A place to come together
A community space for everybody
Welcome to our centre. It’s a place to come together with your neighbours across Barnes. You can drop into for coffee or come to one of our adult classes or kids clubs. And, if you’re going through tough times our community centre is the place to visit for Citizen’s Advice or to access a food bank if you’ve been referred to one.
A community space for everybody
Welcome to our centre. It’s a place to come together with your neighbours across Barnes. You can drop into for coffee or come to one of our adult classes or kids clubs. And, if you’re going through tough times our community centre is the place to visit for Citizen’s Advice or to access a food bank if you’ve been referred to one.
What we do
We’re open seven days a week for classes and clubs and you can visit our café on weekdays during term time from 9.00am to 11.45am. There’s an IT suite where you can improve your skills, a conversation group for those learning English as a foreign language, a gardening club and so much more. Just click on the links below to check out what’s on offer.
Activities for kids
We have activities for kids of all ages from play sessions for children from 0-5 to a Youth Club for kids from 10 to 18. There’s a brilliant homework club for primary school age kids, and we even have club that manages to make maths fun!
We keep you connected
Whether it’s just dropping in for a cup of coffee or joining a group or class, you’ll meet people and make friends and valuable connections. Our team are always on hand to help if you need to have a one-to-one talk.
We keep you active
Whatever your age there’s so much to do, from yoga and pilates to table tennis, gardening or walking football.
We even have chair exercises for the young at heart.
We give support
Citizens Advice can help with problems around housing, benefits, debt and other issues. You can improve your computer skills or just access the web at our IT suite and we are the home of the Barnes food bank.
Our story
Our beautiful building has always been a place for people in our local community to gather. It started life as a church and hall but after World War Two it became a youth centre.
Since being formed in 1997, the centre has established itself as a real hub for people of all ages across Barnes and every inch of space is used for clubs, classes, learning, meeting and much more.
In 2029 the building will be 100 years old and will still be serving the community just as the original architects intended.
Message from Simon Roach, Centre Director
Our team
As Centre Director, I have overall responsibility for day-to-day operations. Before I joined in 2015, I spent 28 years working for a national children’s charity.
I love my job – it’s one that brings me into daily contact with so many people of different ages, from the broadest of backgrounds with so many rich experiences and stories to share. I feel a strong sense of community here, with people keen to participate and support each other in so many ways, ensuring a truly tangible sense of the word ‘community’.
What WE do, and how WE do it is shaped by the WE of the community. If WE are new to you, please come and say hello and get a greater sense of how you can get involved.
Hello, I’m Laila. I joined in January 2020, just before we went into lockdown. I have lived in Barnes for 18 years. After finishing university, where I read law, I worked for a large national and smaller local charity.
I have an interest in social justice and have found my academic knowledge has really helped me to support the individuals I work with.
The Centre offers a broad range of activities for all ages, and I look after the adult programme. Whilst I have been here for a while, I joined at a strange time, when the way we worked was turned upside down. The doors were closed rather than open and instead of encouraging people to come in, we only saw people on an individual basis at the Centre, or when delivering food to the vulnerable. It has been a pleasure to get the activities up and running again, and to get to know the members of the community.
An important aspect of our programme is that it is made up of what our users – the community – want. If you would like to learn how to knit, use a drill, ice a cake or play poker let us know, and we will do our best to make it happen. Equally, if you are happy to share your knowledge with others and have an hour a week to spare, we’d love to hear from you.
I work weekdays during term-time. I look forward to seeing you at your Centre.
My name is Elisha. I have lived in Barnes and been a familiar face in the community for many years now whilst raising my children.
Little Castles playgroup has been run by myself since April 2022. During our session I implement the 7 Stages of Early Years Foundation of Learning to help engage children and parents in fun, educational and stimulating activities. As the Centre’s on-site Parent Engagement Worker, I have a great opportunity to engage with children, parents and carers in a safe, comfortable environment. I am a great listener, approachable and non-judgemental. I can offer you and your families confidential support and point you in the right direction of organisations that we are closely linked with, should you need further assistance.
I also work at the Community Centre’s senior youth club two evenings a week, this enables me to engage and build relationships with the teenagers in the local area. Youth club evenings are fun, challenging and super rewarding.
I have my NVQ 2 and 3 in Early Years Care and Education, and have taken many other courses relating to children, such as paediatric first aid, and identifying and supporting speech and language. I have worked with children and their families in a range of environments throughout my career.
Working at the centre brings me great joy especially working with children of different ages and abilities. I really enjoy being a part of our team and showing a happy approachable face within the community. I love a new challenge and love exploring new places. In my free time, I enjoy going to the theatre, keeping fit and most of all spending time with my family.
I have worked at the Community Centre since 2005 as Finance Manager which started as just a few hours a week but has now grown into full time.
I have used the Centre personally from when I was a teenager in youth club through to attending playgroup sessions here with my children and then my children using the clubs. I have always found this helpful as I have been both a user and a worker.
The last few years I have also been working in our Junior and Senior after school clubs, being in finance it was not a natural path but I had worked at Lowther breakfast club with the children for many years when both my children were small and it helped to get them to go to school happy!
I tend to be upstairs in my office and do not venture downstairs a lot so not always a familiar face but I am always here!