Presentation to The Pelham Community Hub

Immediate Past President James Slinn visited The Pelham in Sidley to present a donation cheque of £500 to centre manager Ollie Jeffs.

The money was part of the distribution of Christmas Collection funds and Ollie thanked the Rotary Club and the generous Bexhill residents for the contribution towards their running costs.

Ollie explained that donations made up approximately 15% of the funds needed to keep the facility open with the balance coming from grants and income from activities.

The Pelham has been selected as a recipient for part of central government’s £60 million “levelling up” regeneration money allocated to Bexhill which is being administered by the Town Council and Dr Anne Rathbone. This will enable The Pelham to complete the renovation of the building by refurbishing the top floor of the former hotel. This space will be used to extend the counselling service by providing an additional 5 rooms allowing more practitioners to be accommodated to meet the increasing local demand.

The Community Hub is almost fully utilised with 66 different organisations using the facilities on a regular basis. Ollie explained that over 800 people passed through the building in one week in November. The coffee lounge, with welcoming log fire at this time of year, is open every weekday morning and food is available after 10.30. The youth centre in the basement has now been open for 18 months and has regular attendance. The Scouts take over the whole building on a Thursday evening with over 60 young people participating.

Ollie is looking forward to inviting all stakeholders and supporters to their 10th Anniversary celebration later this year – hopefully to see the completed refurbishment.