Brigstock Road Community Hub

Community Hub Newsletter Article

Monday mornings have been transformed at Age UK Croydon’s Scratchley Hall. Away from the noise and bustle on Brigstock Road, you will now find a welcoming, friendly space buzzing with people, tea and cake on the go and a wealth of representatives from statutory and voluntary services across the borough, including Croydon Council Housing Team and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Representatives from many local organisations are on hand to listen, offer advice and share information, making the Community Hub a ‘close to home’ accessible and informal place where you can drop in and connect with the services you need or catch up with other residents over a cup of tea.

The Hub was proudly launched on the 26th September 2022, in partnership with Croydon Voluntary Action and Asian Resource Centre Croydon. Being one of 6 hubs in the borough, the Brigstock Road Community Hub serves North West Croydon and will be instrumental in supporting and influencing Croydon's Local Community Partnership initiative. This means that the voice of the community will influence decisions made by health providers and services will be led by the communities they serve.

The launch was buzzing and the Hub was represented by around twenty individuals and groups from the voluntary community, statutory and social care groups, all offering advice and a friendly face for residents to drop in and talk to, over a cup of tea.

One resident attending the event said, “I was at the Community Hub this morning, it was amazing, lovely place and people, well done. The Brigstock Road Community Hub is a much needed space to bring the community together and link people to services.”

Andrew Slegg, who is flying the flag for community-led support in Croydon, was at the launch. He said, “It’s all about the community. Bringing the services that people need into the community, in one place, and providing a comfortable informal environment where people can talk, at ease, with representatives from a number of organisations, whilst having a tea and meeting with other residents from their local area. It’s important the venue is a community space owned and used by the community. The Local Community Partnership and Community Led Services are embedded in the Community Hub”.

Nasreen Syeda, community facilitator for the hub said, “As community facilitators for the North of Croydon we were excited to launch the Brigstock Road Community Hub in September in collaboration with Age UK. Community Hubs will provide more local and accessible pathways for people into social support networks, community-led activities and specialist voluntary and statutory services. We were delighted with the response and representation at the launch by a wide range of organisations who continue to work together to strengthen the Hub. We were joined by a number of residents and in the weeks following are seeing the popularity of the Hub grow.”­­­

If you are interested to link your services to the Community Hub or are a resident who would like to volunteer to help at the Hub each Monday please contact us at communityhub@arccltd.com.

Here is a list of the organisations who we saw at the launch.

• Asian Resource Centre – running health checks
• AgeUK Croydon
• MIND
• Optimism Housing
• Department for Work and Pensions
• MENCAP
• Croydon Voluntary Action
• Croydon Council
• Croydon Vision
• St Christophers Hospice
• Sustainable Health
• Arthritis Action
• Clear Community Web
• CNCA
• Healthy Homes
• ASKI
• Juliet’s Jewellery