Alford@70 - for the young people of Lambeth

For the young people of Lambeth

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Alford House To promote the mental, moral, physical and spiritual wellbeing of the young people of Lambeth Frank Briant (1864-1934) Founder of Alford House

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ALFORD HOUSE

How a south London youth club has served the young people of Lambeth for almost 140 years and plans to continue to do so

We are in an era when the public resources for young people and their physical and mental health are woefully inadequate, something bemoaned by national and local politicians on all sides… but they do precious little about it. We are not waiting for them and Frank Briant did not wait for Victorian politicians either: he started a club for men and boys in 1884 although he was only 20 years old himself. He went on to devote his life to the people of south London, especially the young. Above all, he was their champion.

Notwithstanding two World Wars, extensive bomb damage, three different locations, booms and busts, national and local governments of various hues and indeed a pandemic, Alford House still provides facilities and resources for the mental, moral, and spiritual wellbeing, and the physical training and recreation of the young people of the area. Exactly what Briant set out to do. How this is done may have changed with the times but the principles behind it have not.

Inspired by this legacy, the Governors of Alford House have embarked on an ambitious and exciting development project – Alford@70 – which will see the complete refurbishment of the club buildings. A celebration of the 1951 completion of the post-war refurbishment and full occupancy of the club’s home on Aveline Street, Alford@70 sets out a plan to ensure it

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flourishes through the 2020s and beyond.

Through words and pictures we remember Alford House’s past and visit the present to highlight the club’s impact in the community and lay out our vision for its future.

We also shine a light on the club’s management which has been in the sure hands of the Saunders family for more than half a century. We thank them for all they have done and continue to do together with their terrific staff, full and part-time youth workers and volunteers. Their impact on the lives of generations of young people is clear and powerfully articulated in these pages by the club’s current members and alumni.

I am privileged to chair a Board of Governors who are passionate about Alford House and proud to continue the work of our predecessors. We are determined to ensure the club continues to fulfil its founder’s goals well into the future.

We very much hope that you will be inspired to support this effort.

Nick Priestnall Chair of Governors, Alford House 2021 3

ALFORD HOUSE

1934

1884

Death of Frank Briant. Scenes at his funeral were sensational. 50,000 people subsequently stood in silence at Brockwell Park at a civic festival held in his honour.

Frank Briant, then aged just 20, started a club for men and boys in The Beaufoy Institute. It becomes a founder member of the London Federation of Boys Clubs in 1887, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Year.

1958

1932

1924

1900

1904

Briant raised the money to buy premises in Lambeth Walk to enable the club to expand as The Alford House Institute for Men and Lads with clear Junior and Senior sections.

1923

Award-winning film director Karel Reisz filmed We Are The Lambeth Boys, an impactful documentary which gave the “beat” generation a chance to counter some of the criticisms made about them. The film represented Britain at the Venice festival.

Tom Hampson, club member, won gold in the 800m in a new world record time and silver in the 4 x 400m at Los Angeles Olympics.

Briant spoke to a small group of boys at Mill Hill School, including George Goyder, then about 16 years old. This was the start of the Mill Hill connection in which Goyder was crucially important in the early years and which still flourishes 100 years later.

1936

The Frank Briant Memorial Council was established with responsibility for the management of the club and building. Old Millhillian Dick Walker joined the Council which he served for 60 years. Old Millhillians featured prominently on the Council and the Old Millhillians Club launched an Appeal for Alford House.

Together with Simon Arnold, later Lord Arnold (a Labour peer), Briant founded the Arnold-Briant camp at Deal, buying and equipping a site to give the people of Lambeth holidays near the sea.

1951

Cyril Belsham was appointed Warden. The Minister for Education officially opened the Aveline Street premises. The rebuilding of the South Building was completed in September.

1949-50

Work began, a new Trust Deed was established, the sites of adjacent houses in Aveline Street purchased. By the autumn the first club activities were taking place in the restored North Building.

Club outing to Switzerland.

1938-9

Football was a very important part of club life.

1946-8

WW1

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The club continued for older men and boys and use was made of the premises for women’s work parties to make gloves, hats and socks for the men overseas. Queen Mary visited to see this work.

1918-19

Frank Briant first elected to be MP for North Lambeth which he remained until his death but for 2 years, 1929-31. The club also opened during the day to help the unemployed. The Prince of Wales visited to see this work.

