A COMMUNITY centre which has been shut for nearly a year has been taken over by a new operator so it can be reopened.
Hillfields Community Hub, next to Hillfields Park off Thicket Road, last opened to the public in March last year.
Previous operator the Hillfields Family & Community Trust, which took on a 30-year lease of the building in 2018 in a community asset transfer from Bristol City Council, was unable to keep the building open.
After months of negotiations the building has been taken over by charity Hillfields Community Garden, and a small team of staff is now working to open it again.
It is being renamed Hillfields Park Community Centre and charity chief executive Sarah Rogers said the aim is to “open it up for the community” as soon as possible.
No opening date has been set as yet but an open day is planned during the coming months.
Crowd funder planned
Announcing the move, Hillfields Community Garden said: “Sadly in early 2024, HFaCT, – the charity running the centre – had to close its doors.
“We have been working diligently in the background to reopen the centre and help it to once again serve our community.
“We will be launching a crowd funder to help with our costs whilst we get the building back up and running – currently the building is not open to the public as we are doing some essential works. But we will be doing a fun open day in spring!
“We wanted to take this time to thank the previous charity, all of its staff and trustees who over the years have delivered many activities and supported young people in Hillfields.
“We know the baton has now been passed to us – and we hope that in the coming months and years we will be able to bring even more activities to Hillfields.”
The building was previously known as Hillfields Youth Centre and became the Hillfield Community Hub when Hillfields Community Trust and the Hillfields Young Mothers Group merged to become HFCT in 2018, taking on the building from the city council at the same time.