The Village of Flimby

Our Village lies on the Solway coastline between the Cumbrian towns of Maryport and Workington in the Northwest of England.

It is is a ward of Maryport with a population of roughly 2-3,000 and has existed as a community since at least the 11th century. Like many other villages in the area it has seen many far reaching changes. It has, for the greater part of it's life, made a living from farming. But with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the opening of the collieries Flimby threw off it's agricultural heritage and became a mining village. Today the collieries too have gone and, in common with many other communities in the Northwest, Flimby has been trying to fill the vacuum and cope with the economic and social consequences of large scale unemployment.

Flimby Village Partnership

In 2003 Flimby formed a local   partnership to address the sense of decline experienced by the village and to help build and maintain a strong, positive community. Under this partnership and after extensive local consultation the village decided we needed a community hall and a newsletter.

Community Hall Project

The need for a community hall was clearly necessary as the village has 35 active groups seeking a local venue and we already had a village caretaker. To achieve this aim Flimby recently formed The Flimby Community Hall company and progress towards acquiring a community centre is rapidly gaining momentum. The purchase of the old Methodist Hall is in progress, outline planning consent has been obtained and various funders have been found who are thankfully contributing capital funds towards the building costs. The proposal for the Community hall will offer a variety of activities and directly employ up to eight people. The facilities will include:

        * Interview room                * Meeting room

        * Community development centre offering after school clubs and
            breakfast clubs

        * Cybercafe                        * Bar

        * Music practice room        * Hall for concerts

some of which are already in use.

Flimby Phoenix

The village also requested a community newsletter. In common with the Community Hall the newsletter is seen as an additional way of drawing the village community together and creating a sense of identity. To that end the Flimby Phoenix was created and today it's delivered to most dwellings in the village. In the 8 years since it's inception it is now firmly established and cherished by the community.

Community Web Kit provided free by BT

Charity Number: 1109801