WWII

London County Council announced their intention to acquire the club site for a housing development. The Aveline Street site was acquired but needed work due to bomb damage. Club activities continued in Lambeth Walk and Prince Philip came to visit during the time of his engagement to Princess Elizabeth.

First full-time club leader, Norman Freeman, appointed in 1942. The club continued steadily; a Girls Club and a Sunday Club started. Members joined up but came back to the club when on leave. The leader and members had to deal with the deaths of members and, in 1944, with bomb damage.

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ALFORD HOUSE

1984-5

1990

Girls contemporary dance group at The Albany Theatre, Deptford.

Visit by the Duke of Edinburgh as part of the Centenary celebrations; he is welcomed

by Nat Garrett and Dick Walker.

1959

1961

1968

Mick Saunders was appointed Warden, a post he held until 1995.

2021

The club introduced the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

1995

2020

The club adapted to enforced closure during the pandemic.

2019

Nigel Baker stepped down as Chair after 29 years of working closely with Tim Saunders.

2010

New health and fitness studio built and opened.

Alford House float in the Lord Mayor’s Parade.

2002

ICT facility opened providing the opportunity for members to develop computing skills and to access learning resources.

Music, dance and drama were very much part of the club’s programme.

2008

1977

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Mick Saunders retired as Warden to be replaced by his son Tim who is still in charge today.

Clyde Cyril Best of West Ham United, one of the first black players in the First Division in England, presented the winners trophy to our Under 19 five-a-side team, beginning a run of sporting success lasting over 25 years.

1978

1975

Alford@70 marks 70 years in the Aveline Street buildings and Governors commit to a major refurbishment.

Members visit New York.

Old Millhillian Nigel Baker started helping at the club. He later became a Governor, a role he still fulfils.

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The remarkable story of one man’s vision for the young people of Lambeth, how he made that vision a reality and how it flourishes to this day, encapsulated in the name he gave it – Alford House

Imagine it is the early 1900s and you have just turned off the main Lambeth Road into Lambeth Walk. Here you discover a row of seven terraced shops joined together; not beautiful buildings but there is something brooding, almost Dickensian, in their atmosphere. “The Alford House Institute for Men and Boys”. You enter through one of the two doors set side by side, one leading to the Men’s Club and the other to the Junior section. Immediately you are confronted by two long games rooms: shadowy figures are playing billiards at two tables under shaded lights, whilst elsewhere smaller tables are given over to cards, chess and shove halfpenny. At the foot of some stairs (which lead up to a warren of offices, meeting rooms and accommodation) is a long marble counter where subs are being taken, games booked, and tea and nonalcoholic drinks served. As you make your way though the press of young men, some keenly focused on their games, others relaxed in conversation, you reach the comforting warmth of the only heating in the room, given off by an old anthracite stove. You suddenly spot not far away a 8

lean figure wearing a formal starched collar and sporting a neat moustache and precise parting. He has a lively glint in his eye and is sitting holding court with a group of young men who are listening intently to what he says and to the valuable advice he dispenses. Here, very much at the heart of things, is Frank Briant, or “Daddy-o” as he was affectionately nicknamed, the founder of Alford House.

But why and how did Frank Briant come to set up the club? In early times Lambeth had been very much a rural periphery of the City of London and sparsely populated but then in the 19th century, when several manufacturing businesses were established, the population of the Borough of Lambeth exploded and grew from 28,000 to 302,000 by 1901. Meanwhile, the labourers had to live in street after street of overcrowded terraced houses, often with multiple occupancy (“a family in each corner of the room and one in the middle”). Though public health was beginning to attract attention and there were improvements in drainage and in the quality of water supply, disease

was rife. There were also no solutions to the acute poverty that was prevalent. In extreme cases the workhouses were available, but these were bleak places.

There was little assistance for the poor: it was too often assumed that their poverty was mostly their own fault, probably caused by thriftlessness or drunkenness (pubs and drinking houses were in abundance). But the root causes of poverty went deeper than this, particularly among the elderly and the many who found themselves out of a job.

