About Grove Park Youth Club!
Grove Park Youth Club Building Preservation Trust manages a remarkable, purpose-built youth club building, first constructed in the 1960s as part of the Chinbrook Estate development.
The Trust originally formed out of a campaign led by local residents committed to saving this incredible community asset from permanent closure and redevelopment. Following a long and passionately led campaign, we successfully reopened Grove Park Youth Club in July 2021, working in close partnership with Lewisham Council, youth services providers and local community groups.
At first we partnered with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation for two years to provide free youth club sessions twice week. We then partnered with Sporting Way who deliver three after school youth club sessions and since September 2023 our Trust has delivered GPYC Studios, our flagship twice weekly youth club which replaces the RFF sessions. GPYC is OPEN after being closed for from 2013 to 2021 and our community led Trust delivers free youth clubs five evenings per week and more!
Restoring free youth provision has been our top priority but we are also focused on securing the long-term viability of the youth club building. We have big plans to support a wide range of activities run by the community, for the community, and we want to ensure this asset can serve local residents for decades to come. We advocate for the essential value the building has to offer on behalf of the community and identify opportunities to secure public and private funding alongside working to grow revenue-generating activities within the building. So far we have secured funding from The National Lottery and Lewisham Council, among others, and have carried out considerable work to restore the building to its former glory.
Our Leadership Team:
Robert Clayton
Chairman
Rob is a local resident and parent who has lived in Grove Park for 20 years. He led the campaign to save the youth club from its beginning and now oversees all its operations and setting the long-term vision for this community asset.
Ione Ojanguren
Director
Ione is a Grove Park resident and parent with years of experience working with young people in early careers.
Killian Troy-Donovan
Director
Killian grew up in Grove Park and has been involved with the trust since 2017.
Errol Donald
Director
A qualified child therapeutic wellbeing practitioner, Errol has worked extensively in community settings where he observes creative, intercultural practice with an awareness of the cognitive, emotional, and educational needs of young people. Errol is the founder and director of Mindspray, a creative practice delivering projects that meet at the intersections of art, culture, and wellbeing.
Ellena Shwarte
Director
Ellena, a local Grove Park resident, has been involved with the youth club since its opening. She is passionate about ensuring the youth club continues to positively impact the community, building on the success it has already achieved.
The Building:
Grove Park Youth Club was built as a community facility for the Chinbrook Estate and opened in July 1966. As a product of the LCC Housing Division it forms part of a historically important era of progressive civic buildings by the LCC that include the Hayward Gallery, Michael Faraday Memorial and Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre. Original features (some of which remain) recall great public buildings of the period including the Royal Festival Hall.
The building was originally commissioned to house a main hall, coffee bar, “girls’ room”, workshop, and manager’s office. The building’s project architect, Leo Hallisey, recalls being influenced by the BauHaus in his approach to the building. Its clean uncluttered spaces and double height main hall were designed to optimise operational flexibility and the circulation allowed for both members and non-members of the club to use the coffee bar, as a way of encouraging newcomers to experience the activities on offer.
