Town Centre celebrates ‘bottoming out’

11 March 2024
Bottoming out the new Tube station
Bottoming out the new Tube station

A major milestone in the construction of the new Elephant and Castle Town Centre was reached last week, with a ‘bottoming out’ ceremony held in (what will become) the new ticket hall for the Northern Line tube station.

The event marked the completion of the deepest point in the station upgrade.

The upgrade includes a new entrance to the Northern Line, step free access to the platforms (escalator and lift access) and a new integrated ticket hall for both the Northern and Bakerloo lines. It is the first piece of substantial infrastructure to support the proposed Bakerloo Line extension.

The new integrated ticket hall has been built and part-funded by Get Living, with Southwark Council and the GLA also joint funding the new station box and tunnel connections.

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Government urged to Back the Bakerloo

5 March 2024
Back the Bakerloo
The extension will benefit the whole UK

A new report, launched today, reveals the Bakerloo Line Upgrade and Extension could unlock 20,000 homes, create 10,000 jobs and deliver a £1.5 billion boost to the UK economy. But the project can only go ahead with Government backing.

The Bakerloo Line currently has the UK’s oldest rolling stock and is in need of constant repair. This project would upgrade the entire route, including new trains, and extend the Bakerloo Line from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham and on to Hayes – potentially delivering 14 new Tube stations for south east London.

Moving London Forward, the new report published by Central London Forward, reveals the full impact this project would have on London and the UK as a whole.

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Making Southwark exhibition opens

20 February 2024
Making Southwark exhibition
Making Southwark at the Heritage Centre

A new, free exhibition that explores Southwark’s industrial past and its ongoing influence on local creative industry opens at the Southwark Heritage Centre and Walworth Library, in Elephant and Castle, this week.

Making Southwark is an immersive exhibition that invites visitors to explore the borough’s artisanal heritage – including textile art, theatrical costume and craft work – emphasising its lasting mark and contribution to the contemporary creative landscape.

The heritage, art and archives collections contain a wealth of material and objects made by hand or machine; all innovations of their day and each telling unique stories from the borough’s famed past as an industrial working place.

Making Southwark runs until December 2024.

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£50k available for local projects

12 February 2024
Inspiring Elephant cheques
Previous grant recipients

The 2024 Inspiring Elephant Community Fund is now open for applications.

Launched by the Elephant and Castle Town Centre team and Get Living in 2022, this fund is providing £50k per year, over five years, to projects that support the local community.

The deadline to apply to this year’s fund is Wednesday 20 March.

The fund is aimed at projects that promote health and wellbeing; help young people; provide training; or provide activities that help with the cost of living and sustainability.

Local organisations can apply for up to £5k each and a panel of local community leaders – including members of the Community Hub and representatives from Get Living and Southwark Council – will consider the applications.

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Free entertainment to celebrate Lunar New Year

8 February 2024
Lunar New Year in Elephant and Castle
Lunar New Year in Elephant and Castle

Mercato Metropolitano and Elephant Park are teaming up for an exciting mix of entertainment across Elephant and Castle to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Taking place from 10 to 15 February, you can expect LED poi performers; an acrobatic and martial-arts inspired lion dance performance, plus an opportunity to usher out the old and bring in the new at a clothes swap event.

There will also be great food and drink and wellness promotions from the neighbourhood’s local and independent shops and traders.   

Most events are free and take place from 10 to 15 February (25 February for a clothes swap event).

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Una Marson Library

1 February 2024
Una Marson Library
Una Marson Library

Walworth’s newest library, at 62 Thurlow Street, has its official opening today.

Named after the pioneering BBC programme maker, Una Marson, this is the third new public library opened by Southwark Council in four years.

As well as all the traditional services you’d expect – such as book and DVD loans, newspapers, free Wi-Fi and public access PCs – the library also offers bookable meeting rooms, an innovation space and a full programme of engaging events.

Una Marson, a Jamaican-born feminist, arrived in the UK in 1932 and went on to became the BBC’s first Black programme maker during the Second World War. In 2009 a Blue Plaque was unveiled at her former home on Brunswick Square in Camberwell.

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Free workshops at Walworth Garden

15 January 2024
Walworth Garden improvements
Walworth Garden

As well as training the next generation of environmental gardeners, Walworth Garden runs creative, botanical workshops at the weekend. This year’s sessions resume on Saturday 27 January and are free for Southwark residents.

Walworth Garden is a charity dedicated to knowledge and nurture, providing environmental learning opportunities at all levels, and accessible social and therapeutic horticulture.

The charity, which received CIL funding in 2021 and was also one of the first to receive funding through the Elephant and Castle Community Fund, runs an award winning, organic, community garden that’s open to all, seven days a week.

Walworth Garden is committed to celebrating, empowering and inspiring the local community and regularly offers free places on courses to Southwark Residents.

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IWM reveals programme for year ahead

2 January 2024
The Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum, Elephant and Castle

The Imperial War Museum London (IWM) has announced its programme for 2024.

Highlights include Storyteller a major exhibition of work by the war photographer, Tim Hetherington, and Churchill in Cartoons, portraying the wartime leader’s life through a series of artworks and illustrations.

This summer also marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and the museum will commemorate the Allied operation, which precipitated the end of WW2, with a range of events and family activities.

IWM is just one of three fantastic museums in Elephant and Castle – alongside the Southwark Heritage Centre and the Cinema Museum – so why not make 2024 the year you visit them all?

Find out more about what’s in store at IWM in 2024

 

Read archived news from last year (2023)