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Happy birthday John Pounds Centre!

By 26 June 2016No Comments


This year the fantastic John Pounds Centre (JPC) off Queen Street in Portsea celebrates its 10th birthday. 
The flagship community facility led by the John Pounds Trust provides activities and services for all, serving Portsea and the wider city through a variety of opportunities.
Onsite facilities include a 350 capacity multi-use sports hall, fitness suite, IT training suite, library, community cafe,  youth and art spaces, nursery, dentist and a small business hub.
The centre has received critical acclaim for its design, community spirit, enterprise and unique opportunities.
It was a pleasure to attend a celebration to start the commemoration of the trust and centre’s achievements in the past year.
In the last year the centre has:

  • Supported 10,000 new users and user groups registered
  • Worked with 500 volunteers
  • Ensured 30,000lbs of fresh food is re-cycled through our food programme
  • Provided 9,000 meals enjoyed by the community at our twice weekly cooking programme
  • Enabled 100s of people to be trained as cooks as part of a community programme
  • Supported over 200 apprenticeships

And in the last four years it has:

  • Organised over 1200 referrals from city agencies onto a Healthy Living programme
  • Helped a 100 residents to quit smoking
  • Made many happier through emotional support
  • More recently have helped several patients deal with diabetes
  • Helped many cancer patients with rehabilitation
  • Raised over £800k to support community based programmes

Cllr Stephen Morgan said:
“I’m a huge fan of the work of the trust and the excellent facilities provided at the John Pounds Centre for residents. 
The vision the city and local people had over ten years ago to bring different agencies together to improve life chances fir all in Portsea was forward thinking at the time and just as relevant to the challenges our communities face today. 
The trust should be proud of their fantastic achievements over the past ten years. These are excellent achievements. I very much look forward to working with them and local people over the years ahead”.
For more information about the trust’s work visit www.johnpoundscentre.co.uk