It was Churches and other charitable organisations that provided social support; volunteers, often from outside the crowded unprosperous areas, carried out a widespread programme of welfare, from providing meals to running various organisations such as the ‘Ragged schools’ for the very poor. Only in the early years of the 20th century did government legislation begin to respond to social needs, and only then were housing, health and education perceived as matters requiring central support. It was not until the 1870’s that a 9

ALFORD HOUSE

Alford House is good because when I come here I know that I’ll be safe and I can improve my social skills

wider and more standardised education began to be introduced. It had been a long struggle to reach this point, but along the way there had been many notable contributions from individuals and organisations.

a holiday for older members to Switzerland and after the First World War he helped develop a site in Deal with tents and huts where both school groups and families could experience some time by the sea, a forerunner of the 1940 holiday camps.

So it is against this background that we have to see the achievements and vision of Frank Briant. His first foray into social work was to help out his elder brother, who ran a ‘Ragged school’ for the poor in Lambeth (“The Beaufoy Institute”). But he soon realised that teaching boys one day a week was not enough and so sometime in 1884 he started an evening club to provide sporting and social activities for both men and boys. But after a number of years, he desperately needed more space and in 1900 was able to raise the funds to buy a shop in nearby Lambeth Walk and turn it into premises for his “Institute for Men and Lads”, giving it his mother’s name “Alford House” as a tribute to her. Eventually he was able to buy a further six shops and convert them into more spacious facilities for the club’s activities and a suitable base for his involvement in local affairs.

Frank Briant had his ups and downs in politics, but he served Lambeth for 50 years: his roles ranged from Chairman of the Board of Guardians (who oversaw the “Poor Laws”) to membership of both Lambeth and London County Councils, to representing North Lambeth as a Liberal MP. He accumulated an enormous fund of personal goodwill and respect and at a civic festival after his death 50,000 people stood in silence to honour his memory. But it was Alford House that perhaps had most symbolised everything that he had stood for and in his later years he realised that the club would not survive without a stronger base. In 1924, ten years before his death, he forged what was to prove an invaluable link with the nonconformist Mill Hill School in north west London, through Norman Brett James, a Housemaster there. Exchange visits followed and school leavers helped out at the club but most importantly the relationship helped to secure the continuance of the club. Brett James introduced his former pupils to Alford House, including George Goyder who was to do so much over the years.

Frank Briant was a man of great social conscience, both as an individual and a public figure, and he always strove to improve the lot of his fellow men. At Alford House he was always concerned with the welfare of members, many of them grown men, and he always tried to help them with their different problems, ranging from legal to marital to financial. There were Christmas clubs and thrift clubs to encourage saving. Other initiatives included 10

Frank Briant’s foresight in involving his Old Millhillian friends was crucial to secure the future of the club. After his death his family did not have the resources to continue unaided and this was made more difficult

still because he had died intestate. A Frank Briant Memorial Council was founded and various parties, including the YMCA and the Old Millhillians Club, came on board, and another charitable society helped with the liability of the Deal venture. By 1936 the Lambeth property had been secured and a bank loan paid off. It was a period of consolidation, though soon activities and membership were to be affected by the outbreak of war: while the junior section kept running, many senior members were enlisting, and numbers were inevitably down.

But, in 1947, hardly was the war finished when a momentous moment in the club’s history occurred when the London County Council decided to acquire the premises in Lambeth Walk for a rehousing scheme. This was not the tragedy that it might have first appeared, since the buildings were not in a very good condition and had suffered some war damage. By 1948 a generous offer led to the acquisition of alternative premises in Aveline Street, Kennington. The freehold of the Moffat Institute, along with its adjoining chapel building, was secured with a loan from the Ministry of Education and the sale of the Lambeth site. The Institute building was able to provide space for a theatre, a canteen, offices, a library and a space for letting to outside organisations. This was occupied by the club in September 1950.

However, the old chapel, of which only the walls remained after the bombing, needed a lot of work including the creation of a floor suitable to be a gym. This took longer and it was not occupied until September 1951, although the Minister for Education, The Rt Hon George Tomlinson, officially opened

I attended Alford House three nights a week from the age of eight to eighteen. It was the hub of my social life and the place to play sports, learn new skills or simply hang out with friends. Its team of volunteer and full-time staff offered an amazing network of support and encouragement allowing us to learn and grow. Alford House holds a special place in all our hearts and continues to provide an amazing service for young people Lacie Kerner (AH Member 1980-90) Solicitor Advocate

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ALFORD HOUSE

It has opened my mind and helped me to think in a different ways, and I feel I have gained someone I can talk to that really cares

I used to be really shy before I came here but now I’m more confident in social situations and I like to lead more

the new club facilities in July. Alford House breathed anew.

