In June 2019 the Elephant and Castle Community Hub opened in the shopping centre, offering a popular and well-attended range of fitness and wellbeing classes, arts and crafts workshops running 5 days per week.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, a virtual Community Hub was launched in March 2020, taking the physical classes and community support initiatives online. The virtual Hub provides everything from arts and crafts classes and baby music sessions, to online quizzes and a weekly community choir practise. Since March 2020 there has been over 15,000 visitors to the hub, with over 25,000 views.
15000
Up to 14700 people visiting the virtual community hub since March 2020
25000
25000 views on the virtual community hub since its launch in March 2020
“It has an amazing impact. Amazing positive impact, especially now! When we cannot meet. We cannot see each other in person and be a community in that sense. What happens is, the Community Hub is a platform, a place where people can. Even though it’s virtual, they can meet and do something that they are all passionate about.”
Paulina Knapik, Community Hub Choir Director commenting on the Virtual Hub
“It’s been a godsend to the community, it’s really great. Because every day there is a different activity going on.”
Lee Kempster, Community Member
“It brings inclusion, no discrimination. So it’s including old, young, people of different ethnicities, disabilities. It brings together a community. Definitely, no matter what language you speak. Especially with dance, everyone knows how to dance. That’s a language that everyone can interact with.”
Mo Oriogun, Community Member
If interested in joining in the fun, you can find us at
or on Facebook @whatsonatelephant
Applications are open for the Inspiring Elephant Community Fund
The Elephant and Castle Town Centre team and Get Living have launched the Inspiring Elephant Community Fund.
Over the next five years the Elephant and Castle Town Centre team will distribute £250,000 of funding to the local community. Each year, £50,000 of funding will be made available for organisations in Elephant and Castle to support the thriving and vibrant community in which they work.
Local organisations can apply for multi-year grants of up to £5,000, and a panel of local community leaders which includes members of the Community Hub and representatives from Get Living and Southwark Council will consider all applications.
Applications are open from now until 28 March 2022, and you can read more about how to apply at the bottom of this page.
The Inspiring Elephant Community Fund will support projects that work with local residents to increase community connections, improve health and wellbeing, and engage young people in training.
Apply for a grant with the Inspiring Elephant Community Fund
If your organisation is interested in applying for a grant from the new Inspiring Elephant Community Fund, take the following steps to apply:
- Download and read through the guidance and eligibility criteria here. The guidance provides information on what kinds of projects the panel will be looking for, eligibility requirements for your organisation and project, and the list of supporting documents you’ll need to provide as part of your application.
- Once you’ve read through the guidance, you can complete your application online at the following URL: https://ukcf.secure.force.com/forms/iecf
- When you’ve submitted your application, you’ll receive an email to confirm, and we’ll be in touch with the outcome in the following weeks
For more information or to ask any questions about the fund, email the Elephant and Castle Town Centre Community Director Diana Barranco at info@elephantandcastletowncentre.co.uk
If your organisation would like a hard copy of the application, please email us at info@elephantandcastletowncentre.co.uk with your name and address and we can post a copy to you.
THE ELEPHANT AND CASTLE TOWN CENTRE TEAM LAUNCH ITS OWN EDUCATIONAL WORKBOOK FOR CHILDREN
The Elephant and Castle Town Centre project team is delighted to offer its very own educational workbooks for children, created in association with education specialist iChild. The workbooks will support to re-engage children and families in learning about redevelopment and to celebrate the local community and history of Elephant and Castle. They have been designed to teach children both in the classroom and at home, and 29 local schools have already signed up to take part in the initiative, reaching over 5000 local children.
Elephant and Castle has had a rich and exciting history and has been inhabited since before the Romans. Since then it has grown and developed, and it is now about to enter a new phase in its history, with a new town centre. The subjects covered in our workbook include History, English, Geography, Art & Design, PSHE, Design & Technology and Maths.
You can download a copy of the activity workbook here.
For any questions regarding the educational workbooks please contact info@elephantandcastletowncentre.co.uk
Pick up your copy of the Castle Chronicle!
Brought to you by the Elephant and Castle Town Centre team, inside the Castle Chronicle you can read all about what’s going on in the local community, including updates on the redevelopment of the town centre.
Let us know what you’d like to see in our next edition by emailing us on info@castlechronicle.co.uk
Download our latest editions here.