A run-down Southall community centre that is a ‘hub for the local community’ is set for a new lease of life after £100,000 was earmarked to transform the building.

The City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, has given the money to the Havelock Family Centre (HFC) to help repair the building and make it fully accessible.

The funding will go towards expanding the centre’s services, addressing community needs and ensuring the centre is fully inclusive.

Dilmohan Singh Bhasin, HFC trustee, said: “We are ecstatic that our service users with reduced mobility will now be able to participate in broader activities which we were unable to offer for so many years.”

The grant is expected to benefit 1,500 Londoners.

Currently large parts of the building cannot be used and many areas can’t be accessed by disabled people. 

The refurbishment will make the centre fully accessible and multi-functional, and will create accessible parking, an extension, toilets and a lift.

HFC is the only drop-in family and community centre on Southall’s Havelock Estate.

Alison Gowman, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee, said:  “This centre is a hub of activity and support for the local community but it’s currently not reaching its full potential due to the poor state of the building.

“The funding will make it fully accessible so more people can enjoy and benefit from the activities on offer.”

The centre offers a wide range of services including: information and advice, workshops, a child contact centre, parenting skills programmes, and an arts programme for local young people.

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital.

The Trust has awarded around 7,500 grants totalling over £360 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.