A community organisation is taking over the running of Leicester’s African Caribbean centre from the city council – with a cash boost to revamp the building too. The African Heritage Alliance will now run the popular venue in Maidstone Road, Highfields, which is currently owned and ran by the council.

The group has been granted a five-year lease with a peppercorn rent to run the centre under the city council’s community asset transfer policy, after presenting a detailed business plan during an open bidding process. A range of organisations were invited to express interest in running the centre by the city council in June last year.

In the winning business plan, the alliance set out proposals such as new social activities and childcare services, to help meet the needs of the community. The group also intend to offer education, support and welfare services.

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A grant of £60,000 will be given to the group by the city council from the council’s Black Lives Matter funds to help with running costs during the first year of its lease. It will now take responsibility for repairs, maintenance and day-to-day running costs for the building and will also pay the council a token rent of £1 a year.

City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “Local facilities are often best run by the people who use them and, over the years, a number of centres have already successfully transferred to community groups through our Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme. The African Heritage Alliance have produced a business plan that demonstrates they have the capacity, experience and resources to take on the running of the African Caribbean Centre.

“I look forward to the implementation of this plan, which will bring benefits to the community while making a significant contribution to the social and economic wellbeing of the area.”

The news comes after the council launched a public consultation in October 2021, where community members were asked how they would like the centre to be run. The consultation received 352 responses and over half of the respondents said that they would prefer community organisations to be given the opportunity to take on the lease and running of the centre.

One respondent said in the consultation: “Having lived in Leicester for all of my life, the African Caribbean Centre has been a part of my Caribbean heritage living in Leicester. It is the one place we can call our own and know that the African Caribbean community who have been instrumental in managing the centre have African Caribbean communities best interests at heart. It needs to remain that way.”

The handover of the Maidstone Road centre is now taking place. The African Heritage Alliance is expected to take over the lease in the next six to nine months.

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