By 1950 a new Trust Deed was established putting the direction of the club in the hands of 16 named governors, made up mainly of Old Millhillians together with a YMCA appointee and an appointee of the London Congregational Church Union (later the United Reform Church). The objects of the trust were same as under the previous deed: essentially to promote the mental, moral, spiritual and physical well-being of the less advantaged members of society aged between 15 and 20 and no longer attending school. There was now also better and formal provision for girls. High sounding ambitions but it set the scene for what Alford House has always set out to do. And on the 9th August 1950 the Governors met for the first time, to establish the various committees, and prepare the way for a new beginning.

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So, the Lambeth Walk building was knocked down by the LCC and Alford Club took root in the premises at Aveline Street where it has functioned for the last 70 years. Over the last decade there has been a major drive to update the facilities. This will be financed from the sale of the car park for development into flats together with a fundraising appeal. Architectural plans, budgets, and planning applications are in hand for this redevelopment which will provide improved accessibility and much greater flexibility for both members and for income generation. It will enable the club to be open for longer hours and to offer wider community use.

Most importantly it should secure Alford House for future generations of youngsters.

Of course, the legacy of Frank Briant could not have been carried on without a legion of both professionals and volunteers, governors, wardens, assistants, support workers and caretakers who have all given their time unstintingly. Though there are too many to name, a few must be mentioned.

The first full-time warden, Norman Freeman, was appointed in 1942 and did much to establish the club notwithstanding the challenging war-time environment which saw numerous club families lose loved ones. He was ably followed by Cyril Belsham from 1952 to 1959 but it is Mick Saunders, warden from 1959 to 1995, and his family that are preeminent. Mick was a larger-than-life figure: enthusiastic, entrepreneurial and a keen sportsman, and described by his son as something of a ‘maverick’. He was much respected and brought great energy to the task and his upbeat influence was such a positive impact on the lives of many youngsters over the years. He was fully supported by wife, Gina, who as well as bringing up her young family, found time for drama and produced short plays, some of which won trophies in London and National Festivals.

Unsurprisingly, their children, Tim, Clare and Kathryn, who grew up on the premises, inevitably became involved in the running of the club. Tim was appointed General Manager in 1995 and, perhaps more measured than his father, has proved to be more than a steady and safe pair of hands, not only ensuring that the club runs smoothly but that the needs of the youngsters continue to be met.

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ALFORD HOUSE

Alford feels like a second home to me.

There are never any dull moments. Not only is it a lively place to be at, they have friendly staff that are here for you if you are going through any sort of problems

Longevity and commitment of service has also proved to be the contribution of many who have supported the club in an executive role. Three names stand out among the governors: T.D (Dick) Walker, Philip Heywood and Nigel Baker. Dick, an Old Millhillian, joined the club in 1934 and was very much involved from the outset in setting up the Trust that secured the club’s future.

For over sixty years, his pragmatic and focused stewardship, particularly of the finances, enabled the club to flourish, before he retired from the Chair in 1995. Philip Heywood was Treasurer for an impressive 36 years. In the early 1960s Dick had met a group of Mill Hill School Sixth Formers including a pupil called Nigel Baker, whom he predicted to Mick Saunders would be ‘the future of the club’. How perceptive he was: in 1977 Nigel joined the executive, eventually taking on the mantle of Chair of Governors, a position from which he has only recently retired. Softly spoken and mild mannered, Nigel’s persistence, determination and attention to detail have seen him rise to the never-ending challenges. His diplomatic skills in negotiating the demands of competing forces, whether social, financial or political, have been matched only by his genuine interest in the welfare of the club and its members.

Alford House has always tried to be attractive in what it offers to its youthful members, with a programme for both boys and girls. At the outset, in the late 19th Century, there was an emphasis on sport

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and games with football and cricket and indoor games such as billiards, cards and chess. Since then, the list has also included sports as disparate as table tennis, unihoc, badminton, roller skating (in the main hall), roller hockey, circuit training and fitness and, in covid times, ‘Zoom Bingo’; all enjoyed with varying degrees of enthusiasm as fashions come and go. Off-site there have been walking tours, riding, ski trips and visits to adventure facilities in the Ashdown Forest at Hindleap Warren. The fitness suite has also proved increasingly popular.

