By Angela Lovely
The new Fitzrovia Community Centre has now been completed however arrangements for the drawing up of contracts and taking control of the building have yet to be finalised. Users of the building are likely to start moving in over the summer months as each contract for use is signed.
The Fitzrovia Community Centre Trust (FCCT) who will control the building will know in September how much financial support Camden Council will give to the running of the building over the next three years. All community centres in Camden are applying for funding at a time when the Council’s Government grant is being cut.
FCCT will also be looking for some financial support from Westminster City Council to support Fitzrovia’s Westminster residents.
Increasingly councils are expecting community centres to be self financing from a mixed economy of incomes. This makes the setting up and running of a community centre particularly challenging.