A new community hub open next week in Northgate, Darlington Borough Council has said, providing support and activities for residents, businesses and other organisations.
The Corporation Road Community Hub will be based at Corporation Road Primary School, with the launch event to be held on March 1st.
A range of partners will support the hub where various activities and drop-in sessions will be held throughout the year to help the local community.
Cllr Mike Renton, the council’s cabinet member for stronger communities, said: ‘The idea for the new community hub came from the Northgate Initiative, a multi-agency collaboration set up in 2019 to help support residents in all areas of wellbeing including economy, education and childhood, health, environment and social relationships.
‘The hub will bring together a wide range of services, and activities, in one place and provide alternative ways of delivering services with community involvement at its heart.
‘Our local schools are very much at the heart of our communities, and it’s wonderful that Corporation Road Primary School has offered to host the hub and support its activities. We hope residents will take full advantage of the new facility.’
The school will act as a key partner in the project, providing a venue and ongoing support, while other partners and organisations will also be involved in running the hubs. These include local police officers from Durham Constabulary, Citizens Advice, Morrisons Trust, social prescribers from Primary Healthcare Darlington, and mobile food clubs The Bread & Butter Thing.
Darlington Borough Council’s civic enforcement, housing services, private sector housing team, children’s services and 0-19 growing team will also be providing support.
A timetable of activities for people to join in and drop-in sessions where people can speak to professionals for advice and support will be provided, to start from Monday 6 March.
Gareth McManus, deputy headteacher at Corporation Road Community Primary School, said: ‘Our locality means that we are in the heart of Northgate and due to our commitment to support our local community, we are proud and excited to develop and host this hub for the benefit of all the local residents in the Northgate area.’
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