On Saturday 26th September around 400 people gathered together to celebrate 10 years of the Hope Centre in Clifton.
The place was a hive of fun and activity as we combined our birthday celebrations with the Clifton Arts Festival, which brought lots of great organisations together to celebrate with us.
Those organisations included Summerwood Community Gardens, who ran a fantastic craft session outside, Good Companions with a tombola, and the NG11 Foodbank, with a well-stocked book stall!
It was great to see so many people enjoying the music and arts. There were free hot dogs, drinks, bouncy castles and, of course, plenty of birthday cake which was ceremonially cut by Lilian Greenwood MP.
Formerly the Roundabout youth and community centre, the building was transformed with the help of National Lottery funding, and opened in 2016 to encompass a main hall, smaller meeting rooms, offices, and a community café. It has been a joy to see how the Centre has become immersed in the heart of the community over the years, welcoming hundreds of people through its doors every month. The breadth of what is on offer stretches across the whole age range, and the diversity of support people can access is testament to vision, perseverance and collaboration.
At the heart of all this is a vibrant worshipping community, Hope Church. Reverend Stephen Hackney, Pastor at Hope, said: “For many years I have believed that a worshipping community is at its best when it is embedded in the local community where it is placed. Someone once put it rather simply: “The test of a church’s viability is whether the community would miss it if it didn’t exist.” That engagement is something I have been keen to pursue over the years.”
A huge thanks to all those who were involved in putting on such a wonderful birthday celebration and festival of arts, and an even bigger thank you to all who came and helped us celebrate!
As we express our gratitude for all that has been, let’s also raise a glass to the next 10 years of Hope, working in partnership with the incredible community that we are proud to be a part of.
Written by Sue Buckby
