Community and culture space to open doors soon

Shortly they will ‘up sticks’ and move round the corner to purposely converted flats, so that the group can continue to make in-roads into developing a strong community and cultural identity for the residents of Caw Nelson Drive.

Remarkable work has been done to four derelict flats, with the downstairs converted into plush community and creative space, with a purpose-built reception and kitchen suite, office space and the former living and bedroom space has been knocked through to create one large room for activities, meetings and workshops.

“Eventually, when all four flats are renovated the downstairs activity area will become our employment section. We are fortunate to have a Job Point Centre machine, so we hope that this downstairs area will eventually become a cafe style area, with computers where people can come and access job information online, have a coffee or a snack. We will also be setting up a noticeboard area, and on the other side of the kitchen there is another activity area where the former kitchen and living room space has been knocked through to make one large space, and adjacent to that a small office space has been created which is suitable for use as an outreach office for people to meet organisations like the PSNI and Housing Executive,” she said.

“The aim here is to create a neutral space for people to come to speak to representatives of various agencies who offer outreach clinics, but once the whole building is completed we plan to have this as solely as an office space, but until that time it will have to be used as a multi-purpose consultation area.”

The renovations have been financed partly by the community group but also with money donated through the Fair Share Scheme, which is a consortium group that includes the Big Lottery. However, it will be some months yet before the upstairs suite can be opened and used, as a lot more fundraising needs to be done to come up with the cash to install a lift to the rear of the premises to make the upstairs as well as the downstairs wheelchair access friendly. There are also hopes that it won’t be too long before there is enough money in the coffers to begin work on the upstairs areas, where it is hoped to offer one huge indoor activity area which will allow the community group to considerably expand the kind of community and cultural activities they can offer.

“If our current funding applications come to fruition it will make an amazing difference to what we can do at the Community House in terms of our cultural activities. We are hoping to install wall mounted screens and produce a DVD charting the 50-year history of Nelson Drive. This area will celebrate its Golden Anniversary in 2013 and a lot of the people who came to live here were part of ‘the Exodus’ from the Cityside, so we will be doing a history project based on that and have plans for other culture and community projects.”

“Obviously we would like to thank everyone involved in the ongoing work, and particularly the staff in the Housing Executive who have not only given us the lease to the property, but installed the gas heating system and have supported us in this project. We are also really grateful to the grounds maintenance staff who have been a great help to us tidying up the outside space around the flats and make that area more presentable,” said Linda.