About the project

Pembroke House works in support of social action and residential community in Walworth, South London. They run several community engagement programmes covering activities and themes such as music and arts, health and wellbeing, and education and learning.

In early 2019, the charity was set to take on an old church hall – All Saints Hall – to be repurposed as ‘Walworth’s Living Room’, a new community centre intended to be a focal point for the local area. However, the hall had been empty for a long period of time, and needed extensive renovation work to make it safe and fit for purpose, so Pembroke House applied to VIY for help via the GLA’s Good Growth Fund to enable a first stage refurbishment of the main hall.

VIY proceeded to undertake several phases of work at All Saints Hall, covering a complete strip out, including a previously installed hung ceiling, refurbishing three washrooms and installing a new disabled WC, redecorating the main hall and side hall, and sanding and lacquering the original parquet floor. These works involved 86 young people from the local area, including referrals from South Thames College and a local secondary school. The majority of young volunteers, however, were not in education, employment or training and 29 successfully gained a City & Guilds Entry Level 3 construction trade skills qualification through their participation.

The building was totally transformed by the project with Mike Wilson, CEO at Pembroke House, commenting: “The young people and VIY mentors have transformed All Saints Hall from a dark and dilapidated old church hall into a characterful community space filled with light. We can’t wait to show off the young people’s work as we open the doors to the wider community – and having young people from the local community help to restore the venue has been central to the project.”