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
ELEPHANT AND CASTLE TOWN CENTRE TEAM AND GET LIVING ANNOUNCE SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS FOR NEW INSPIRING ELEPHANT COMMUNITY FUND
The Elephant and Castle Town Centre team and Get Living have announced the successful applicants for the new Inspiring Elephant Community Fund. The £50,000 a year fund provides grants to local groups, supporting short term projects, and contributing to longer term initiatives in the community.
12 successful applicants will receive grants of between £2,500 – £4,950 which will help support various local community initiatives. These initiatives will help fight inequality and benefit disability groups, senior citizens, and members of the BAME community.
The full list of this year’s successful applicants include:
- Afro-Brazilian Arts and Cultural Exchange Institute
- Southwark Playhouse
- Blackfriars Settlement
- Superarts Academy of Performing Arts
- Silverfit Ltd
- Pembroke College Settlement
- Mental Fight Club
- Draper Together CIO
- Latin American Disabled People’s Project
- The Sapphire Community Group
- Platform Cricket
- St Jude’s Senior Citizen Club
Over the next five years, the Elephant and Castle Town Centre team will distribute £250,000 of funding to the local community. Local organisations have been able to apply for multi-year grants of up to £5,000 and a panel of local community leaders – including members of Southwark Council, Get Living and members of the Community Hub – carefully considered all applications.
Since the launch of the Community Hub in 2019, the Elephant and Castle Town Centre team have been thrilled to watch the community come together over the activities it offers. The team is working hard to bring the much-loved Community Hub back to a physical space to create a new place for everyone across the area to enjoy various activities from arts and crafts to yoga and dance.
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.