Celebrating Northstowe’s Community Centre

At the end of September, Northstowe welcomed residents and visitors to its brand-new temporary community centre for a day of fun, food, and festivities.  

Organised by Northstowe Hub, the celebration event saw local groups and residents come together and celebrate the growing Northstowe community.

Ahead of the official celebration event, the recently-opened centre had already been hosting over 50 hours of community activity per week, in addition to hosting services provided by the children’s centre and other local health services. From community group meetings to birthday parties, there have already been over 70 bookings since the facility opened its doors – and the community can continue to book space online here.

Here, we’ve shared some of the highlights of the celebration event!

in the garden


The garden was a hive of activity, with various community groups hosting fun activities. Highlights included:

  • Studio Fogg Dance Company performing contemporary and street dance routines, as well as offering workshops

  • Emmanuel Church Northstowe’s Treasure Hunt challenging participants to find hidden clues

  • Hindu Samaj Northstowe’s Photo Booth enabling the community to capture memories from the day

    Visitors also came together to admire the much-anticipated ‘A Symbol for Northstowe’ sculpture in the garden.

    Blending elements of the town’s past, present, and future, Chloe Leaper’s piece, which was the ultimate output of the Northstowe Heritage Art Project, has now been installed, following months of community-inspired creativity. You can read all about it here.

On the Green

 
 

The Green was filled with delicious aromas, lively music, and exciting games, giving visitors the opportunity to relax on deckchairs, sample tasty snacks from food vans, or explore various groups and attractions, including:

  • The Deckchair Listening Project with Pathfinder Church Northstowe, which brought local residents together to share their stories and explore the community from many different perspectives

  • Council stands, with representatives from various local authorities and agencies

  • The Connections Bus Project, a mobile youth centre, which offered a range of facilities for young people, such as a tuck shop, games consoles, internet access, music equipment, advice, and support

  • The Library Bus, which offered a selection of books, magazines, DVDs, CDs, and audiobooks for visitors to borrow or browse

  • Stardust Dance, which offered sessions for children

  • Northstowe Sport and Wellbeing, which offered a range of sports activities

In the hall

 
 

The hall was packed with information, displays, and demonstrations from various community groups and organisations. Visitors could learn more about the different initiatives and projects happening in Northstowe, get involved in various causes, or find out about groups in the community. These included:

  • Sustainable Northstowe

  • Northstowe Youth Hive

  • Longstanton and District Heritage Society, who displayed archive photos and local history information

  • Henna Painting with Northstowe Muslims

  • Parents and teachers (PTAs) from the different schools in Northstowe

  • Charity fundraisers

  • The Trussell Trust food bank, helping local people in need

  • Northstowe Arts

  • Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

  • BPHA (a housing association that provides affordable and social housing in Northstowe)

In the café

 
 

The Hub café provided visitors with a cosy and welcoming place to enjoy a hot drink and a tasty treat, socialise, and have fun. The day included:

  • The Hub cafe offering free cupcakes!

  • Northstowe Gamers inviting visitors to join them for a game or two

  • My Yoga Corner offering free yoga sessions for beginners and experienced yogis, as well as meditation and relaxation techniques

If you didn’t get the chance to drop in, you can come along on Wednesdays (mornings and afternoons) or on Sundays from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

Ending the celebrations…

Following a busy day of activity, the community centre hosted a quiz in the evening, for all to enjoy. During the break, there was also a live jazz performance, coordinated by Northstowe Arts.

Northstowe Foodies also coordinated professional mobile catering on-site in the form of food trucks.

 In other news…

The day of celebration closed an exciting week for Northstowe, which saw the much-anticipated new access road opened, marking a major step in Northstowe’s development.

You can read all about the new road here.

 

Thank you!

Thank you to all of the groups, organisations, volunteers, and sponsors who contributed to the event and made it possible, as well as everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed the event as much as we did, and we look forward to seeing you again soon at Northstowe Community Centre!