We're still collecting donations
On the 24th June 2024 we'd raised £5,170 with 132 supporters in 56 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
To sustain our free and subsidised activities and popular events in 2024 and support volunteering in an inclusive, people-led community hub.
by Tottenham Flower and Produce Show in London, Greater London, United Kingdom
On the 24th June 2024 we'd raised £5,170 with 132 supporters in 56 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
When we set our £4000 target we kept it low, not because that was all we needed, but because we understood that the drastic rise in the cost of living was affecting everyone and we thought, as it was an all or nothing target, we should be cautious. We truly underestimated the affection felt for Lordship Hub and we are really overwhelmed by the response. The Hub is a very complex building to run, trying to balance so many different services with very limited resources. Our staff not only run the cafe, hiring rooms, community events and workshops with all the accompanying administration but at the same time an important part of our ethos is to offer volunteering opportunities. We are giving people of all ages, abilities and ethnicities the opportunity to be a vital part of our Hub community. Some want to develop work or life skills, some want to be around people, some want to be part of making our community strong and resilient. To run the building as a viable concern while sticking to our community principles takes money and human resources we barely have and we have identified a need to raise £20,000 a year through external funding to avoid eating into our reserves. This will definitely take some of the stress out of the job for our generous and hard working staff.
We believe Lordship Hub to be a unique and valuable resource in our community.
Bringing our Community Together
The Hub is at the heart of our beautiful park, Lordship Rec, in Tottenham. Our aim, as a co-operative made up of local residents, is to bring our community together and by doing so, strengthen it. We believe people are better together. The Hub itself is a true example of what can be achieved when local people get together to make change in their community. The park and the Hub has now become a favourite destination with family facilities that allow people to spend longer in the park and also to take part in a wide variety of classes, activities and community events.
Lordship Hub has always striven to be a place for the whole community. Our co-operative principles mean we take the needs of the community as our starting point rather than personal profit.
A bit of History
Before the Hub existed, Lordship Rec had been severely run down and neglected, meaning that it was really underused and a bit scary. Local people with a passion for the green space organised the Friends of Lordship Rec who then worked tirelessly and successfully since 2001 to get the park refurbished with good facilities for its users. The culmination of this community effort was Lordship Hub which opened as a community centre in 2013. The Friends developed the Lordship Hub Cooperative to run it, to make sure that the building stayed in the hands of the community. We want to show by example how people can be empowered to make change in their neighbourhood.
What we do
We now provide a cafe, toilets (baby changing facilities and disabled toilet), rooms for community and private hire, a great variety of classes for all ages, solidarity activities like a free cooked food and food bank day, an older people’s coffee morning, support for refugee resettlement, a community space for adults with learning difficulties, art exhibition space and regular and one-off community events/activities. We also offer great opportunities for volunteering and personal development with training and a daily meal. Our rooms and office facilities are also used for free by volunteer park groups who do so much to protect, improve, maintain and animate our park. We work in partnership with many other community groups active in the park, like the weekend Park Run for whom we provide water and breakfast, the regular community market who borrow our equipment, and various cycling groups who store things they need in our office. We also promote everything that goes on in the park through our social media channels and on our noticeboards.
Why are we Fundraising?
We do not get any regular funding from Haringey Council and competition for other sources of external funding that we apply for occasionally is increasingly fierce and hard to obtain. If you can afford it, we hope you will recognise the important part Lordship Hub plays in strengthening, supporting, sustaining and entertaining our Tottenham Community. Any amount is welcome however small, just pledge what you are able.
The Hub needs to raise funds so we can continue to be inclusive, using our building to offer some low-cost and more affordable services to the local community including free meals, free meeting space for park groups and training and refreshments for our volunteers. Running a busy community centre is a huge and complex task and everyone at the Hub works hard to sustain it on limited resources while being fully committed to making it a community building in every sense that caters for the whole community. We are running this crowdfunding appeal to ask those of you who can, to support us and to donate for those who can’t.
This project offered rewards