West Track Studios

Skillnet Group Community Interest Company is a social enterprise supporting people with and without learning difficulties/disabilities to work together to make differences. We support people to speak up, make choices, be heard and taken seriously. We focus on making links within local communities so that people with learning disabilities have an equal place as citizens within mainstream society and are not segregated. 

In September 2008, we converted part of what was previously a car yard (Roper Yard, Canterbury) into a bespoke community recording studio and rehearsal space. The aim of developing the whole of Roper Yard is to provide a community hub, supporting local not-for private profit and small businesses.

The studio is run by people with and without learning disabilities working equally together. It is open for the whole community and we hire out the space to local community groups, organisations, musicians and artists. It is fully accessible for people who use wheelchairs and meets Disability Discrimination Act requirements.

We had an official launch event on the 21st of May 2009. This was well attended and covered by the local press and radio. Ben Mills (X-Factor) launched the studios. The resource has an excellent reputation and increasing numbers of people are now using it on a regular basis.

Our aim is to make the studios (and the whole of Roper Yard) completely sustainable and carbon-neutral. We want to develop a community resource that is also a centre of excellence around environmental/green issues. We want to educate the local community, including people with learning difficulties about these issues so that people will think more about their own impact on the environment and how they can reduce their carbon footprint.

So far we have installed F5 low energy lighting and accessible toilets supplied by harvested rainwater tanks. We have installed solar (photo-voltaic) panels so that we can generate our own clean electricity. We received 50% of the funding for these through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2. The site is very close to the train station and bus routes and we have secure storage space for bicycles. We have set up a recycling area and we aim to be zero waste by 2011.
We also plan to install charging points for electric bikes.

We want to work towards being a centre for sustainable excellence and we aim to promote best environmental practice and awareness though interaction with community groups – modelling an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Click here to vist the West Track Studios Web Site