We have moved to St Peter’s Hall, Weigall Road, SE12 8HQ
After 14 years running a community centre, Lee Green Lives (LGL) have moved. LGL was born in 2010 out of an old disused unit in the declining Leegate shopping precinct to help breathe some life into it before it was pulled down by the developers. We succeeded, thanks to the hard work of a small band of volunteers and part-time workers, and by working with other traders and services to keep the precinct open.
Now, thanks to a partnership with St Peters’ Church, we will continue to host our wide range of activities and services in a nearby community hall.
We left with great sadness, in part because of the home we created, but more for the thousand and more people who have benefited from our work. We are confident that those still with us and other future participants and users will continue to value our offer while having their needs met.
During the 14 years, we have had to meet many challenges – regular, sometimes exhaustive fund-raising, recruiting volunteers, maintaining staffing and premises, and of course COVID, which forced us to shut for almost a year – to keep the show on the road. Demands on us have increased again with the Cost-of-Living crisis exacting a financial and mental health toll on so many.
What we do
Our “doors always open” ethos has largely targeted the needs of people who are economically and socially disadvantaged. The Cost-of-Living crisis impacts on many, affecting not just their finances, but also their mental health. Numbers, which dropped during and after Covid, have risen again to over 2000 visits annually and by some 200 individual visits to the centre a year. This reflects an ever-growing need, particularly since the economic downturn.
The range of activities and services has included healthy exercises for older people, computer and literacy classes, sewing and knitting activities. In addition, Lee Fair Share, the local time bank, runs a Coffee & Chat session and a range of social and physical activities.
All these have operated around a Support & Advocacy service that helps several hundred people annually with benefits, housing and other issues that overwhelm them. This service is held at the same time as our Warm Space project that helps people keep warm while overcoming loneliness and isolation, so often key to their sense of well-being.
Lee Green Lives, because we believe that “a stronger community is an engaged community”, also facilitates a local network of community groups, Lee Green Consortium, consisting of 17 organisations ranging from park user groups and a refugee support group to other community halls, the library and arts groups. The work achieved by working together has had a big impact on the local area.
