• Nudge, Resonance and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation join forces to save former cinema and nightclub
   
• The purchase unlocks funding for community spaces, including a music venue, thanks to Youth Investment Fund 

Work is underway on a project to breathe new life into an iconic Plymouth building, thanks to collaboration between three organisations. 

Nudge Community Builders has taken on the Millennium Building, following a £600,000 joint investment from social impact investor Resonance and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.  

Construction has now started on plans to turn the Union Street building into community spaces for young people and the wider community, including a music venue, workshops and a café bar. 

Hannah Sloggett, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Nudge Community Builders, said: “We couldn’t wait to bring this special building back into use after it had stood empty for 17 years. 

“We can now move forward with confidence and look forward to the journey to bring this building back into use for lasting local benefit.” 

The Millennium Building was constructed as a cinema in 1931 and was later turned into a nightclub, before its closure in the early 2000s. 

The structure stood empty for 17 years before Nudge purchased 50% of the building, thanks to investments of over £350,000 from the Rank Foundation and 491 community shareholders, and a partnership with Eat Work Art. 

The latest phase has seen a joint investment of £600,000 from Resonance and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, to purchase the remaining 50% of the building, and a £480,000 grant from the Youth Investment Fund to support internal works. 

Tom Crook, Investment Manager for Resonance Community Developers Fund, said: “Resonance and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation are delighted to partner in a joint investment into Nudge, supporting their efforts to bring this iconic building into community ownership. 

“We are a huge supporter of Nudge and the work they are doing in Plymouth.” 

_____________________________________________________

About Nudge Community Builders 

Nudge Community Builders is a Charitable Community Benefit Society set up in 2017 by local residents Hannah Sloggett and Wendy Hart in Stonehouse, Plymouth.  

They had been volunteering in their community for over ten years and kickstarted the Union Street Party, created Union Corner and were asked by the community to do more about the empty buildings. 

Within the first five years, Nudge unlocked 25% of the empty buildings along Union Street and now offers spaces for local people to grow across five previously derelict sites.  

About Resonance Community Developers 

Resonance Community Developers (RCD) is a Resonance Ltd social investment fund. It was designed to support communities to create and own assets that meet local needs and help to build community cohesion, by investing in community-led affordable homes and facilities that benefit the whole community. 

The fund invests in: 

• Affordable homes 
• Sports and leisure facilities 
• Low-carbon and renewable energy generation 
• Other community assets 

About the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 

Founded in 1961, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is one of the UK’s largest independent funders.  

They aim to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK. They unlock change by contributing everything they can to unlock change by alongside people and organisations with brilliant ideas who share their goals.