Northchurch Social Centre has served the local community for over 50 years, providing a place for people to meet, learn, play, dance, grow, socialise and flourish!
On Saturday 14 October, the Centre is inviting all local people to its Community Open Day, between 10am – 3pm.
There will be a whole range of activities and things of interest for all ages, including:
- Kid’s play corner, games & stalls
- Cakes & other refreshments
- Quizzes
- Bouncy castle & face painting
- Read about the Centre’s history
- Tombola & charity craft stall
- Your chance to hear about our refurbishment plans & contribute to our ‘Helping Hands’ fundraiser
- Connect with your local community
There is no need to book, and no entry fee – plus all children’s activities are free of charge!
Along with being an excellent venue for hire with a small hall, large hall, meeting room, kitchen, stage, and ample parking, the Centre is home to a huge range of groups and societies, bringing people from near and far to take part in activities such as table tennis, lacemaking, talks, baby and toddler classes, dance, art and drawing, as well as support groups such as for stroke sufferers. Information about how to join in with these groups is at https://www.northchurch-social-centre.co.uk/groups-1
The Centre is a friendly and welcoming place, and every Friday morning between 9am – 1pm it is open for ‘Community Coffee‘– a warm space where anyone can come and have a cuppa, biscuit and a chat – and perhaps join in with one of the activities on offer such as scrabble or other games, cook and chat sessions or learn to draw.
The Centre is an independent charity. Its Chair Gillian Austin comments:
“Northchurch Social Centre is an important asset for the local community, whether people want to join us at our Friday morning community cafe, hire the hall for a family party, attend one of the fantastic groups or get involved in volunteering.
We are delighted to be throwing our doors open on Saturday,14 October, for people to come and look around, have a chat with their neighbours and enjoy some activities and cake!
We remain 100% committed to providing a building which can be used by the whole community as our primary aim, and this vision is protected for future generations in the constitution of the charity that run the Social Centre.”
On the horizon for 2024 is a refurbishment of the Centre – much work has already been done such as a new roof and boiler, but plans for the new look centre include a small extension to the front to relocate the office, new toilets, and refurbishment of the internal areas.
Visitors to the Open Day will be able to learn more about the refurbishment, as well as have the opportunity to join in with the Centre’s ‘Helping Hands’ campaign, which is a low cost way to be a part of the Centre’s future!
Further Information:
Northchurch Social Centre opened its doors in September 1969 and for over 50 years has provided a space for the community to meet, learn, play, dance, grow, socialise and flourish together. In doing so it serves all ages within the community, ranging from the very young with baby and toddler classes, right through to the more mature at the University of the Third Age; and serves groups that provide learning, skills development, physical exercise or an expression of faith. The Social Centre truly represents all the diversity of the community it serves.
The idea of a village hall was first discussed in 1965, and shortly after, local residents started to give money into the newly formed Northchurch and District Association. Soon after that, Albert Seymour very generously gave the land, which had previously been the yard for his taxi and coach company, to the Association. To this day the Social Centre remains a community space in an area where property prices are soaring and such an asset would be almost impossible to create again.
In 2018 the Centre became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) – an independent charity run by volunteers. It works closely with one off and regular hirers and partners and remains unequivocally committed to being a resource for all the regular and occasional user groups that come to it from Northchurch and the surrounding areas.
We have seen our busiest period so far in the last year, welcoming new groups and hirers, and an annual footfall of over 30,000 people. In order to meet local need, a refurbishment programme has been undertaken to upgrade the building.
www.northchurch-social-centre.co.uk
info@northchurch-social-centre.co.uk
