Vivacity leaves ‘a legacy to be proud of’ as it prepares to hand over Peterborough culture and leisure services

Vivacity has been running these important services for the past decade but has had to stop due to the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

And to mark the final few days of its time in the city, Vivacity chairman Stuart Francis explains the not-for-profit trust’s many achievements and what its legacy in Peterborough will be:

“Whilst we are understandably still devastated by recent events, I believe it is important that we take a moment to stand back and celebrate all that this remarkable charity has achieved.

Over the last 10 years, Vivacity has gone from strength to strength with over 1.8 million visits in 2019/20. In the last year (prior to Covid-19) we saw 116,000 individual users; that equates to over half of Peterborough’s population using one or more of our services.

A 2020 study by Balfour Beatty measuring the social impact of Vivacity’s work identified the organisation was returning c.£60,000,000 of social value to the city. Over the last 10 years we have had around 18 million visits to our venues and services, with key growth areas of leisure (42 per cent), theatre (61 per cent) and heritage (83 per cent).

Whist there have been cuts of 70 per cent to our grant from the council, Vivacity has increased its income from theatre ticket sales and gym memberships since 2010 to £8.5 million annually, all of which has been reinvested into services for the city.

We have also successfully sought and secured funding from national organisations to help us ensure we have aligned our priorities to local need.

We have greatly enhanced library services in Peterborough. In 2018, we invested substantially in the School Book Bus, a purpose built vehicle with dedicated staff and library stock which we use to visit primary schools and attend community events across the city.

Our library team promote literacy and the library service as a whole to young people and their families. Each week we have been visiting three to four schools to engage with around 400 children.

Over the last eight years we have built up our digital library service by investing in e-books, e-audiobooks and e-magazines; we now have around 22,000 titles.

Perhaps we knew what the future was to hold - this has proved to be an invaluable service to residents during lockdown with around 70,000 titles issued this year alone.

In 2019, we launched the Business and Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) to support entrepreneurs, investors and small businesses. A joint initiative, this is an important service that we’re excited to be a part of. In its first year we saw 270 potential local start-ups benefit either in-person or at outreach events.

Our library services are run by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers. We shouldn’t underestimate how valuable our volunteers have been during the past 10 years.

One particular example would be the award-winning ‘Peterborough and the Great War’ project which involved thousands of volunteer hours researching the stories of servicemen. This was a highly successful collaboration between our archives and heritage teams and culminated in an exhibition at Peterborough Museum in 2018.

In recent years Peterborough Museum has become a destination for national loans and in 2018/19 we had two prestigious exhibitions: ‘Treasures’ and ‘Hoards’.

Our team’s creativity and innovation was highlighted with the national award-winning ‘Fabric of Society’, a celebration bringing women from 18 different countries together in a friendship bound by their textile skills which culminated in an exhibition of their work.

The exhibition had over 20,000 visitors and many of the women still meet independently.

The work of our Arts Development Team extends far beyond the museum and gallery walls. Many residents will be familiar with Sir Antony Gormley’s first sculpture commission ‘Places To Be’. If not, just take a ‘look up’ next time you are in the city centre!

Just over two years ago, Vivacity worked with Sir Antony to carefully restore his statues and with the kind cooperation of local businesses (for the loan of the roof-tops) re-site them around Cathedral Square. These sculptures and many other important works will be around to be enjoyed for many years to come.

In October 2018, Vivacity brought “Museum of the Moon” to Peterborough Cathedral and a staggering 40,000 visitors attended during its 10 day showing! The popularity of the event was phenomenal.

We have also hosted many free family events in the city centre during our tenure; memorably the arrival of the Olympic Torch in 2012, the 20 blue figures turning the city into a stage as part of the Arts Festival in 2013, and of course the annual Heritage Festival, the UK’s largest multi-period living history festival which celebrated its 10th birthday in 2019.

Our heritage offering grew as Vivacity took over Flag Fen in 2011, followed a year later by English Heritage entrusting the management of Longthorpe Tower to us. Vivacity has been the custodian of the Must Farm Bronze Age boats. Since their discovery they have been undergoing specialist preservation treatments so that in the future these incredible finds can be enjoyed by visitors to the City from far and wide.

In 2013, we saw the opening of Hampton Library and Leisure Centre, a dual use site enabling us to provide valuable library and leisure services to local residents.

Vivacity Premier Fitness opened in Hampton the following year, providing premium fitness and swimming facilities for members. Refurbished in 2018, the gym has a loyal membership and very significantly enabled Vivacity to support health and wellbeing and other services across the city.

In fact, our wellbeing programme, including the heavily subsidised rehabilitation classes for people recovering from stroke, cardiac, cancer and respiratory illnesses, has seen over 18,000 attendances per year.

2018 was a bumper year for Vivacity’s leisure services. The fantastic weather brought record numbers of visitors to the much loved and iconic Peterborough Lido. A Friends of the Lido group was established the previous year and this fantastic team of volunteers continue to help Vivacity care for this historic gem, even in the challenging times we currently face.

Our Leisure Services Team took over the management of Bretton Water Park and St George’s Hydrotherapy Pool in 2018, saving both from closure. Managing St George’s enabled us to enhance our health and wellbeing services and open up our classes to many more customers. We have enjoyed many fundraising events to purchase a new hoist and refurbish the grounds.

Since 2010, our Vivacity Swim Academy has taught over 20,000 people to swim and lifesaving techniques, more than doubling participants over the past 10 years.

June 2020 would have seen our fourth annual Inclusive Sports Day. Launched in 2017, we have seen the event thrive with over 120 people with a range of disabilities participating in everything from archery to cycling and track and field events at the athletics arena. Nothing could be a better demonstration of what Vivacity has stood for.

I hope when our valued customers read all of this they will justifiably feel good that every pound they spent on gym memberships, a theatre ticket or a coffee at the museum really has gone a long way to helping others.

I can’t talk about our highlights without reflecting on the many years of laughter and family fun our Key Theatre pantomime has provided… sadly, there will be a break this year but Peterborough’s longest running traditional pantomime will be back in all its glory in 2021 – oh yes it will!

The Key has opened its doors to many small amateur groups, giving them a platform to bring a diverse range of performances to the city. More recently, following significant investment in cinema equipment, the team at the Key have brought affordable cinema and new audiences to the theatre via our Silver Screenings and Family Films.

Meeting and hearing the stories of people who we have worked alongside has always been the motivation for all those who have served as trustees over the last 10 years and who have given their time, energy and expertise freely and without remuneration. The impact study I eluded to earlier by Balfour Beatty really highlighted how we have been able to align our priorities to local need.

The research team interviewed Vivacity customers, many of whom talked of “life changing support,” “providing opportunity” and “ensuring access for everyone”.

As a legacy goes, if we have achieved those things I believe that is something to be very proud of.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our staff, volunteers, trustees and the many organisations and local businesses we have partnered with and who have supported us along the way to help us achieve our goals, in particular to Peterborough City Council, our partners, who have consistently invested in improving our venues during a period of austerity.

Every member of staff, every volunteer and every one of our customers should be proud of what our charity has achieved for the city over the past 10 years. Vivacity took a dull canvas and painted it with bright colours. Vivacity was a brilliant idea.

Our amazing journey is over but I couldn’t be more proud to have been part of it. To the new management I say good luck. Take care of all we are handing over to you. Particularly at this time these services could not be more important to our city.