Telegraph Hill Centre Today
Telegraph Hill Centre is a space where communities, local entrepreneurs and independent, social businesses come together to trade, learn, grow and collaborate.
Telegraph Hill Centre makes a lovely venue for a wedding reception, private party, dance, exercise or educational session. You can hire any of the four rooms, or the whole of Telegraph Hill Centre, for an affordable rate Monday to Saturday.
The financial independence Telegraph Hill Centre enjoys makes it a unique venue – not vulnerable to cuts, but also in constant need of ensuring its finances are secure. Improvements to the spaces which sustain the diverse Community are paid for from letting out rooms for activities. Find out what’s on.
- Telegraph Hill centre receives no funding from Lewisham Council
- The Centre generates income from renting its various spaces and the Community Mission Grant St Catherine’s Church generously donates on an annual basis
- Telegraph Hill Centre is owned by St Catherine’s Church and the upper parts of the building, Hill Station and Be Bright Nursery are all leased from St Catherine’s Church PCC
History of Telegraph Hill Centre
- Telegraph Hill Centre – opened in 1972 (for a full history please see – Telegraph_Hill_Centre_History )
- The Centre was inaugurated by Bishop Trevor Huddleston, the noted anti-apartheid campaigner and opened by Actress and Social Campaigner, Glenda Jackson
- In the late 1970s and early 1980s St Catherine’s Church and Telegraph Hill Centre played host to Reggae Sound Systems like Saxon and others
- London Borough of Lewisham (LBL) funding was withdrawn in 1986/7
Faced with a shortfall in revenue for the costs of outreach and community workers, the Centre applied for and received grants from charitable trusts to continue services for the community.
- The Church became the freeholder of the Centre building in 1987
- In 1993 the vicar and curate of St Catherine’s met with local organisers of the open air park festival to set up the Telegraph Hill Festival
- The Festival is now organised by an ad-hoc group who are for legal and insurance reasons a sub group of the Telegraph Hill Centre Group which manages the Centre
- Telegraph Hill Festival has since grown to become on of London’s largest independently produced Festivals and Telegraph Hill Centre and St Catherine’s Church continue to host the larger portion of Festival events
- Bold Vision set up Hill Station, a community cafe in part of Telegraph Hill Centre. St Catherine’s Church leased the space for a cafe on a peppercorn rent to Bold Vision and also donated £3000 seed funding to get Hill Station underway
- Telegraph Hill Centre has also hosted several fundraisers for Bold Vision and Hill Station since 2011, raising more than £12,000 towards the costs of refurbishing Hill Station
