Royal opening for dream come true

The Duke of Gloucester gave the St Paul's Community Centre and Atholl Court in Goodmayes, east London, the royal stamp of approval at the official opening in September.

The new community centre and 14 associated flats is the culmination of a dynamic partnership between St Paul's church, a London borough and a housing association.

Thanks to this initiative 15 people now have new affordable social housing and the communities of Goodmayes and Chadwell Health have a very special place to meet. The downstairs flats have been designed to accommodate wheelchairs.

The Bishop of Barking, David Hawkins, the Archdeacon of West Ham,Ven Michael Fox, and the Revd Ben Rutt-Field, vicar of St Paul's, led a eucharist of thanksgiving. Some 200 school pupils took part in the opening ceremony. A reception followed in the new centre.

Ben Rutt-Field said: “This was a real community event and the presence of the Duke of Gloucester made it even more special. It was the culmination of much hard work by St Paul's PCC, together with their partners, the London Borough of Redbridge, Family Mosaic housing association, Bugler Developments (the construction company) and BPM Project Management.

“Alongside this, members of St Paul's church gave many voluntary hours. My grateful thanks go to all these and many others who have made the long-held dream a reality.”

The new centre aims to be a meeting place and focus for the multi-faith, ethnically diverse communities of Goodmayes and Chadwell Heath.

Bishop David endorsed the state-of-the-art community facility that seeks to create a space that feels comfortable, safe and fully accessible to all who use it.

“The church has a new hall, the local community has a dynamic new meeting place, and the scout, uniformed and youth groups also have new premises,” said Bishop David.

“Alongside this 15 people have the benefit of affordable social housing.The whole scheme is recognised as a well thought out regeneration of a small suburban site that will touch upon and improve the lives of many in our diverse multi-faith community. I offer my personal congratulations to all those who have made this worthwhile project such a success.”

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