Bedford House – A Vital Community Development
Awarded: £75,000
Region: Greater London
Holborn Community Association is a registered charity with over 30 years’ experience of supporting residents in the Camden Borough.
The project made improvements to the Holborn House Community Centre, enhancing its accessibility and sustainability. The improvements provided a gymnasium and performance space, changing rooms, disabled toilet and shower, separate workable storage areas and a kitchen that can be used by the community.
The new community centre building has provided a vital space for the community to access activities and support to improve their physical, social and emotional well-being. It is centrally located, open to all and is now accessible to the whole community, physically, financially and culturally.
The project has enabled Holborn Community Association to expand their programme of community activities and they now offer a broader range of activities for all ages and abilities. This includes their movement programme, which delivers a number of sports clubs and physical activities, and their art programme, which includes a youth arts group, digital art sessions and community residencies with Donmar Warehouse. They also offer a play programme for children aged under five and their families.
“Many would like to redevelop the centre into housing, but in a densely populated area such as ours, it’s very important to maintain spaces like this for the community. We wanted to create a calming space which is physically accessible and free to use, particularly for those who are in need of physical activity but cannot use a gym or hospital to meet these needs. The centre has helped people to recover and come back to life in numerous ways, and without a space like ours many would not be able to do so.”
Paul Crozier, Holborn Community Association Director