The club’s sporting teams have been regularly successful over the years in Youth Club competitions. For instance, the Ist XI Football team had a 5-year winning run in the Premier Division of the Southern Sunday League in the 1960s and in the 1980s won the London Intermediate Cup. The club’s five-a-side football teams regularly won competitions and in the 1980s and 1990s, became national champions several times in both under 16s and under 19s competitions. The girls first tasted success in football in 1981. Cups have also been won in a number of other sports ranging from table tennis to unihoc, including a trip to Sweden by minibus during the January storms of 1990 to take part in an all-weekend unihoc competition.

Furthermore, Alford House can boast an Olympic Gold when Tommy Hampson, the son of a local taxi driver who was also a member, won the 800 metres at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932.

I often look back on my memories of Alford House with such fondness. I am proud to have spent my younger years in a safe space surrounded by my peers and the fantastic team of staff whose impact on my life is evident and unapparelled. Now as a trustee of the club I am honoured to give something back and continue to support it.

Alford House is – and always has been – home The club has helped me in numerous ways; the way I think, the decisions I make and how I learn. I also like the things we have been learning about love, safe sex and how to control our emotions

Blake Carter-White (AH Member 1999-2007) Global Technology Leader

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ALFORD HOUSE

I feel that Alford House is an amazing experience, especially for someone my age that lives in south London. There’s so much to do and everybody gets along. When you think that you have done it all, there’s something else. You also get great advice from the staff when you’re in need of help and it’s also a very welcoming place

As a young adult, my exposure to sport, travel and the arts was greatly enhanced by my time at the club and continues to shape my life. The club also provided myself and my peers with inspirational adult role models.

Their impact remains with me to this day and certainly influenced my career choice Steven Donegan (AH Member 1980-87) Headteacher

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Competition has always provided motivation and awards have been won for more artistic endeavours at various festivals, though participation in dance, drama and art have always been enjoyed for their own reward. Over the years Alford House has had a direct connection with the theatre and film industry through renting rehearsal space to various companies.

Major West End shows have been rehearsed at the club, such as “Phantom of The Opera” and “We Will Rock You” and Michael Crawford learned to walk a tight rope in our hall for the West End production of “Barnum”.

The club itself became the focus of a film made in 1959, entitled “We Are The Lambeth Boys”, an early work of Karel Reisz, who later went on to direct “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” and “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”. It was filmed naturalistically and was shown at the National Film Theatre to great acclaim.

It focuses on the lives and feelings of the Alford House members, both inside and outside the youth club, from dance nights to discussion groups to their work in postal offices and factories. Cricket also features in the documentary with the boys practising cricket in the yard and then playing an annual match against Mill Hill School.

Some of the Lambeth Boys are still in touch with the club. The BBC made a documentary 30 years later looking back at the film and discovering what had happened to the youngsters: interviews reflected the very different spheres of life that the now adult members had gone on to experience and included an executive of a

I feel it’s a really big family here and I’m happy to be part of that family

million-dollar company, a football club boss and a railway carriage cleaner.

1984/5 saw the celebration of the Centenary of Alford House. This was marked amongst other things by a reunion event of more than 70 old boys and the visit of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was President of the London Federation of Boys Clubs of which Alford House was a founding member (now London Youth).

Then in 2008, eight members travelled to Brooklyn to share their experiences with a New York Youth Club which also dated back to 1884. Here they compared differences and similarities in their youth culture as well as experiencing 10 days in the Big Apple.

Afterwards the group was involved in the editing and production of a film, “Endz-2Da-Hood”, which was then previewed at the Tate Modern.

change of emphasis from sporting prowess to education and communication. The members in the past tackled the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme which in turn gave way to the pursuit of the Youth Achievement Award and NVQs. Now the well-being of the individual is very much the emphasis, an approach reflected in the club’s regular attainment since 2011 of the Gold Standard in the London Youth’s Quality Mark, accredited by City and Guilds. This is a badge of excellence for youth organisations that are committed to the continuous improvement of and development of young people, with emphasis on personal development.

