The not-for-profit organisation is putting the centre back in the heart of the community.

From cleaners and sparkies to painters and decorators - a not-for-profit group is calling on tradespeople and volunteers to help them breathe new life into a well-known Southwick building.

(From L-R) Wendy Cook, Kelly Brougham and Amy Swan from Active Families North East | Submitted

placeholder image — (From L-R) Wendy Cook, Kelly Brougham and Amy Swan from Active Families North East | Submitted

Across three days in August, Active Families North East will be assembling volunteers to completely overhaul Southwick Community Centre, taking it from a neglected building into a thriving community space.

From clearing and cleaning to polyfilling and painting, on August 5, 22 and 23, volunteers will be helping to turn the full building into a blank canvas ready for the Active Families team to install a softplay, social space, wellbeing hub, meeting rooms and restore the much-loved bar area.

Kelly Brougham, Director at Active Families North East, said: “It’s all hands on deck - literally! We need all the help we can get as we know how much the community wants this space open as soon as possible.

“Even if you can simply lift a paintbrush or clean a table, we’d love to have you down to help and we’ll be providing refreshments all throughout the day.”

Work will include restoring the bar area | Submitted

Across the three days, volunteers, who can just pop in, will help with the following:

- August 5 (7am-7pm) Removing unwanted furniture and rubbish, emptying storage rooms, removing cupboards and shelving, deep cleaning all rooms, removing old stickers and signage and begin painting.

- August 22 (7am-7pm) and August 23 (7am-3pm) Painting main rooms, installing new doors, working on outdoor areas, carrying out joinery repairs.

Kelly added: “There’s no pressure at all to stay all day, just simply pop in for an hour if you can. Everyone who helps out’s name will be recorded and added to our Supporters’ Wall which will be displayed in reception for all to see.

“You’re welcome to simply pop-in on any of the days, but if you can offer a skilled trade, materials to help the transformation, or would like to bring along a larger group, please contact me on my email [email protected].

“We’re still looking for a few local businesses and trades to get involved. We need an electrician for PAT testing, a skip hire company for Wednesday 5th August, painters and decorators, and a joiner who could build a mobile reception desk.

“We’d also love support from local cafés, delis, restaurants and pizza shops who can help keep our volunteers fed across our community action days on 5th, 22nd and 23rd August. If you can donate time, skills, materials, equipment or food, we’d love to hear from you.”

Inside the community centre as it is now | Submitted

Active Families North East originally won the tender for Southwick Community Centre, in Southwick Road, in 2025, but the lease was paused by Sunderland City Council citing a review of citywide asset transfers.

Following a public campaign backed by more than 3,000 signatures, the process resumed in May.

Kelly concluded: “With over 3000 people across Sunderland signing our petition and hundreds of thousands of people seeing our campaign online, we can’t thank everyone enough and we can’t wait to deliver on what we’ve promised for so many months.”

To follow Southwick Community Hub’s progress, visit the Facebook page: https://bit.ly/BuildingSouthwick