Manor House Lodge is the former gatekeepers house in Finsbury Park, currently a neglected, inaccessible community asset with an overgrown garden. We aim to transform the Lodge into a multi purpose community centre: a shared public space with cafe, kitchen, garden, events space & private rooms for local community groups & therapeutic practitioners. This volunteer-run, autonomous home will be a space for everyone in the local area to come together to share meals, skills, conversation & experiences. Here local people, groups & organisations can work, grow & support their communities, as well as connect people from different backgrounds to support one another & co-create solutions. There will be art materials, printing services, computers, wi-fi, books, tools available to access. A local family group running weekly workshops say the Lodge will "make it possible to reach out to more transient families in the area.” EVERYONE should have access to space, food & company.

What we'll deliver:

• Volunteer-run community kitchen/cafe and communal space in the renovated Lodge
• Tools, resources, workshops, talks, classes, meet-ups and other events
• Regular donation-based open community meals
• Opportunities to design and build bespoke mobile furniture for the communal work space and event space
• Offer sliding scale room rental for community groups and local therapeutic practitioners
• Revive and protect the community garden and promote biodiversity, outdoor furniture, build BBQ and other facilities.
• Provide resources and tools for members of the community to use for community projects.
• Outreach events on site and in the local area before, during and after the design process.
• Community Lodge membership so that everyone has a say in how the lodge & garden is designed, built and run.
• A network of skilled volunteers to enable local people to start their own groups & projects at The Lodge & Garden.

Why it's a great idea:

The Mayor’s 2018 Strategy for Social Integration states “spaces where people can meet, & children can play, building relationships, should be created & preserved”. Manor House Lodge is situated on the border of Haringey, Hackney and Islington boroughs. The immediate area around Manor House Tube Station has restaurants, shops, pub, cafés drawing local people from all different backgrounds. Many residents face challenges with increased cost of living and housing and widening of the inequality gap in the area due to regeneration. Building a community-led social centre with regular social eating, workshops, volunteering, service provisions, with barriers to participation as low as possible, will promote social integration, combat loneliness and food insecurity, and help to sustain the social infrastructure of the area.

Steps to get it done:

• May: Sign contracts with Haringey Council and other stakeholders / Launch Crowdfund London
• June/July: Community meetings, outreachs & consultations / Make Your Own Shift (The Castle) Open Days
• July: Clear and clean up site / volunteer recruitment / start community garden
• August: 150th Anniversary celebration of Finsbury Park launches monthly communal meal events
• September: Community outreach & consultancy with local residents / volunteer recruitment / launch website
• October: Contractors start on site renovating interiors
• January/February: Design and build interior ground floor bespoke furniture / Implement booking system
• March: Soft opening of Manor House Community Lodge
• May: Official opening / First Annual Report of MHCL
• May/June: Start community permaculture garden, build cob oven and brick BBQ

We aim to create a participatory ecosystem that both sustains the centre and develops the skills, solutions and resilience already existing in the local community. We will do this through: - Community-led design process that utilises principles of sustainable and inclusive design, permaculture and forum theatre. - Membership model so that everyone has equal say in how we design, build and run the Lodge. Everyone involved, including all people pledging to this crowdfund, will have the opportunity to become a member. - Consensus-based decision making to find solutions that everyone actively supports. - A network of skilled volunteers to enable local people to start their own groups & projects at The Lodge & Garden. - All activities will endeavour to be for the benefit of the whole community (not just members or most represented groups in the community) and not adversely affect anyone within the community.