Local Bermondsey charity Bede House and the Bede Centre – their community centre at the base of 26-storey Maydew House, overlooking Southwark Park – is constantly adapting to meet new challenges. Nick Dunne – their Director since 2002 – explains how the organisation has evolved and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
Getting here
“My story starts in London,” explains Nick as we meet in his cramped upper floor office. “I lived in Kew until I was 11 and then we relocated to Scotland for my secondary school years. I trained as a social worker in Edinburgh and came back down to London in 1978, living at Cambridge House in Camberwell for a couple of years. The late 80s saw me managing the Voluntary Service Overseas operation in Thailand and by the time I applied to Bede House, I was working as the Deputy Director of Bondway Housing Association. The move from a charity working with homeless people to Bede House with its long track record and local roots made a great choice. Living in Tooting, it also meant my commute was much easier!”
“…We often work with people facing complex situations and run peer support groups which have proved really effective…”
Everyone with a part of play
“Now funding from the Council is declining. We have to find our resources – staff, volunteers, money and connections – from different places and we are necessarily becoming more dependent on local charitable funders, businesses and people. And that means we need every part of the organisation to play its part, from the people who make you feel welcome on arrival to our service users themselves who are undoubtedly our best ambassadors. Now the whole organisation is responsible for making the relationships that give us a future, not just the managers who make the funding applications.”
“…we increasingly work with the complex needs of different groups; some need quiet and peace whilst others will be active and noisy…”
Sticking at it
“When I arrived we were just coming out of a period of instability but overall Bede House was in a fair shape. We’ve now been here 77 years working for Bermondsey since 1938. We experienced the bombing of the Second World War and the redevelopments of the 1970s and 80s. We are part of the local community and have always been located in this space on Southwark Park Road and since 1970 we’ve had the Bede Centre beside Southwark Park. That’s allowed us to do more with a wider range of people. Today we have 38 staff over half of whom are local residents and 100 volunteers. We run four main projects: our learning disability service, the youth project, domestic violence and community engagement. That’s a lot of key knowledge about this place built up over the long-term!”
A clutch of projects
“We work directly with about a thousand people each year and another thousand benefit indirectly. The learning disability service is a big part of Bede’s life. It’s made up a several elements and overall makes up about half our work.” Nick continued, “our youth project helps young people aged 8 to 19 discover their potential. We offer young people in different age groups clubs in the afternoon and evening, some detached work on local estates and holiday schemes as well. Starfish is our domestic violence service. We often work with people facing complex situations and run peer support groups which have proved really effective at moving people out of abusive relationships toward a safer, happier future. Our community engagement is focused through the Big Local South Bermondsey Partnership which has £1M over 10 years from the National Lottery to improve life locally and make the environment greener and friendlier.”
“…Today there are new people changing the identity of Bermondsey – newcomers who can find it hard to feel they belong here but who also bring with them a level of prosperity which could create new opportunities for those who have lived here for a long time…”
New building
“It’s great to have such a strong committed team around me. Having a stable staff team who have a long view helps us to support people for many months and even years when they need it. Change is so swift in Bermondsey today yet family life still operates at a human pace. The buildings we inhabit are aging and we increasingly work with the complex needs of different groups; some need quiet and peace whilst others will be active and noisy,” Nick explained. “The Abbeyfield estate is due for redevelopment and two years ago the Council began talking to us about relocating the Bede Centre in a new purpose-built community centre on the estate. It’s a great opportunity and we have been working with the Council ever since. It’ll still be a few years before a new Bede Centre opens. Meanwhile it’s business as usual.”
“…we need every part of the organisation to play its part, from the people who make you feel welcome on arrival to our service users themselves who are undoubtedly our best ambassadors…”
Privilege and prejudice
“Bermondsey is always in transition but the tensions today have changed. In the past, we had BNP marches through the area which meant the Somali homework club that met in our building would close for the day to avoid trouble. Today there are new people changing the identity of Bermondsey – newcomers who can find it hard to feel they belong here but who also bring with them a level of prosperity which could create new opportunities for those who have lived here for a long time. One of the founding principles behind Bede House is to bring people together from different backgrounds and life experiences to find common purpose and enable our local community to flourish. That’s as important now as it ever has been. I hope Bede will continue to be a special place in Bermondsey where everyone is valued and everyone can play their part.”
Nick Dunne T: 020 7237 3881 E: nickdunne@bedehouse.org
Bede House bedehouse.org.uk
Facebook: BedeHouseAssociation Twitter: bedehouse
351 Southwark Park Road SE16 2JW
