One of Stroud’s best-loved community hubs and co-working spaces is set to become community-owned, as The Exchange launches a major fundraising campaign to secure its future for generations to come.
The Exchange Community Share Offer will be launched at a special event at The Exchange on Saturday 20 June, starting at 11am.
Since 2007, The Exchange on Brick Row has been home to many small businesses, charities, community organisations and social groups. Good on Paper, Allsorts, Timebanking UK, and Shift Environmental are just a few of the successful organisations who started life or grew up here.
The stone building, once a Victorian girls’ school, is managed by Stroud Common Wealth Community Benefit Society Limited (SCW). It offers hot desks and shared workspaces, as well as rooms for meetings and workshops and a peaceful garden area.
SCW now want to raise £350,000 from the share offer and other sources to buy the building from the private landlord before the lease expires in July 2027.
“The Exchange is thriving as a business,” explains the hub’s manager Aurelia St Clair. “We’ve paid off debts incurred during its conversion to its current use, and we generate a surplus every year to maintain the building and its facilities.
“We know The Exchange works as a business and a resource for the people of Stroud, because our workspaces are almost always full and our meeting rooms are in constant demand for all kinds of gatherings, from job clubs to crafts groups, from young people’s Dungeons & Dragons sessions to Quaker meetings.
“We now want to buy the freehold as a community venture, so we can guarantee we’ll be here to support local businesses and community groups long into the future.”
This isn’t the first time SCW has raised money for The Exchange. In 2007, the society raised over £300,000 to refurbish the building and make it one of the few fully wheelchair accessible venues in Stroud. It was one of the first buildings in the area to install a ground-source heat pump, together with photovoltaics for hot water and solar panels for generating electricity.
The building was opened by HRH Princess Royal in 2009, and the Princess, who lives near Stroud, has sent her very best wishes for SCW’s efforts and for its continued success, hopefully visiting again should the campaign prove successful .
Individuals or groups can invest a minimum of £500 in community shares and SCW welcomes donations of any amount – as a registered charity, SCW can claim Gift Aid to boost donations.
“Our challenge is to turn any notion of ‘bye-bye’ into ‘lets’ buy’!” says SCW director Mustafa Sami. “This is a very rare opportunity to secure a building for the community, so we can assure the people of Stroud that it will always be here to help new enterprises and groups to take root in our Five Valleys.”
Visitors to the launch event on Saturday 20 June will have the chance to look around the site, hear about its success stories and find out more about SCW’s plans for the future.
“We’re extending an open invitation to people from across our area to come and discover what makes The Exchange so special,” says Aurelia. “We’d love Stroud’s community to take ownership of this creative space so we can provide support to entrepreneurs, community connectors, and anyone in Stroud who values the transformational power of collaboration.”
SCW was delighted to receive a Community Support Fund grant from Stroud Town Council to help launch the share offer and support the wider fundraising campaign. In making the award, the Council recognised The Exchange as a valuable community asset.
Stroud MP Dr Simon Opher said: “Every step that we make as a community to take control of our assets makes us more secure, protects access to vital services and helps keep our wealth where it matters most – locally. I am excited about this opportunity to purchase The Exchange for the benefit of us all.”
Councillor Chloe Turner, SDC Council Leader said: “I am pleased to support The Exchange as one of our vital community assets. It plays a unique and valuable role in nurturing social enterprises, providing affordable workspace and bringing people together.”
More information can be found on our website: stroudcommonwealth.org.uk
