Shropshire Council have been consulting with local residents and organisations on the transfer of Ellesmere Library and Customer Service Point to a new management organisation and a new location.

Following extensive public consultation, the library and Customer Service Point will move to the existing Meres Day Centre on Trimpley Street.  Bethphage, a not for profit organisation which has been providing support services in Shropshire since 1994, will take on the management of the library, Customer Service Point and day services from the summer. The Ellesmere Community Centre Care Trust will continue to provide nursing support to elderly people from the first floor.,

Shropshire Council and Bethpage’s vision is that the centre will become a vibrant, exciting and dynamic community facility from which no one is excluded.  The Centre will inject a healthy dose of vitality into the town and be a place that engages the community in all sorts of ways.         

Shropshire Council and Bethphage are consulting on a new name for the community centre and asking residents to suggest additional services that could be provided at the centre to compliment the services that will be available.

Proposed new names

The proposed names are:

Our Space, Ellesmere Library and Community Centre - Suggested by the Friends of Ellesmere Library

The Old Cottage - To reflect that the building was previously the old cottage hospital

The Meres Community Centre - Retaining the current name, the Meres Day Centre, whist reflecting additional use of the building.

To let us know your preferred name choice, click on the green button below to access a short online survey.

Available services

Services that will be available from the centre:

• Integrated advice, information and guidance for everyone, for example partnership working with the GP surgery, Patient Participation Group and the Community Care Coordinator
• Support for a diverse range of local activities that support people to live healthy fulfilling and independent lives, for example public health, community mental health, housing, social care, etc.
• Support for the development of activities by local community organisations that encourage early help / self-help
• Support for and the coordination of skilled appropriately supervised volunteers to help with a range of activities
• Day Care provision for older adults including adults with dementia
• Day Care provision for people with learning disabilities
• Library provision
• Customer Service telephone and internet provision

It was agreed that the new name would be "Our Space, Ellesmere Community Centre and Library”.