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A message from the chairman of the Emsworth Community Association
The Trustees and staff of Emsworth Community Centre, would like to thank the community for all their support over the tragic fire at the centre on Tuesday. Approximately 30% of the assembly room roof is badly burned, there was little other damage except water, but it means that the whole assembly roof is at risk. Therefore these rooms and the library will remain closed for some time. Our thanks go to the fire service who were so professional and saved the centre from further damage.Our thanks also go to the calm way the centre users ensured the building was evacuated and the fire service alerted. It was good to see how well everyone worked together.And thank you to all the various organisations that have offered use of their premises - so quick to come to the rescue of our displaced groups. We are hoping that most of our groups can be reinstated, but realise that this may not be possible for all of them in the short term. We will continue to work to ensure continuity for our groups where possible.The Chair of Trustees and the Centre Manager have just met with the Centre's Insurance Company Loss Adjuster and a Loss Assessor. The good news is that the Mountford and Lumley rooms, plus community cafe, can open as of Thursday 27th March. Do note that the car park will not be available other than to access the centre, as the assembly area will be fenced off for H&S purposes.Again, thank you for your continued support and help at this difficult time.
Emsworth Community Centre managed by Emsworth Community Association
Charity No 1181509
Welcome everyone to our new website. We hope that it will eventually contain everything that you are looking for. Please note that some areas are still under construction, so please bear with us and in the meantime please drop us an email if you require any information. Our details are at the bottom of the page.
Films and Social events for the coming month
How it all began
Emsworth Community Centre, situated in the heart of the village, thrives with activity and is used by residents of all ages. It is run by Emsworth Community Association, a registered charity, no 1181509> and managed by a committee of trustees, many of whom have an interest in groups that run the Centre. Trustees and staff aim to make Emsworth Community Centre a welcoming place for all our residents.
It all started in 1841 when St James Church (Church of England) was built on the site of an old brickfield, the Church of England National Schools Society raised the funds to build a school near to the church in 1865 and it was a boys school for the first 50 years.
In 1902 the County Council became responsible for elementary education for the first time and a new County Council school was built in Washington road. There was now to many schools in Emsworth so the Girls school was closed and St James School became mixed. The small schools around Warblington and Leigh were also closed and the children from those areas now travelled to Emsworth, mostly by train.
Emsworth was the first parish to have their own public elementary school and no other has been built since.
St James School became to big for the site near the church and moved to Bellvue Lane. In 1974 their was a big debate on what should happen to the old school building, It was leased to a group of residents of Emsworth who formed a Community Association and eventually was able to purchase the building in 2016 to run a charity based Community Centre
previous to the purchase in the 1987 an extension was added to the Community Centre which created extra rooms for hire and included a large room for social and private functions and
a dance studio which was called the Lumley room
and was named after
Joanna Lumley ( actress) who opened the new
extension.
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The pictures below tell the story.
If anyone has any photos or information about the Centre and how it began, or memories they remember, that we can use on this page, please let us know. contact details can be found on the bottom of the home page
We believe everyone should be able to use the Community Centre.
So we ensure that we make our activities safe, accessible, varied and fun for all
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide our community with an accessible by all Community Centre, while keeping it to a standard and safety required for a healthy safe and friendly environment
Our Vision
Our vision is to be known by all the community and utilised by everyone. Using some type of activity or social event and enjoying them, coming back for more, and being the talk of the Village
