Historic Eastwood building awarded charity status as work progresses on new 'community hub'

Ambitious plans to transform Durban House into a dementia care centre and community hub have taken a major step forward this week.
Durban House Community Hub is now a registered charity.Durban House Community Hub is now a registered charity.
Durban House Community Hub is now a registered charity.

The iconic building, which dates back to 1896, was once the wages office for the colliery where author DH Lawrence’s father worked.

The building has an expansive history, going from a social club to flats, before the council bought the building in 1995. It was later the DH Lawrence Heritage Centre before briefly becoming a nail salon.

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The building is currently empty but plans are now well underway to transform it into a dementia day care facility and community hub in a bid to ‘improve lives’ in the town.

Plans include creating a community garden, a cafe upstairs, and space for dementia patients and their families to receive help and support.

This week, it was announced that the Durban House Community Hub project has been confirmed as a registered charity – with firm hopes that fundraising, donations and grants will now help bring the plans to life.

Glyn Hassell, chair of trustees for the charity, said: “This has been a real labour of love and took numerous attempts.

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“It is a great testament to everyone involved and a validation of the ambitious plans we all have, to improve the lives of our local community.

“Many things were on hold until we were officially a charity, that can now proceed.

“So we will take a moment to celebrate this momentous step before getting ready – because the real hard work begins now.”

As well as offering dementia support, there is space within the building for a range of other initiatives to benefit local residents.

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A Durban House Community Hub steer group has been formed to help oversee the transformation of the historic building.

The group is seeking Eastwood residents’ ideas on what they’d most like to see the building used for, and calling for more volunteers to get involved.

Glyn added: “Please get involved as a volunteer if you can, or feedback with ideas. If you feel there is something we can incorporate to help or support the local community, let us know.”

To offer your input, join the Durban House Community Hub group on Facebook.

Local organisations are also being asked to get in touch if they would like to use the space.

To make an expression of interest, fill out a form here.

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