Community centres
There are eight Council community centres in the borough. These are based at Barnehurst, Belvedere, Bexley, Crayford, Falconwood, North Cray, Slade Green and Welling.
Community centres provide a central point of focus for community involvement by providing accommodation from which the community can participation in a diverse range of activities of an educational or leisure nature.
Please use the left hand menu or the links below to find out more about each centre.
All of the Council's community centres have space to hire and are ideal locations to:
- Run activities
- Hold a meeting
- Have a family party
- For sports and fund raising events
Simply contact the community centres direct to find out more about specific availability.
Future management arrangements of community centres
The London Borough of Bexley has selected three not for profit organisations as its preferred operators to run six of the borough's community centres and detailed negotiations are underway to put the new arrangements in place by July 2013. The new operators will be established as charitable companies limited by guarantee.
The centres affected and the organisation are:
- North Cray Neighbourhood Centre; Parkside Community Centre and Hurst Community Centre will be operated by Bexley Youth Action Diversity Trust
- Belvedere Community Centre will be operated by Belvedere Joint Management Committee/Forum
- Falconwood Community Centre and St Michael's Community Centre will be operated by the Welling Federation of Community Centres
Cabinet member Cllr Don Massey has said "I am confident that the preferred operators we've identified are well placed to take the centres forward and we are giving them the chance to make longer-term plans and to seek outside funding for improvements". "We will be giving up our power to appoint representatives to the committees that manage the centres and to control their charges. We want to create more empowered organisations that can operate at arms length from the Council and with a clear focus on the needs of the community, while ensuring that they remain affordable to local residents. "
The newly opened Crayford Community Centre is managed by the Council's Libraries Department in conjunction with the new Crayford library which it adjoins.
A new community centre is also being planned for Slade Green to replace the existing facility. The Council has invited interested parties who wish to run the new facility to come forward with their ideas and the selection process is now underway.
