Walkley Community Centre

OUR AIMS

Walkley Community Centre is a beautiful Edwardian building which was established in 1909 to promote and advance the availability of education and in the interests of social welfare to provide facilities for recreation and leisure time occupation in order to improve the quality of life and for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Walkley area without distinction of sex or of political, religious or other opinions, by associating with the local authorities, voluntary organisations and inhabitants in a common effort. It has an interesting history, and today continues to provide a home for a wide variety of activities & events  enjoyed by people of all ages within the Walkley community and beyond. Over 4,500 people a year use the Community Centre and between them they use it over 22,000 times.

In summary our aims are to

Generate a community spirit in our neighbourhood
Provide both young and old with somewhere to go
Fill the Centre with diverse and wide ranging activities
Provide a focus point for Walkley events

Trustees

Bookings

Registered Charity No. 1136976
Company Limited by Guarantee No 7268567

AGM  Report

Our Policies

Confidentiality
Conflict of Interest
Environmental Policy
Equality Diversity Policy
Expenditure Policy
Hire Agreement
Hire Agreement (Snooker)
Regular Hirers Key Agreement
Stewarding and Managing Large or Paying Events
Vulnerable Adult & Child Protection Policy 

In the beginning
Walkley Community Centre occupies a building originally built in 1909 as the Walkley Liberal Reform Club. Funding for its construction (a cost of £2600) was provided by Councillor Walter Appleyard, who was unanimously voted president of the club at its inaugural meeting held on August 26th 1909. The “Pevsner Architectural Guide to Sheffield” notes that the building was designed by H.L Paterson in a minimal Art Nouveau style and was established to “act as a counter attraction to the public house influence” for the young men of the area. The club provided no alcoholic beverages, which was much applauded by local politicians. From the start it clearly reflected the aspirational ideals of the urban middle classes. All Liberal Councillors and Aldermen were invited to become members and the local Liberal MP was invited to open it. Although primarily a club for Liberals, many Conservatives joined as well to enjoy the facilities. The opening of the club was reported in the local paper, much to the delight of the executive committee.

A popular and respectable club
The club developed quickly with numerous sub committees formed to deal with all aspects of social life. There was snooker, fishing, gardening, cricket, politics, whist clubs, bowls, a football team, outings and debating society. Outside there was a bowling green with a balcony from the snooker hall for the gentlemen to watch play below. Ladies of the Liberal League were allowed use of the front downstairs room if not required for any other groups. With weekly dances, theatricals, whist drives and annual treats for children in the Ruskin Hall, the club became a very popular and respectable place for Liberals to socialise.

The First World War: A gift to the people of Walkley, and the decline of the club
On December 4th 1918 Walter Appleyard announced that, “to celebrate & commemorate the allied victory over the federated states of Germany, to present in trust to the people of Walkley the club premises, the same to be dedicated to the Right Honourable Lloyd George in grateful recognition of the magnificent services he rendered to the nation in the most critical period of its history”. The gift was accepted by the executive committee with great delight. The Ownership of the building transferred to the Appleyard Trust with a board of trustees appointed. Unfortunately we have few documents for the period 1940 onwards but gradually the clubs membership & influence declined & the club was finally closed in the 1960’s.

Walkley Action Group and the birth of Walkley Community Centre
In 1969 Sheffield City Council had proposed major developments in Walkley including large scale clearance of areas of housing from Carr Road to Cundy Street on the basis that the properties were unfit for human habitation. The result was the formation of the Walkley Action Group, which campaigned relentlessly for 4 years to save their community and the houses, which gave it its unique character. In 1973 they succeeded in reducing the proposal to such an extent that the majority of the proposals were shelved, properties improved through grants and the community left largely intact. It was just after this that an approach was made to the Appleyard Trust to re-use the now empty buildings as a Community Centre for the people of Walkley. Although the Council were willing to allow the buildings to be used as a community centre, it was on the condition that off road parking was provided. The solution was to go straight through the lounge of the building next door and making a carpark where the bowling green was. Unfortunately this did make the caretakers house unusable, a situation which has continued to this day. The community centre itself however thrives and continues to serve Walkley and beyond.

Read more about the history of the rooms in the centre

The Walkley History Project which is managed by the Walkley Community Centre is a community history project investigating the history of Walkley through the lens of  Walkley Community Centre. For more information about the project, please see the dedicated website: Walkley History

The Community Centre is a beautiful old building, however it was built without regard for disability access or energy efficiency, and we have many more requests for hire than we can accommodate. A secular space, it has an open, inclusive outlook which is represented by the varied nature of the events and activities we host. To continue growing the amount of people we can benefit we need funding to remain resilient and to improve accessibility. In late 2015 the trustees appointed architect Carole Latham from Latham Davies based in Walkley to consider our options.

We now have plans for an extension that would significantly improve accessibility to all parts of the building. The inclusion of ramps, a lift and a shared accessible entrance could create a more fair and open centre. The Community Centre will then be able to be accessed by all and will continue to be the beating heart of heart of Walkley.

Bringing the derelict building back into use and integrating it into the existing space will provide a much-needed expansion of our hire space (including a flexible area crafts/art groups & parties), create disabled access to the first floor, extra toilets, a more accessible entrance to the building, extra storage for hirers and provide additional rental income to secure the future of the centre. It will also have a positive impact on the residents of Fir Street who will have an improved streetscape by developing of an increasingly derelict building.

These images illustrate the future ambition of the community centre. The Caretaker’s House has been renovated into a community art space and play host to artist studios, workshops and classes building on the skills of our current hirers and local residents.