The club has always been active in the community and other external projects.

Over the years members have won a local award for clearing up the streets; they have collected litter at the Oval cricket ground to raise money for their minibus; they have worked with Dulwich Picture Gallery, culminating in an exhibition at City Hall and they have participated in building and decorating a float for the Lord Mayor’s show.

However, over the past 75 years, the club has inevitably had to adapt to changing demands and times. Most importantly since the 1990s there has been a conscious 17

ALFORD HOUSE

I gained confidence especially coming on girls only night and being able to work with the younger members.

It has made it clearer what I want to do in the future

The week’s activities are much more structured now. For instance, Mondays and Tuesdays might be given over to specific workshops such as music production, health and fitness, or table tennis. Wednesday is girls’ night where the girls have a lot of self-determination in their programme, whether it be dance, fitness, roller-skating, football or even organising a cooking competition. Fridays always tend to be a relaxed social evening for all and there is a canteen to obtain refreshments.

Emphasis is placed on social education, particularly those issues surrounding alcohol, drugs and sexual relations. The club has links with three local schools and there is targeted support for those at risk of exclusion. Youth workers help either groups or individuals in areas such as confidence building or issues surrounding masculinity, identity or sexual consent.

Alford House continues to adapt to the continually changing landscape of the

modern world, and not least to the issues recently set by the Covid-19 pandemic.

There is a healthy and diverse membership of 400 with ages ranging from 8 to 21 (some older adults with learning difficulties stay on longer). The club is always seeking to increase the female membership. Of course, as with any club, not all members are regulars and attendance can sometimes be affected by local problems such as when there is heightened gang activity. However, the club rises to the challenges and clearly those who attend regularly gain considerable benefit, developing their self-confidence and personal skills as well as having great fun.

Alford House indeed has had a long and celebrated history from its beginnings in the late 19th century; it has often had to adapt and reinvent itself but that same essential vision and ambition to support the oftendisadvantaged young people of Lambeth continues undiminished.

With thanks to Tim Corbett, author of the story of Alford House.

Tim Corbett, was a teacher of English and Drama at Mill Hill School for more than 40 years and is a Past President of the Old Millhillians Club.

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Old Millhillian Governors

I’ve been coming to Alford House for 5 years and it’s the best decision I’ve made

Basically since coming it has become like my second family.

Especially on girls night

1897-00 A J Letham 02-08 R W Atchley 18-20 J Holz 19-27 N C Garrett, Chair of Governors 20-24 C D Hill 20-24 E T Dangerfield 21-23 P D Childs 22-25 G A Goyder, The link with our founder Frank Briant 22-26 P D Wykes 23-28 H C Jamieson 23-29 T D Walker, Chair of Governors 24-27 J E Scott 25-30 D C W Piercy 25-33 P G How 27-30 N S Farrow 27-31 D V Saunders, Hon Secretary 28-32 D P Salinger 28-33 L A Darke 29-35 J Bush 31-36 J L Nunn 32-36 P E Heywood, Hon Treasurer 35-40 J L Taylor 37-40 W R Mills 38-43 C D L Smith 41-45 P M Woodroffe, Hon Secretary 42-46 A L Poole, Chair of Governors 45-49 R N Dean, Chair of Governors 45-50 R M Harley 46-51 R C Hubbard 48-52 A S Bell 55-61 N Baker, Chair of Governors 56-60 B D Edmond 57-62 P A Graham, Hon Secretary 58-63 K Wallace, Clerk to Governors 60-65 R G Chapman 62-66 R W Tydeman

65-69 C A L Webber 65-70 M E Shaw 66-72 G F Chase 68-73 W J Maunder Taylor 75-80 A W Welch 78-82 E J Pratt, Hon Treasurer 84-89 M Potel, Hon Treasurer 89-94 J Orloff, Clerk to Governors 94-96 C Lloyd

Non OM Governors Anthony Behrens, Local Resident Blake Carter-White, Former Member Tim de Vere Green, Hon Treasurer Wendy Francis, Local Resident Jackie Heyhoe, Local Resident Nick Priestnall, Chair of Governors Tim Redman, First Former Member Charles Renshaw, Hon Treasurer Janet Wells, Local Resident Joan Wilder, Local Resident

Wardens & Managers Norman Freeman, 1942-1952 Cyril Belsham, 1952-1959 Phillip (Mick) Saunders, 1959-1995 Tim Saunders, 1995-

Mill Hill School Liaison Antony Armstrong Paul Bickerdike Nick Cheeseman Roger Ede Andrew Rennie Jane Sanchez Rev Henry Starkey Chris Sutcliffe Tony Turnbull 19

ALFORD HOUSE

Alford House is great. It supports me and others when we are in need of help

Alford@70: Our Vision The Trustees and management of Alford House are committed to the purpose of the founder of the club: to promote the mental, moral, physical and spiritual wellbeing of the people of Lambeth.

