The area around The Rookery Café is made up of people with incredible community spirit and we are so proud to be here! Read on to find out more about some of the local community groups, businesses and people who make the area special.
STREATHAM COMMON CO-OPERATIVE
Common people
“We’re a group of Streatham residents who love Streatham Common and the Rookery and want to see it managed better and improved for the benefit of all users of the common.
At a well attended public meeting held by the Friends of Streatham Common in late 2012, we discussed some broad proposals from the council regarding possible structures for future management of the common. It was decided at that meeting to set up a working group to look at options for some form of co-operative working with the council. Proposals from this working group to set up a Co-operative were presented at the Friends AGM in June 2013 and were backed by an overwhelming majority.
How we got started
Since then, we’ve been working along with the council and other supporters to try to progress this idea. We have been provided with a grant for pre-feasibilty funding from the SIB group for publicity, a business plan and legal work. We also have won consultancy support from the wider co-operative movement, provided by empower.
Co-operative Parks
In 2013 the council consulted on major changes to how Lambeth’s parks are run and we have worked with them to come up with a model that we hope will deliver better services while retaining the democratic oversight and responsibility that the council provides. On the 9th December 2013 the cabinet agreed in principle to establish a local co-operative to manage the Common, Rookery and memorial gardens with profits being reinvested back into the common. On the 9th July 2014, the council approved the Cooperative Parks Pioneer Support Programme, which provides SCCoop with funding to get started.”
FRIENDS OF STREATHAM COMMON
The Friends of Streatham Common [FoSC] is a voluntary organisation involved in mounting public events on the Common and in providing community views of the maintenance and development of the area in a way that balances the needs of diverse groups of users.
“With your support we can continue to publish the regular newsletter, Common Knowledge, run events (such as Kite Day, Shakespeare in the Rookery, the Fun Dog Show, the Christmas Carol singing and Party, bird walks, bat walks, treasure hunts) and put pressure on Lambeth Council to maintain and improve facilities and nature conservation on Streatham Common and in the Rookery Gardens.”
Streatham Common Community Garden
Streatham Common Community Garden is a historic walled garden situated within the Rookery public garden. Formally a kitchen garden of the Rookery (the last manor house that stood at the top of the hill, built in 1786), the site of garden was also used a Council nursery, supplying plants for parks and green spaces across Lambeth, before falling in to a state of neglect.
The garden was set up following a public meeting by the Friends of StreathamCommon and Transition Streatham in October 2010, to discuss the possibility of establishing a community garden on the Common. This took place at a time when there was growing interest in local growing schemes and particularly community gardening in the area. As a result of the public meeting, a Steering Group was formed to take the proposal forward. This later became a Committee that negotiated a seven year tenancy agreement with the Council to use part of the old plant nursery as a community gardening and food growing scheme.
Streatham Youth and Community Trust
The Centre started as a Boys Club in 1946 by Frank and Nancy Birkett who first met in Sunnyhill School; then Eardley School, then in St James Mission Hall, Eardley Road, till in 1961 the first part of the present Centre was built. When Frank and his wife left Streatham the Club kept going for many years by Fred Crump and Laurie Hills two veterans of the first world war. While the Club was small by today's standard it had a lively group of young people keen on football, gymnastics, table tennis and other sports. Some were old members who became leaders and done great work in other places.
The Wellfield Centre was built in 1867, by Sir Arthur Blackwood. It was formerly known as the Streatham Mission Hall. The Mission became so successful that most of the time it was overcrowded, and people journeyed from miles around to attend the services, even on winter evenings despite the inadequate heating.
In the summer months meetings would be held out in the open, and large crowds would gather in the street, with local residents leaning out of their windows to join in the hymn singing.
By the late 1970s the hall had ceased to be used and was in a semi-derelict condition. The building was subsequently brought back into use and was converted into offices known as Grenville House. By 1992 the building was empty and in 1995 the Bright Sparks Theatre School, also known as Flames Academy, moved there. Several of its students appeared on the West End stage including Joe Cumi and Adam Mead, who both played the Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver, and Sammy Jay who played Cosette in Les Misérables. Other pupils appeared in numerous TV dramas such as The Bill, Eastenders and Casualty.
In 2003 the Streatham Youth and Community Trust purchased the hall as a second base for their operations in Streatham.
Inkspot Brewery
We are very lucky to have an amazing micro-brewery just a stone’s throw from the café, we also serve their beers!
“Sheltered within the historical Streatham Rookery in SW London sits the Inkspot Brewery. Two friends with a passion for great beer embarked on a four year project to build a brewery within the Grade II listed gardens. It wasn’t easy. We began brewing on site in late 2018.
Like all good ideas; it started over a beer. Bradley and Tom met in 2011 at Bradley’s bar in Streatham. A conversation about “Why does every bar have a house wine but not a house beer?….” led to The Inkspot Brewery being formed.
Two years of cuckoo brewing at a friends brewery (thank you Mr. Bob) and sales in London led to two big life changes; Bradley sold the bar and Tom retired from the British Army. Time to find a home for Inkspot.
Finding a barn sheltered within the Rookery Garden, a conservation area on Streatham Common, was incredible. Overwhelming local support for the brewery project led to planning permission being granted and three years of work transforming a tired barn into a working brewery.
The Rookery is such a local treasure, every step of the project had to be carefully considered and sympathetically delivered. It was no easy task, but we have finally completed and Inkspot beer is in the tanks.”
ADrian’s Personal Training
And if you are looking for open air exercise with us in close reach for a coffee afterwards, get in touch with Adrian and join his amazing bootcamps.
