Staff took time out from building Brent Cross West train station on Tuesday, 30 November to volunteer at North Road Community Centre. 

 

Workers from VolkerFitzpatrick,  Van Elle and Mace headed to the centre in Burnt Oak Broadway, where they painted the main hall and corridors throughout the centre. 

 

This is the first step in a series of improvements being led by VolkerFitzpatrick, the company who have the contract to design and build Brent Cross West. 

 

Over the coming months staff will complete the painting of the kitchen and rest room areas as well as improving the outside façade and fencing, create a sensory garden, and convert the committee room to a classroom. Barnet Council will provide the centre with free broadband and laptop computers.  

 

North Road Community Centre is a hub used by many local groups, including Burnt Oak Women’s Group who run a weekly foodbank from it, Age UK Barnet who use it for a variety of community activities, and a variety of local churches for their weekly meetings. 

 

As well as the centre’s renovation there are a variety of plans for future uses, including hosting after-school clubs and Barnet Council sending digital champions to help local people learn computer and internet skills. 

 

Calvin Howe, VolkerFitzpatrick’s Workplace Manager, said: “North Road Community Centre is a fantastic resource that offers so many different services to so many local people and is run by a great team of volunteers who care passionately about the people in the community. Our commitment to adding value to the local community is not just about building new facilities, it can be about going somewhere that already exists and supporting them to continue that work into the 21^st century.” 

 

The partnership with North Road Community Centre came about through Barnet Council’s community engagement team who were aware of the needs of the community centre. VolkerFitzpatrick and other teams working to build Brent Cross West stepped in to help.

 

To find out more about the station project please visit our station webpages.

 

For organisations looking to support community projects in Barnet please contact strategy@barnet.gov.uk