The Beacon Community Centre
On the whole urban community centres are rarely the focal point of a community, but they still have a valuable part to play within social inclusion and wellbeing.
The reduction in governmental and private industry funding have made it tougher than ever for a community centre to survive, let alone thrive, and many centres have closed due to this reduction in funds.
A modern community centre has to balance their operations between commercial interests, such as room hire, and outreach services, such as play schemes or adult learning courses.
The Beacon Centre in South Harrow is no exception. About to celebrate its fifth birthday, the staff are extremely happy with the progress that has been made to date. They are however not resting on their laurels, and have many ideas in the planning stage for community inclusion projects and operational revenue.
The area around the Beacon Centre, namely the Rayners Lane estate, has undergone significant regeneration. The last phase of this regeneration is about to take place with the demolition of the few remaining estate blocks. Once the new build is complete, the Beacon will be at the centre of a vibrant, and modern, community development.
Moving forward the Beacon seeks to become a community hub for wellbeing, sports participation, learning and development. They want to bring together commercial interests, with the community, and foster employment opportunities.
Community feedback and ideas are valued and actively sought. The new Beacon Centre blog thebeaconlondon.wordpress.com and Facebook page are a move towards using social media more effectively to communicate and engage with the community.
Please contact The Beacon Centre with any ideas or suggestions you have, to help make the next five years, even more successful than the previous.
The Beacon Centre 