Community Centres Research Study: Part 1

Our research into London's community centres focussed on one case study in Lewisham as a means of extracting key findings that we could apply to the way we collaborate with community stakeholders in projects involving this typology. Three main questions we sought to address were; what are the funding mechanisms that support community centres, whether there is a commonality in the mix of uses offered at London's community centres and whether geographic location contributes to the long-term success of community centres and the wider area.

The case study centre was Lewisham Way Youth and Community Centre, which forms part of the high street that runs between New Cross and Lewisham. The centre hosted several different functions including choirs, mentoring and advisory services between 1972 and 2016.

In this example, it was a shortage of funds and subsequent near dilapidation that lead to the closure of the centre, proximity to other 'community' centres such as the Moonshot Centre in New Cross and the New Cross Learning Library, is one of the reasons given by the council for the lease remaining in private control.

We found an interesting balance between control and management, while the community centres usually remain in the ownership of local government, day to day management is usually via volunteers working within charitable organisations. Volunteers come from the local community and beyond and roles are distributed by self-selection and election.

There was a 51% reduction in the number of centres financially supported by local authorities in England between 2011 and 2019 according to recent surveys. The financial constraints drive the mix of uses on offer. Community centres fund outreach and activities via revenue generated by hosting space for hire (the major funding source at roughly 70% or more), donations and council support. Often nurseries utilise community centres during the day, providing further funding support.

The parallel issues of increasing knife crime, increased vacancy of high-street units and a reduction of opportunities for emerging businesses have propelled the GLA to reverse the funding shortage. The Good Growth Fund has issued £75m to local projects, with the aims of; the public realm and creating a diverse range of workspaces, creative hubs for fashion, art, performance space and production, small scale manufacturing and market hubs, sustainable travel solutions by improving walking and cycling facilities. Given the increased distribution of the workforce, our future investigations will delve into how community spaces could enhance their offering to integrate flexible, attractive workspaces.

Looking into Use Class F, we found that there are strict planning controls over the type and nature of the activities undertaken by community centres. However, increased flexibility could be obtained by seeking planning permission for dual-use.

We found that currently community centres are largely distributed close to residents whose first language is not English and areas that are more deprived. This makes sense given the GLA's goals to bring more equity to London's boroughs and putting activities in locations where the barriers to access will be low: transport, visibility and perception.

Our research points to a close connection between community growth, social outcomes and the quality of community centres. The next phase of our research is to visualise the locational data and geography spatially and test out potential locations for new centres and assess how new uses could integrate with existing services and provisions.