“Harold Road Centre”, you’ll hear it said, is a place of many stories. Standing tall on Harold Road, it’s been a pillar of this community for over a century. Originally a Methodist church, it was built in 1903. The building’s imposing facade, with its ornate details and high windows, speaks to a bygone era. The Harold Road Centre saw its fair share of change. It served as the headquarters for the Newham Community Renewal Programme in the 1970s, a beacon of support for new immigrants, especially those fleeing Idi Amin’s Uganda. The Renewal Programme offered language classes, job training and refuge for people in need. It continues to thrive today. Applecart Arts, a socially active theatre company, took over the lease in 2017 and breathed a new lease of life into this historic building. The Harold Road Centre has always been a space for neighbours to connect and help each other and now it serves as a vibrant community hub. The building also houses a theatre, keeping the arts alive in this part of the city. You can feel it here: a sense of shared history and collective spirit. This is Harold Road Centre, a place where stories are told, communities thrive, and history continues to unfold.
Центральный дом работников искусств
Step through the grand wooden doors of the Central House of the Workers of Art, and you’ll be transported to