London’s first East and South-east Asian Centre now open in Hackney
A new centre for people in Hackney from east and south-east Asian countries has opened in Dalston, thanks to Council investment of more than £2 million.
The organisation, formerly known as Hackney Chinese Community Services (HCCS), moved to the Old Baths site in Englefield Road from London Fields – where it had been based since the 1980s.
HCCS was first set up to support settlers from Hong Kong, China and Vietnam and, after more than 35 years, has moved to the much larger site, which was previously occupied by the An Viet Foundation, a hub for Vietnamese families which disbanded in 2017.
Plans to relocate the organisation began seven years ago and involved many challenges – including close work with an architect to restore, repair and improve the Old Baths building -– and higher costs during Covid-19.
As well as the £2 million from the Council, around £600,000 of funding for the restoration was provided by the Greater London Authority’s ‘Good Growth Fund’, as well as the centre’s own crowdfunding projects.
An official launch of the centre will take place in late April.
Join Lunar New Year celebrations at the centre on Sunday 2 February between 10am and 5pm, including live performances, food and drink, market stalls and workshops.
Hackney residents are also invited to attend the annual Lunar New Year Celebrations at Hackney Bridge hosted by carnival group Jun Mo Generation, taking place on Saturday 8 February, 1-4pm. Expect a vibrant celebration of Hackney’s East Asian communities and cultures, featuring dance performances, live music, Chinese Dragons, family workshops, and food on sale from Hackney Bridge food stalls.
We’re so happy to have finally made the move. It was emotional having been in London Fields for nearly 40 years. The latest 2021 census shows there are nearly 8,000 east and south-east Asian people in Hackney, so it’s really timely that we have this new centre to serve these communities.
Over the years our membership has naturally expanded and we thought it was time to rebrand as the East and South and South East Asian Centre and open it up to truly reflect our membership and we are now the first physical centre in London that caters for the East and Southeast Asian community.
Letting go of a lot of our old relics and deciding which ones to keep was the emotional part. But we’ve been really excited about getting the new space sorted, putting up shelving and installing furniture – and getting all of our volunteers to help with that has been really exciting.
We’ve just got the cafe open, we have big plans to get the garden in full bloom in the spring and we can’t wait for the next steps.
Kristina Pringle, who helps to run the East and South East Asia Centre
It is so gratifying to see this centre finally open. The project has been a really successful collaboration, involving close work between our architects and capital team, and the tenants and their architects. Fantastic work has been done to repair and preserve existing features, including the boiler chimney and I can’t wait to see the garden in full bloom in the spring.
Most importantly, the establishment of the new South and South-East Asian Centre will provide a new home for an organisation that has been doing fantastic work for people in these communities for decades. In Hackney, it is our diversity which makes us strong, and we celebrate the people who are proud to call Hackney home.
Cllr Chris Kennedy, Cabinet member for health, adult social care, voluntary sector and culture