Our Goals
Future of Woolton is being created to deliver lasting community benefit. Our ambitions extend from protecting important heritage to improving public spaces, supporting wellbeing and helping communities become stronger and more resilient.
A long-term vision
The organisation grew from the Save Woolton Baths campaign, but the experience of that campaign demonstrated something much broader: communities need organisations capable of bringing people, skills, funding and partnerships together when important local places or needs require action.
Our goal is to build that permanent community capacity while remaining realistic about what can be delivered at each stage of the organisation's development.
Our approach
Start with achievable projects. Build trust through delivery. Develop the capacity to take on bigger challenges.
We do not need to wait for every long-term ambition to become possible before making a difference. Future of Woolton can grow carefully, learning from each project and building stronger community relationships along the way.
What we want to achieve
Work to protect, preserve, restore and bring valued historic and community buildings back into sustainable use where doing so can create genuine public benefit.
This may include
Support practical improvements that make neighbourhood spaces cleaner, safer, more welcoming and more useful to the people who live around them.
This may include
Support facilities, activities and community opportunities that encourage recreation, wellbeing, inclusion and stronger connections between local people.
This may include
As Future of Woolton develops sufficient resources and appropriate governance, we want to create responsible ways of supporting people and families experiencing financial hardship.
This may include
Create opportunities for residents, volunteers, businesses, professionals and community organisations to work together and turn local ideas into achievable projects.
This may include
Build Future of Woolton into a transparent, sustainable and trusted charity capable of delivering community benefit well beyond its first campaign.
This may include
Our first flagship mission
Future of Woolton grew from the campaign to protect Woolton Baths. Our ambition is to find a viable route to secure, restore and sustainably reopen the Grade II listed Baths as a community swimming, wellbeing and heritage facility.
Explore Save Woolton BathsBuilding beyond the campaign
While we continue working towards the future of Woolton Baths, the CIO is intended to develop wider community activity as its resources and capacity grow.
That means the organisation can build relationships, deliver practical projects and establish a track record of community benefit while the much larger Baths project continues to develop.
How we will approach our goals
Projects should have a clear purpose and deliver genuine benefit rather than exist simply because funding is available.
We want projects that can be maintained responsibly rather than creating liabilities that the community cannot sustain.
Costs, timescales and outcomes should be based on evidence. Where something is still an ambition, we will describe it as one.
Future of Woolton will grow its activities as its governance, resources, partnerships and capacity allow.
A future ambition
One of our longer-term ambitions is to establish a properly governed community hardship programme when Future of Woolton has the funding, safeguards and organisational capacity needed to operate it responsibly.
This is a future goal rather than a fund currently available. We will not promise financial assistance before the appropriate governance, eligibility criteria and resources are in place.
Our wider principle
Successful community regeneration should create benefits that continue beyond the project that started it.
Be part of the future
Whether you want to volunteer, support a campaign, offer professional expertise, represent a local organisation or simply share an idea, we want Future of Woolton to remain connected to the people it exists to benefit.
