For many years, PACT has been a registered community charity with the aim of fostering community spirit and founding a new community centre.

However with our success in getting a new community centre built on the Mill Road Depot site, and our partnership supporting Romsey Mill’s successful bid to lease the new centre, we needed a proper legal entity – with a modern constitution and a proper legal entity.

And we’ve done it! PACT has set up a new Charitable Incorporated Organization, no. 1193529 which will replace our registered charity.

This is a membership based charity (the “association model” of CIO) with new objects, which are better suited to what PACT does and aims to do:

To further or benefit the residents of the Petersfield area of Cambridge, and the neighbourhood including Romsey, without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or of political, religious or other opinions by associating together the said residents and the local authorities, voluntary and other organisations in a common effort to advance education and to provide facilities and organize activities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time occupation with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the residents.

Activities may include but not be limited to those intended to reduce social isolation, to support families and children, to support local groups and associations including by providing meeting space, to enable community development and to support recreation through the arts.

In furtherance of these objects but not otherwise, the trustees shall have power:

To establish or secure the establishment of a community centre and to maintain or manage or co-operate with any statutory authority in the maintenance and management of such a centre for activities promoted by the charity in furtherance of the above objects.

We hope to begin new activities towards the end of the year, and soon celebrate the opening of the new building!

The PACT AGM will be held on 12th November at 8pm. This will be a virtual event this year, but all are welcome. Let us know at info@PACTcambridge.org if you would like to attend and we will forward the details! Thanks and keep safe.

In response to the recent consultation for a new building by St Matthew’s Piece, a new Friends Group for the Piece is being formed. Our trustees have passed a resolution in support of this new local community group:

“The trustees of PACT wish to express their support for the formation of the new Friends of St Matthew’s Piece Group and specifically their efforts to ensure that any development of St Matthew’s Piece does not harm the Piece’s character and use for the local community. We note that Petersfield has very little usable green space – the lowest proportion of any area of Cambridge – and the importance of St Matthew’s Piece to the local community, as true now as it was when the Piece was gifted to the people of Cambridge for the same reasons in 1898.”

A copy of the initial leaflet from the friends group to explain more on the history of the proposals and encourage participation in the consultation is available here.