A community centre serving south Islington and the surrounding areas is planning to freshen up its premises after securing £1,000 worth of materials from a leading hardware and decorating merchant.
St Luke’s Community Centre, based on Central Street, has won £1,000 credit from Leyland SDM after securing the prize as part of the company’s Give London a Lift campaign.
Leyland SDM, which has 23 branches across London, has launched the materials giveaway competition to help community groups, organisations and charities in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are 10 lots of £1,000 in-store credit to be won through Give London a Lift between now and October.
St Luke’s welcomes 140,000 visits to the centre each year to take part in a range of activities from a cookery school, gardening and food growing projects, a lunch club, children’s activities and business engagement programmes.
The donation, from Leyland SDM Shoreditch on Great Eastern Street, will be used to paint certain rooms at the centre.
Thomas Lans, Director of Operations at St Luke’s Community Centre, said: “We are thrilled to be a Give London a Lift winner and it will make a huge difference to the local community.
“Our plan is to paint a number of rooms in the centre and spruce up the place to welcome our visitors in.
“It’s been a difficult period for everyone and we have concentrated our services on providing meals at home for vulnerable people during the pandemic.
“We have also set up a Food Hub and a telephone befriending service.
“Slowly but surely, we are starting to reopen the centre, and we are providing a lunch club for over-55s, as well as some indoor activities.
“Hopefully we will be able to return to our normal service in the coming months and it will be a huge boost to everyone to return to a newly-painted centre.”
Paul Gerreli, marketing director at Leyland SDM, said: “We launched Give London a Lift to boost groups and organisations during this difficult time. St Luke’s stood out as they provide such key services to such a large section of their local community.
“We have a huge paint offering and hopefully St Luke’s will utilise it to good effect to give their centre a fresh feel.
“It’s been a difficult time for organisations, community groups and charities. We’re proud to be a part of the community in London and we’re delighted to be able to help 10 good causes through Give London a Lift.”
Give London a Lift is running until the end of October.
Organisations can apply online each month, detailing why they believe they would by worthy recipients of the £1,000, and winners will be chosen by a team of judges.
The money can be spent on anything from paint to tools and electrical wiring to plumbing parts.
Applications can be made on the Leyland SDM website – leylandsdm.co.uk/givelondonalift – by providing a 200-word overview of the organisation.
Established in 1985, Leyland SDM started trading with a single store in central London, supplying local tradesmen as a Specialist Decorators’ Merchants with paint and decorating materials.
Today the business has grown to become one of the most recognisable and trusted decorating and DIY retail brands in central London with stores in some of London’s most prominent locations.
Visit leylandsdm.co.uk for more information.
