Over 500 people attended Providence House 50th Anniversary on Saturday May 10, including the Deputy Mayor of Battersea and local MP Jane Ellison.
People came from almost every corner of England connecting and reconnecting with their association with the iconic Battersea youth club, started by Elizabeth Braund and Rosemary Bird in the early 1960s. Many had not set foot inside for over 20 years.
Past and future
Photographs from the past and events throughout the day and evening showcased where Providence House had come from and where it was going in the future, and workshops including woodwork and face painting added to the hands-on fun!
A live concert in the evening shook the building in a joyous final celebration of the anniversary, but Providence House stayed standing and intends to carry on providing Battersea residents and their families with a caring and inspiring haven they can depend on for the next 50 years.
The anniversary event achieved some of the clear aims for the day. For the first part, a service of celebration was held with around 170 seated guests, where the story of Providence House was told through pictures, film and personal testimony from former and present members straddling the 50 years. The service was led by Robert Musgrave MBE, director of Youth and Community Work at Providence House, and the Revd Edgar Daniel, former chair of the Shallowford Trust, gave the closing address.
Tribute was made to the late founders of the work, Elizabeth Braund and Rosemary Bird, and several people spoke movingly of how Providence had changed the course of their lives.
Strong sense of community
The scene changed again in the evening as the main hall was set up for the concert on the stage. Compered by Freddie Morrison, all the performers were men, women and young people who had been part of Providence House as youth members, including Noel Mckoy and the McKoys, Aston Essen and Ziggy Anderson. There was a strong sense of a community coming together throughout the evening celebrations, with those seated in the concert, those in the youth club still busy with activities, and the many people just standing together in the corridor or outside wanting only to talk and connect.
Generous support
There was generous support from several local businesses: Waitrose, Starbucks, Ernest Larner, Georgiou, Maria’s Fish & Chips, Piggies Cafe and Zenobias, as well as Platform One and Wandsworth Youth Service with the loan of equipment.
