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We will purchase and convert the old and much-loved Park Street School to a fully sustainable and thriving community centre that serves the town and its surroundings, in everything from learning support to food supply to taking care of the elderly. In the long term it will become a model for a new type of centre that supports the community by embracing social enterprise and encouraging independence.
For those who are interested, the economic model we are utilising in order to make this vision a reality is known as the Five Capitals system. Invented by a think tank specialising in sustainability, Forum for the Future, it emphasises that a measure of true wealth has to take into account five capitals rather than just the one known to everyone: financial. Those five capitals can be summed up as:
Natural Capital - Our environment and its resources
Social Capital - Community, clubs, gatherings
Human Capital - 'What you bring to the table', inner qualities, skills, abilities
Manufactured Capital - That which is made or created e.g. buildings, industry, crafts
Financial Capital - Can only exist sustainably as an accurate reflection of the other four capitals
It is worth noting that financial capital is only truly worth something when all the other capitals are taken into consideration. Or as Coco Chanel put it, 'There are people who have money and those who are rich.' The centre will strive to enrichen the community regarding all these aspects.