Group seeking to raise awareness of issue in advance of public meeting

A local campaign group has produced a music video featuring local children as part of their protest at planned changes at the Alton Activity Centre. The video features children from the Alton Activity All Stars doing their version of a Queen classic.

The video has been produced to raise awareness in advance of a 'Save Our Centre' public meeting which is due to take place on Monday 21 March at 6pm.It will be held at DARA Club, 20 Minstead Gardens, off Danebury Avenue, SW15 4EB.

At the end of March, the contract with Spurgeons, the charity that currently run the centre will end. Campaigners say that Wandsworth Council have not yet provided any concrete plans of what services will be available once the contract expires. They also say that no guarantee has been given that the centre will not be demolished as part of the broader Roehampton regeneration plan.

Having been running a physical petition for sometime, they have now launched an online petition as well which has 61 signatures at the time of writing.

The Council has told this web site last month that they are "close to securing agreements with local groups to run a range of family friendly services at Roehampton’s Alton Activity Centre", whereas a spokesperson for the Wandsworth Anti-austerity Campaign (WAC) has told us that "it became very clear that the Council's plans for after Spurgeon's contract ends is very lacking, questionable and vague. Considering this has been on the cards for some time, the Council can make no concrete assurances as to its future".

The Council is also exploring the possibility of basing some public healthcare and NHS health visitor services at the building in Ellisfield Drive, as well as some parenting and employment support services. Discussions are underway with a view to offering local community groups the building for a minimum of two years at a peppercorn rent.

March 2, 2016