A new community hub, offering a space for outreach, support, and simply ‘being’ launches on Saturday in the poorly resourced area of Townhill Park.

A team of volunteers has been working hard to refurbish a former housing office that comprises one of the boarded-up shops on Meggeson Avenue on the Townhill Park estate – an area with few other community facilities.

Work when it was still in progress to transform the space

Now the work is almost complete, and smart space for ‘The Edge Hub’ has been created, from what apparently had been a “very dirty, very officy” environment.

As well as a larger, ‘small classroom-sized’ area, there’s also a kitchen, and a smaller room seating a just a couple of people for quieter time.

Inside the main space

Not only will The Edge Hub offer activities, from parent and child groups to youth groups and homework clubs, it can also be used as a place to ‘work from home’ - or simply as somewhere to meet up with others.

Ruth Hills (above) who works for Church Army, and with the Church of the Ascension, under whose umbrella The Edge is operating, said that while there’s already the “great” community centre in Townhill Park, it is mainly used by groups who want to hire space.

“There’s nowhere – there’s no pubs, there’s no cafes, there’s nowhere where you can just… go and meet people. Just go and ‘be’,” she said.

She added that the ‘regeneration’ of the estate had “devastated the community”, but her hope is that the hub will now "build some community”.

While there will be more formal activities, everything will be open to everybody without any ‘signing up’ or ‘registration’ – or indeed the need for any religious affiliation.

“So people can pop in and join things, or they can not join things. If there’s a group running in the corner, if they don’t want to join it they can just have a cup of coffee and a bit of toast or whatever, and ‘just be’.”

The Edge Hub is within a row of largely disused shops in Townhill Park

Ruth said the whole point of the Hub is that it’s accessible, so there’ll be no charge to pop in, just a nominal cost to refuel with a hot drink, and perhaps some toast and cake.

It will be run by volunteers, with Ruth the only paid person, so the number of hours it will be open will depend on the number that come forward to help.

A smaller room within the Hub

 Much of the funding for the revamp was donated by the art group based at the Church of Ascension, which managed to raise a whopping £1,500 from last year’s art exhibition, while the space has been provided by Southampton City Council.

Another view of the front of The Edge Hub on Meggeson Avenue, Townhill Park

The Edge Hub opens its doors to the community for a launch on Saturday (Jan 20) from 2-4pm. But you may spot an ‘open’ sign prior to this, offering residents a chance to say hello and take a peek.