this all mean?
Community cohesion
A fancy term for bringing people together. The Engine Rooms understand the value of team work. By working as a team we can achieve results far out-striping the sum of our individual achievements. Better communication between community leaders and community organisations ensures opportunities for development are not missed or marginalised. The Engine Rooms cafe offers an ideal environment for people to meet and share ideas, debate and form a deeper understanding of each others aspirations and barriers to personal and community development.
Skill Development
It is one thing to know what you want and quite another to know how to go about getting it. The Engine Rooms offers Individual development plans (IDP’s) for creative arts enthusiasts and professionals, while we don’t claim to have all the answers, we are confident in our knowledge of the industry and devoted to helping you or your organisation access the important information you need to make the next step towards realising your goal.
Having the right skills to hand is an essential ingredient to success. Our experience is the key to delivering targeted IDP’s and equipping individuals with the knowledge they need at the same time as making equipment and facilities available for the all important practice of new and existing skills. Practice really does make perfect.
Personal and Social well being
Happy people make happy communities. It’s fair to say that we would all like to be happier. At The Engine Rooms we believe that people with the opportunity to express themselves and grow as individuals are happier people more able to accept others. We also believe that people who can rely on support from friends, family and colleagues during difficult times are less likely to worry about the future which makes more time to enjoy the present.
The Engine Rooms is growing into a community of people who share common interests and accommodate one and others needs. Besides the professional support available, customers at The Engine Rooms are forming new relationships with each other giving birth to new friendships and positive projects as well as raising aspirations.
Initiatives launched at The Engine Rooms target problems and inequalities within the community, aimed at prevention as opposed to cure we refuse to paint “over the cracks” and encourage the whole community to accept the difficulties ahead of us with courage and a mindful proactive approach.
As we all grow to understand and accept each other we are building a community we can all be proud of, co-creating a better pace to live and discovering more and more reasons to smile and rejoice.
How did The Engine Rooms come about ?
The Engine Rooms was conceived by James Hoy and James Furnell following a lengthy and somewhat public debate concerning the need for better music and arts facilities in Skelmersdale.
James and James formed the company Westgate Studios LTD and with no grant funding available, began to refurbish a disused warehouse to create the facility serving Skelmersdale and West Lancashire today. Establishing The Engine has required a lot of hard work and dedication for which there is no room here to give the full credit deserved to both the founders, staff or volunteers who have helped us along the way. To give you some idea of the work involved and sacrifices made here are a few figures for you to consider.
The Engine Rooms have benefited from a huge amount of voluntary hours from both The Engine Rooms team and the community as a whole. To give you a rough idea of the scale of this voluntary contribution James and James have contributed an astonishing 27,000 unpaid hours alone in just two and a half years. Out of a possible 21,900 hours in the same time period that means both James and James have devoted 61.6% of the last 2 and a half years to achieving the aims and objectives of The Engine Rooms, the remaining 39.4% was reserved for eating and sleeping. It is important to acknowledge that all of those hours would be wasted without the massive contribution made by other members of the team and the wider community. James and James would like to thank everyone who has helped along the way however large or small your contribution.
How does The Engine Rooms work?
Up until recently The Engine Rooms has operated much the same as any other Limited Company, with profits being derived from the sale of goods and services and returned to the business for future growth and development. In September 2008 however, James and James formed a new company, Forward Motion Arts Community Interest Company. Since that time The Engine Rooms has been slowly but surly transferring business from Westgate Studios LTD over to Forward Motion Arts CIC. This change of operational status offers huge potential for future development. Perhaps more importantly, working under the constitution of a Community Interest Company has finally achieved the dream James and James began with, which was to give Skelmersdale a Community Arts Centre. If you would like to know more about CIC’s please visit www.cicregulator.gov.uk.
How are we doing ?
The short answer is better than expected. Despite limited finance and resources The Engine Rooms has had a massive impact on the local community we currently deliver over 150 hours of music tuition per month. We provide educational support to hundreds of young people and facilitate over 150 hours band rehearsals every month. We have produced promotional materials for a wide range of community projects and contributed thousands of pounds to local charities. Our work with minority community groups facilitates 24 hours per month of activities for adults with learning disabilities and our Young Peoples Service projects provide positive activities for young people at risk from across the Skelmersdale area and beyond.
In September 2008 The Engine Rooms were shortlisted for an Arts Council England ART ’08 Award in the category UNSUNG HEROS, an outstanding achievement for a business just 7 months old.
Here are a few comments from our customers:
“Thanks again for all that you do for my son, the engine rooms is a truly special place”
Parent
“The service and facility the Engine Room’s provides in what is a challenging environment and area is to be commended for its open and welcoming approach and hopefully it will continue to be a beacon shedding creative light on the surrounding area and providing much needed creative opportunities.”
Nic Cork
Event Director Independents Liverpool Biennial 08
“The Engine Rooms are highly regarded in offering a fantastic service to our community.”
Mark Grimes
Fathers and Children Engage
“Immensely professional outfit with the highest skills, musically, technically and most important personally....I would highly recommend Engine rooms”
Dan Forshaw
Musician & Director of Professional Music Services
“Mencap West Lancs has been extremely proud to use the Engine Rooms for a
Music Workshop and a Mosaic Workshop at our Drop In Centre in Ormskirk. We
will have no hesitation in using them again as the Engine Rooms provided
their services in a professional and friendly manner to our community group.”
Linda Brunt
Mencap West Lancs
