Highgate Newton Community Centre

Highgate Newtown Community Centre (HNCC) has been providing welcoming, supportive, enriching services in Camden since 1985. Highgate Newtown Community Centre is on a site that is currently being redeveloped as part of a £6million regeneration project, funded by the London Borough of Camden. The community centre building has been demolished, and will be totally rebuilt by the summer of 2022. We have secured a 20-year lease and are seeking funding to ‘fit-out’ the new building, which will improve the lives of generations of people. The total cost of this will be around £600,000 and we have raised £200,000 towards this target to date. We are appealing to the Thompson Family Charitable Trust for a grant towards the cost of this important project.

About us

Highgate Newtown Community Centre provides a range of services to meet the needs of our local community. For example, our daily lunch clubs and Wellness Café provide affordable, healthy food and company for older people and those facing isolation and low-income. Daily play activities for the under 5s help younger children socialise and develop healthily, whilst we offer essential support, advice and connection for theirs mums, dads and carers. For families and individuals living in insecure housing or who are reliant on state benefits, we support with form filling and accessing additional food or clothing.

In recent feedback;

• 100% said they felt welcome when they came to a HNCC activity
• 90% of people said they knew more people in their community and 80% of older people said that made them feel less isolated.
• 93% of people said coming to the activities made them feel more confident
• 96% of people rated our services 8 out of 10 or higher.

“I’m just so grateful you are here. I live on my own and before I came here I was just sitting at home with the radio, 3 walls and a window.” Wellness Café user

The need

The contrast of poverty and wealth in surrounding neighbourhoods is very visible, with social housing and estates bordering on large privately owned homes worth several million. On a larger scale, this disparity disguises the extent of hardship and poverty, which is only measurable by drilling down to super output areas. Although none of Highgate ward falls within the most deprived areas nationally, the super output area that HNCC is located in falls within the 20% - 30% most deprived areas nationally.

In the broader Dartmouth Park area wher many of our regular users live, there are three LSOAs that fall within 10% most deprived in England, including income deprivation, living environment deprivation and income deprivation affecting children. 15.7% of the working age population is in receipt of out of work benefits and 10.5% of working age residents are in receipt of ESA and Incapacity benefits. Across Camden as a whole, 38.9% of children live in low-income households.

Analysis of interactions with our service show that over the past 12 months 52% of users came from areas within the 30% most deprived, and 25% from within the 20% most deprived, as measured by the Indices of Deprivation 2015. When considering our under 5 work this rises to 74% from the 30% most deprived and 39% from the 20% most deprived areas.

Even among more affluent residents, there is vulnerability and a need for support. The high number of older people in our local area has continued to result in specific health and well-being needs in these neighbourhoods. In Dartmouth Park and Hampstead there is a probability of loneliness for 20-30% of the total population, as well as higher levels of physical disability and mobility-related difficulties. There is significant isolation within the community, particularly among the older generation. 41% of households in Camden contain one person living alone, and one third of these are people aged over 65. In the past 6 months, 25% of older people who attended our wellness café said that they live alone.

Poor transport links in this area increase the social and physical isolation of many older people, who are limited to their own few streets. Meeting the needs of this group is, therefore, particularly challenging and these issues inform the delivery of HNCC’s services to improve the quality of life of older residents.

We have seen a marked increase in interest and demand for our services since the start of the pandemic. This is in part due to greater awareness of our work, as a result of our Covid response within the community, but also due to increased need among the most vulnerable within our community. It is vital that we achieve our vision of providing local people with low cost but high value services that will improve their lives and provide opportunity at this challenging time. Our work makes a real difference to people of all ages, and it is vital we are able to continue supporting our community – bringing them together and supporting them to recover from the devastating impact of Covid-19.

Supporting our community through Covid-19

In the middle of March 2020, we suspended all face-to-face services and seven days later staff and volunteers had established a Food Bank, Meals on Wheels Service, telephone befriending service, prescription and shopping collections and support for parents and carers with young children. The ethos was the creation of a service of equals, with people offering help when they are able, and asking for help when they need it. For so many, this approach provided a lifeline, and we are proud that in January 2021, 74% of people said they felt better connected to their community as a result of the help they had received.

In May 2021 we re-opened our regular services which include a daily lunch club serving a freshly cooked, 3-course meal for £2.50; daily play opportunities for the under 5s and a twice-weekly Wellness Café for the over 60s which has a regular attendance of more than 50 people every day. These are all delivered from community locations whilst the rebuilding of our community centre building is taking place.

Activities provided

-Fashion House

-55 +++

-Community Lunch

-Wellness Café

-Essential Crisis Support

-Resident Artist

-Wood that Works

-Youth & Young People

-Under 5’s Services

-Circle Dance

-Pilates

For further information please contact 020 7272 7201 or email : andrewhncc@outlook.com