"Attlee is fun and friendly, with brand new facilities to boot. It's great to know we're supporting the local ommunity as well."
- Consultant, Spitalfields

FOR INFORMATION & BOOKINGS
CALL: 020 7375 3212
email: facilities@attleeycc.org.uk

 

Attlee Youth & Community Centre
5 Thrawl Street
London E1 6RT

 

Link to map

About

The Attlee Adventure Playground in Thrawl Street, Spitalfields was well used for over twenty years but the facilities were only suited to 5-12 year olds, and were in desperate need of refurbishment to comply with modern standards. Faced with a choice of closure or complete re-development, the Trustees decided they had to safeguard this last patch of open space in the area for local children and young people. In June 2006 a new multi-purpose Youth & Community Centre (AYCC) was opened, with sports, adventure play and learning facilities, that could meet the needs of older children and youth, plus the community as a whole.

  

Spitalfields is a deprived inner-city ward in Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived wards in Britain. 40% of its population is under 20, and it has the highest percentage of households in the borough with four or more children aged under 16. There is 33% unemployment, and 73% of households have no car. This means that most children come from poor households, which can hardly afford the basic necessities, let alone leisure activities. 80% of the 600+ members of the Centre are from the local Bangladeshi community, more than 15% are disabled, have special educational needs or are registered at risk.   The Centre provides the only fully integrated play and youth scheme for children with and without disabilities in Tower Hamlets.  Spitalfields has one of the youngest populations in Britain coupled with very little access to open space, very high levels of housing deprivation, youth unemployment, drug and car crime.  The two nearest alternative leisure centres can only be reached by crossing major roads and walking through streets frequented by prostitutes and drug-dealers. This is unacceptable to a community of which nearly two out of three households will not let their daughters go out to play alone in order to protect their honour. In this environment, AYCC will be an urban oasis. As well as after school and holiday play schemes for local children, regardless of ability, it will offer youth clubs, homework clubs, facilities for parent and toddler groups, healthy living promotion and much more.   

 

Operation

The centre is unique in that it provides high quality sporting facilities to a paying public. These facilities include 5-aside football pitches and changing rooms, of the highest quality, the only such facility within easy reach of the City of London. The revenue from these facilities enables the Youth and  Community Centre to provide the service that the local community deserves. 

 

 

Aims

The Centre hopes to increase the number of children in the local catchement area who use the centre. At the moment there are 1500 children of the appropriate age (ages 4-16) in the ward, and currently 600+ are members, and 300 use it on a regular basis. The sports centre has an aim to be booked up at every lunchtime and every weeknight by April 2007.  The aim is that some of the kids will also choose to become volunteers in the Centre, as has happened in a number of cases with the old centre.