Holly Lodge Community Centre offers social and educational activities for people of all ages and backgrounds - not just from the surrounding Holly Lodge Estate, but across Highgate, Camden and north London.
The services we run include a weekly lunch club - typically attended most often by older, more vulnerable people, and a film club - which often attracts a younger audience alongside, including parents with children. Services such as these are made possible through the hire of our main hall and computer room.
Our help matters because there are an increasing number of people living locally who are lonely, or have physical and mental health issues. They need somewhere local to meet others, feel part of a community, and enhance their own wellbeing - Holly Lodge Community Centre offers just such an environment.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, when our normal services were suspended, we transformed our kitchen into the home of an impromptu meals on wheels service for people who were shielding at home during lockdown. Our main hall became home to a food parcels project, run in partnership with our neighbouring community centre.
In more normal times, activities such as our lunch and film clubs will return, albeit socially distanced and risk assessed. We have 3 years funding from the National Lottery to run additional projects, such as an intergenerational day away for older and younger members of our community. We will also build on the current range of activities which our main hall is hired for - these currently include astronomy, children's music and art sessions, zumba, judo and personal fitness for people who have survived cancer.
