Written by Millie Khisa, Oxford Hub.
The community centre is a place to meet and connect, whether for fitness or recreation, to learn and grow or as a place to gather and belong. Having a singular building that can accommodate all generations in your community is vital and The Leys has lost theirs!
Maureen O'Loughlin who's lived in the Leys for 59 years and is a volunteer with the food larder and the bingo says, “We’ve created a safe welcoming space for all who come and help them know they are not alone and have someone who they can speak to. We have created our own little community because of the larder, only recently I have helped a lady coming from hospital because I met her at the bingo”.
Kath Balsamo, a long term resident and a parish councillor, says she has made new friends because of the larder.
What is the effect of the Community Centre being closed down and how do we come together as a community since now our central hub has been closed down?
The centre has been used to help some of the most vulnerable, excluded and isolated people in the Leys and promoted diversity and connectedness in our community. This closure has disrupted place bonds at a communal and also individual level.
“It looks horrible, very disjointed and it doesn’t help that the one place we came together is being torn down” were Peter Nowland’s sentiments. “It doesn't help that the Bullnose and Cooperative nursery are also boarded up, it makes the Leys look like a forgotten or abandoned people left to fend for themselves”
We know how valuable this community space has been over the years in keeping the community alive. Providing space to run different groups and events is scarce but we have seen great community spirit arise in organisations such as The Oxford Hub based at Windale Primary School opening their doors to share their space with the local community groups, the Leisure Centre discounting their rates for community groups to use their spaces and the Leys CDI’s Barn is also available for hire.
We hope that these spaces will keep the community spirit alive by enabling and supporting the projects that have been running in the Leys to keep going.
How can the community be involved in shaping the proposed regeneration? How do we work closely or effectively with the council and Peabody?
To address the concerns raised by Peter, Kath, Maureen and many other residents of The Leys about their needs and concerns being heard and addressed, the Council, together with Transition by Design, have created a panel (Leys Community Review Panel) consisting of Leys residents.
The panel will have meetings with the architects JTP & Jessop and Cook, the landscape architect and wider design team, Peabody Housing Association and the City Council as they give their input on the development of the community centre and the public outdoor space design.
The panel consists of a diverse range of local residents who are demographically representative of the Leys. Jayne Watson, the centre manager, has also been engaging with user groups whilst the community centre is closed and will be inviting them to workshops to get their input on the project.
The community engagement experts involved are Transition by Design, an architecture design collective who specialise in ecological architecture, community engagement, citizen-led and participatory design, action research, meanwhile use, and community-led housing.
Transition by Design will also be hosting a range of engagement events for residents, key stakeholders, youth and user groups of the community centre. There will be in-person events as well as online events, and more information will be shared shortly.
Wongani Mwanza, the lead community engagement expert on this project said;
“We felt we were in a good position to be involved as we are all local residents of Oxford and have also been involved working in The Leys for several years so we have a great local knowledge of the area.
“Transition by Design are passionate about the community and will hold their opinion at the forefront whilst working within the parameters of the project. We have been listening to the Leys residents and the concerns raised and it helps that we are local and we get to hear even by word of mouth what people are thinking, this is our standard practice.
“We really want to hear from the community, we believe in the community voice and understand that the Community Centre has been a part of the Leys for the past 60 years and this new building will be a central hub for another 60 or even more so we put the community's interests at the forefront of this process.”
As it stands right now, the future is uncertain for the Leys but with these encouraging words from Peter Nowland, we as a community will continue to thrive despite these setbacks; “I encourage togetherness because only then can we make big changes that benefit us all. I encourage everyone in the community, represented and working together regardless of colour and creed. The diversity of our community is our strength”.
