UK Knanaya Centre or UKKCA Office or UKKCA Community Centre?

UKKCA elections are nearing and  both of the Presidential candidates have highlighted the importance of a permanent UKKCA center or willingness to purchase one, which is very  important for UK Knannaites. Although its for the national council to discuss and debate, being a General Secretary candidate, its my responsibility to share my thoughts, as this dream cannot be realised without you.

As an individual I love to see our UKKCA having an office or a community centre at any suitable and convenient location accessible to all UK Knannaites. Similarly, with the current situation in UK and other parts of the world, a permanent address would provide us an identity and recognition, all members are looking forward to  see it happen. Further,  an office or a permanent address  is very important for any organisation, an office is the nerve center for any business, whether it’s a profit making or non profit making.

In addition to the identity a  well-organised office has several other advantages, it makes it possible for the management to plan any programs/operations intelligently, to put its plans effectively, to follow up their current progress, to apprise the results without delay, and to co-ordinate all the activities of the organisation efficiently. Above all a UKKCA office would be an information center or a resource center for Knanaya culture, which will benefit all knannaites including youth, to improve their networking within the Knanaya community and other similar communities.

Along with the numerous advantages we must address our limitations or the associated risk associated with acquiring a property in UK.  I was part of the initial committee to conduct a feasibility study to  purchase an office  or community center for UKKCA in 2009 and collected various information.  

The eligibility conditions to purchase a property is same for an individual and for any organisation like UKKCA, they are as follows :

(a) Financial Stability : A mortgage is an important factor and most of the financial institutions contribute only 60 to 80% of the market value, with an affordable interest rate. For financial institutions, Credit Checking is an important mechanism to asses eligibility, which is similar to any personal loan or mortgage application.  Any individual with regular salary and a balanced expenditure could qualify, but one could imagine the outcome for a fourteen year old organisation without any bank balance and zero transfer, for the last six times and next transfer is not expected to be different.

In simple terms, to qualify for mortgage, an organisation should have steady income, higher growth rate and financial stability. If we want to achieve this in a short period of two to three years time, the only available option is member’s contribution through direct debit, otherwise on a longer term of 8 to 10 years, a regular yearly saving of minimum £10,000 each and every year.

(b) Income from operations : Many of the lending establishments will not accept this as majority of the existing UK community facilities are under-utilised, currently surviving with  Government or local Borough Councils support through subsidies and grants. Of course there are few exceptions where local community is strong and the managing committee is purely voluntary (without incurring any salary and subsistence costs).

(c) High Overhead costs : There are numerous hidden costs associated with operating a community facility, a few of them are :

(i) Council Tax : Being a registered charity and an active community organisation, we may be eligible to a reduced council tax or a nil tax for a limited period, but the situation is different when we let the premises to third parties to increase our income.

(ii) High insurance costs : Many of the mandatory insurance costs are very high, like building and content insurance (fire, loss and theft), Boiler maintenance and annual insurance, Insurance for volunteers and employees (if any), the compulsory Pubic Liability Insurance.

(iii) Cleaning Costs : To ensure health and safety regulations, prescribed standard level of cleanliness is compulsory. Employing a cleaner, especially for toilets and bathrooms is mandatory or have to be contracted with other cleaning companies or agencies, otherwise the facility will be declared not fit for re-use.

(iv) Major Repair and Maintenance costs : It’s very important to save at least 10% of the yearly income to cater for these accidental or unexpected costs. 

We are able to manage all of the above with our unity and commitment to our own Knanaya community, but we do need to test our ability and capacity to effectively manage this. As I mentioned in my previous post, UK Catholic community is very strong and have number of un-occupied premises which they are ready to lease out freely to us. I will write more details on this option and a previous example of their willingness to support us next week.