Statement from Mary’s trustees – November 2022

The decision for St Mary’s Church to take over the management of the Neighbourhood Centre and Crypt from Mary’s on expiry of the lease from 1^st April 2023 was taken in November 2021 following extensive negotiations between St Mary’s PCC and the trustees of Mary’s. 

The following Joint statement was issued on 28^th November 2021

St Mary’s Church is planning for the future and how the Church can best serve the community. As part of this, St Mary’s PCC (Parochial Church Council) have decided that the management of the Neighbourhood Centre and Crypt will come back under the Church, as the lease and licence to Mary’s ends in April 2023.

The PCC and Mary’s Trustees have agreed that the pre-school, play scheme, community sports, bookings, and facilities management that are run by Mary’s in this space will come back under direct management by the Church. In parallel, Mary’s will continue to use the space to grow and develop its specialist area of work with young people. This is a new chapter for both organisations and we hope will allow us to reach more people and make a bigger difference.

 

The trustees and staff of Mary’s accept this decision.  There has been a good working relationship between the two organisations as the details of the new arrangement are sorted out. The trustees and staff of Mary’s are committed to ensuring a successful transition of the work that is transferring to the church and to the continued flourishing of Mary’s Youth work.  We are grateful for the continued support of the church in providing space for Mary’s youth activities in the Neighbourhood Centre under a generous long-term arrangement from April 2023.  We are also grateful to Islington Council who continue to contract with Mary’s to serve young people through the youth club in the Neighbourhood Centre and, along with London Youth, to run the five-year Quality, Leadership and Impact borough-wide youth sector development programme.  We are also grateful for other grants from Children in Need and Breadsticks as well as donations from private individuals. 

 

This is an exciting and challenging time for Mary’s youth work.  As a way of compensating for the loss of the surplus income from the Community Bookings, which has been used to plug the youth club deficit in leaner years, Mary’s will be seeking to develop an income stream from delivering First Aid courses to local businesses and charities.   We will also be seeking to attract new funders, local corporate partners and private donors. There has been an open youth club at St Mary’s Neighbourhood Centre since the 1970’s and we are confident that this excellent and much-needed work will continue for many more decades.  If you would like to donate to support Mary’s Youth Work please follow this link

 

For more information about Mary’s Youth Work visit our Youth Club Site