The Fitzherbert Community Hub is two!
January saw the celebration of the second anniversary of the Fitzherbert Community Hub. As we start a new year it is a perfect time to reflect on our achievements and aspirations for the year ahead and beyond.
Last year we talked of success being a result of the commitment and aspiration of all partners towards community integration and
social value. We are delighted that we have seen that manifested in action throughout another year with passion and conviction.
Activities in the Fitz have reflected the diversity and enterprise of our community.
We have been experimental and inventive but within our safe space. We have been busy, purposeful and also had fun. Celebration is a central feature of the Fitzherbert Community Hub.
Our Partners
Brighton Table Tennis Club
Integration and access for all in a multigenerational setting is at the heart of the work of Brighton Table Tennis and the Fitzherbert Hub has allowed the club to extend this practice further.
The link corridor between the club and the Fitz is well used with a warm two way welcome. Players and coaches drift into the Fitz after sessions for socialising and delicious, nutritious food; Fitz visitors are invited to play in the club and frequently join as permanent members as a result.
The table in the courtyard outside provides an opportunity for anyone to have a go and is fun to watch for diners eating alfresco in
this beautiful space; a very rare walled garden outside eating space in Kemptown – and with a ping pong table for everyone to play for free.
For many groups in the club, such as our SuperTonic ones for people with long term health conditions, the availability of the hub strengthens the mutual support and social interaction that enhances wellbeing.
One regular member describes the benefits of the links:
“ I still come when I’m not feeling great. I love the opportunity to meet others, play a bit of table tennis to enjoy being a bit competitive and have fun. I love being able to go straight through to the Fitz cafe – it feels so connected. “
The new Brighton Sanctuary Runners group meets weekly at the club for a seafront run or walk followed by lunch together in The Fitz. This is a group which invites people to run alongside and in solidarity with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees which creates positivity, friendship and respect.
Children are a key presence in the club and local school children attend weekly afterschool clubs where they learn cookery skills in the Fitz as well as table tennis skills in the club. The delicious food they cook with the guidance of local expert chefs is supper for them and their families every week around tables in the elegant Fitz dining room.
Holiday clubs skill and entertain young people from across the city and a carousel of activities fills the club and the Fitz with children playing table tennis and trying out circus skills, martial arts and gymnastics too.
A healthy lunch provided by the Real Junk Food project fuels the days and gives parents and carers a holiday break too.
The social, community party spirit of BTTC is well known and popular. In the Fitz we enjoy screenings of matches, tournaments and special events. Watching the Paris Olympics together in September was a wonderful opportunity for those who could not make the trip. We were sure our players could hear the enthusiastic support from Kemptown in Paris.
Socials and celebrations where table tennis and partying combine are a well loved dimension of our community development.
The Real Junk Food Project
Since the launch of the cafe the three days have expanded to five days. In 2024, the cafe provided over 21,000 pay-as-you-feel meals – an average 1676 meals per month. It is a remarkable success and has become an essential and special place for our diverse
local community. A new feature has been mASCot Mondays where the cafe becomes a work experience project for a wonderful group of neurodiverse young people. This has been life-changing for the autistic young people involved.
In the last year The Junk Food project catered in the Fitzherbert Hub for a varietyof events for Brighton Peoples Theatre, Enjoolata Spring Meeting, Brighton & Hove Independent Mediation Service, Brighton and Hove Faith in Action, three birthday parties, Turning the Tide, Friends of Brighton & Hove Hospitals, SJOG, London Marathon Events.
Additionally, fundraising supper clubs were organised which featured Veganuary with Gemma Ogston, Emiliano Amore, chef Kanthi, Climate Action Women, Fatto a Mano, Dulcatones choir singalong plus plant sales, clothes swap events, and fermentation workshops and of course worked with the Table Tennis Club on Blazing Paddles and a wonderful send off for the Paralympians.
In addition to the after school clubs and holiday camps with BTTC, opportunities are provided using the Fitz cafe as a base for Digital IT training, weekly BHESCO advice sessions and Citizens Advice sessions monthly. TogetherCo meet regularly to connect people and combat social isolation.
A regular user of the cafe sums up its importance in people’s lives:
“ I really value coming to the cafe. From the great coffee to the delicious food (how do they create such magic from surplus?), it provides me with nourishment of both food and friendliness. If I want to chat, I can. There’s always such an interesting mix. But also if I want to be quiet but in the company of others, I can. That’s precious when you are on your own in life.”
Catholic Parish of East Brighton
Fittingly, the open door of the church of St John the Baptist faces the open door of the Fitzherbert Community Hub across an attractive
courtyard. Formerly an old parish hall, the new space has been created and made available by the parish for use by the other founding partners in the Hub and the parish. Our shared mission is reducing food poverty and social isolation and providing friendship and fun in East Brighton with a variety of activities.
From the outset the Hub was identified as central to our mission and our commitment as a parish to serve our city. There are regular parish and special events at the invitation of the East Brighton Parish. Such events and meetings have included faith and action groups from across Brighton and Hove: the Interfaith Contact Group, Christian Action Brighton, Brighton and Hove Faith leaders and the Modern Anti-Slavery Abolition Group. A series of conferences on Catholic Social Teaching will be taking place in 2025, when the Fitz will create a space for people to meet to share vision, passions, experiences, and projects to generate a stronger impetus for social participation and action within the Catholic community and beyond. This has started with our weekly food bank, adjacent to the Hub, through which we provide food for between 60 to 90 people per week in our community.
Now, the parish also wants to change and bring joy to the lives of young people in our area by providing the opportunity to learn music.
We have started by partnering with New Generation Jazz who offer weekly sessions throughout the school year for those aged between 8 – 18.
In 2025 we will reach out to a wider set of local young people with different backgrounds who have never had the opportunity to learn to play musical instruments. Also, young East Brighton Catholic parishioners will be given the opportunity to learn
to sing church music in the church of St John the Baptist, across the courtyard to the FCH. In 2024, we
offered informal jazz gigs on Sunday afternoons. In 2025, top professional musicians of different genres will
be performing to raise money for the Hub. Also, later this year, the uniquely quiet environment which has
been installed will be used to provide sessions for those suffering from dementia.
FCH in 2025
Already new ventures are being planned to develop the hub’s work and values. It is a challenging time for so many in our community but together we believe we can make an impact.
Pablo Picasso said “Inspiration will come, but it must find you working”
At the Fitzherbert Community Hub, we strive to realise this and look forward to another year of working hard with imagination and love for all of those in our community.
Thanks to everyone for their continuing support and enthusiasm through our second year.