Based on these objectives the club seeks to provide a range of challenging and supportive activities for personal and social development.

These are designed to meet a curriculum that promotes opportunity, community cohesion, is participative and empowering.

Alford@70 celebrates the rich heritage of the club’s Aveline Street building and the lives that it has touched over the last 70 years. Alford@70 also aims to secure the club for those lives it will touch in the future. The Alford@70 fundraising campaign’s objective is the complete refurbishment of the club buildings to provide spaces and an environment where youth services and income generation can co-exist. It will also enable the club to reach more young people and provide a wider range of activities and resources. Collectively we can ensure the club has the human, physical and financial resources to achieve this.

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Alford@70 Objectives: afé with informal activities for C socialising inside and outside main club hours After-school facilities Recording studio Improved sporting facilities A fully accessible building Additional youth worker resources I ncreased range of educational, wellbeing and recreational activities

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Alford@70: Our £2m campaign and how you can help

How to give If you would like to donate to the Alford@70 fundraising appeal, it is possible to do so as a one-off donation or by regular instalments.

The simplest way to do this is at https://alfordhouse.org.uk/support-us/ donate/ You can make a bank transfer or cheques (including CAF cheques) are also accepted and should be made payable to “Alford House” and sent to The Chairman of Trustees at the club’s address (see overleaf).

Alford House is a registered charity (No.1123902); donations can be made using Gift Aid.

The Governors of Alford House have launched the Alford@70 fundraising appeal to: f und the refurbishment of the club buildings The £2 million will come primarily from two sources: t he sale for development of land the club no longer uses fundraising

The Alford@70 appeal has an initial target of £500,000 to be raised by the middle of 2022 from the following sources: grants and charitable bodies statutory bodies individual donations.

Additional funds will be sought for the fit out of the refurbished buildings to enhance the club’s offer to the community.

If you want to gift us shares, an extremely tax efficient way of giving, this can be done via ShareGift. (www.sharegift.org) If you have suggestions for other ways you might like to support Alford@70 or if you require any further information about how to make your gift, the campaign generally or the club, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with: Nick Priestnall, Chair of Trustees nick@alfordhouse.org.uk or 07850 484488

Example Table of Gifts to secure £500,000 Donation value

Designation

No. of donations Total value £

100,000

Benefactor, Building Name Association

1

100,000

50,000

Patron, Room Name Association

1

50,000

25,000

Gold Sponsor

4

100,000

10,000

Silver Sponsor

10

100,000

5,000

Bronze Sponsor

15

75,000

1,000

Sponsor

20

20,000

500

Supporter

25

12,500

Various

Donors

50

15,000

TOTAL ex Gift Aid

472,500

Gift Aid @ 25% (assume applies to 1/4 of donations)

29,531

TOTAL with Gift Aid

126

502,031

Donor Recognition Donors will be recognised in these categories on the Alford House website and publications. Your involvement and support will be recognised in the refurbished building. Major Donors will be entitled to reference their status in their own materials.

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Generous supporters of Alford House over recent years

Beatrice Laing Trust

The Michael Bishop Foundation Current Governors N. Priestnall, Chair T. de Vere Green, Honorary Treasurer N. Baker, President P. Bickerdike B. Carter-White

Broadway Cottages Trust

C. Lloyd W. Maunder Taylor, Vice Chair of Governors A. Rennie J. Sanchez M. Shaw J. Wells P. Woodroffe J. Orloff, Clerk to the Governors

Club Manager Tim Saunders

Alford House Aveline Street Kennington London SE11 5DQ 020 7735 1519 theclub@alfordhouse.org.uk www.alfordhouse.org.uk Registered charity no. 1123902 Company reg no 6521183