The Crescent launches!
The Crescent is a new learning disability resource centre on Coburg Crescent, in Streatham Hill.
The development includes:
- A new home for Lambeth Walk day service.
- Independent Supported Living flats for 14 adults with learning disabilities.
- A residential respite and short-term accommodation service.
- A café and community space, providing paid, supported employment for adults with learning disabilities.
- A shop, to replace the one on the site before works started. The Council committed to keep a local shop facility open throughout the construction process.
After cutting the Ribbon, Cllr Claire Holland. Leader of Lambeth Council, said: “Delivering this vital new facility for our residents was a key commitment made back in 2018 and I am proud that we have been able to deliver this. A dedicated respite space where residents will be able to receive personalised care is something that hasn’t existed for over ten years.
“This new location offers much more space, improved facilities, ensuring that the service can meet the needs of Lambeth residents as demand grows in the coming years. In Lambeth we are determined that no-one gets left behind, that everyone has everyone has equal opportunities to live their best life – and this centre is both a way of making that happen for some of our most vulnerable residents and an important sign to everyone that that’s what Lambeth is about.”
Cllr Lucy Caldicott, joint Lambeth Council Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said: “At The Crescent, Lambeth is offering a unique mix of services for people with complex disabilities – including bespoke flats and activity spaces – that also engages with residents living nearby. People with disabilities and their families have had an input on the design and layout of the Centre and we are proud to be making this significant investment into an excellent new service for Lambeth.”
Partnership is a guiding principle of the project, and this will continue at the centre. Services will be delivered in partnership by Lambeth Council, two local voluntary sector organisations, Certitude and Rathbone, and local NHS partners.
Certitude’s Head of Service Gianluca Zucchelli, said: “We celebrate the opening of The Crescent not as a final destination but as a starting point. The Crescent is a place for people who can often be labelled as vulnerable to be valued for their talents and aspirations, able to express themselves and live the lives they want.”
Aisling Duffy, Certitude Chief Executive added: “We are excited by the opportunities that this wonderful and innovative space will present to the local community and Lambeth residents with learning disabilities.”
The Crescent is also designed to develop stronger links with the local community. The shop, café and community space will serve the local community. Andrew Preston of Rathbone said: “Rathbone will run the centre’s café for people visiting The Crescent and the local community, creating employment for students from Michael Tippett College on their way to careers in the catering sector.”
The building’s design is the culmination of an extensive engagement process with the Lambeth learning disability community, from consultation on the original plans through to ideas on interior design, decoration and furnishing.
We now have a building ideal for delivering a range of high-quality health and social care services. These services will support the individuals using the centre or living in their own flats to be more independent, exercise choice and control over how they live and are supported, and to promote their health and wellbeing.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, said: “It’s amazing to know that a facility for people with disabilities like this exists in my constituency, especially following a period when they have seen so many cuts.
“I particularly want to thank the carers who go above and beyond, every day.”
“We want everyone to share the news that this is an essential place that’s here for people in Lambeth.”
As part of the building’s inauguration, an intimate ceremony dedicating the community space to the memory of Yvonne Pennant Taylor was held with her close family and friends. Yvonne was a well-loved member of the Lambeth learning disability community, dedicating herself to helping people to life happier, more fulfilled lives. The community space will be managed together with the café, and will provide a venue that local residents can use for a wide range of activities.
For more information about the Crescent contact the Adult Social Care Team at Lambeth Council.
For photographs of the launch event and more please contact Benjamin Morgan in Lambeth’s Communications Team bmorgan1@lambeth.gov.uk 020 79264462
For more information relating to Certitude please contact Louise Davies, lodavies@certitude.london