The Kenilworth Centre celebrated a year of success through adversity during their Annual General Meeting last night (Wednesday September 24) on Zoom.

Trustees, staff, and members of the public heard reports from the Chair of the Board of Trustees John Whitehouse, and Centre Manager Holly Hewitt, as well as a financial report for last year from Joe Carter.

The general theme of the meeting? The Kenilworth Centre continues to perform vital work at the heart of the Kenilworth community, and this became even more apparent during the lockdown period.

John Whitehouse opened the meeting by commending staff and volunteers for their efforts during this time "I am incredibly proud of the central role the centre played during the lockdown period."

Holly Hewitt then followed with an account of the work that had started before lockdown, and is now getting back on its feet.

Holly actually took on a new role during said period, helping with the organisation of the Covid-19 Support Group, for which the Kenilworth Centre became a base.

Holly said "there was a great deal of incredible vision, commitment and leadership from some of the people in Kenilworth."

The centre has also been trying to recover to its pre-Covid levels where bookings had been higher than ever before.

"Feedback has been really good, people are feeling safe."

Mentoring was initially moved to a remote footing, with great success, although it has now been successfully reinstated at Kenilworth School.

Radio Abbey was able to return to broadcasting once more in July, and is now receiving sponsorship from a variety of donors in the town.

Increased sponsorship has also enabled the fantastic youth work that the centre does to continue. This has included the Detached scheme which recommenced in late July, and has already led to many positive interactions with young people in the town over the past few months.

Joe Carter commented whilst delivering his financial report "we are extremely grateful to all donors."

The Friday Youth Group, which had up to 70 members pre-covid, cannot resume for obvious reasons, the centre is offering short courses on Wednesdays and Fridays for young people in its place. More details of these can be found by following this link.

The evening was closed with a short address by Kenilworth's Mayor Cllr Richard Dickson who said "a sense of community, creativity, and culture, the three C's as I call them. It is these values that are so obvious to me at the Kenilworth Centre in what you did in the year ending in March, and in how you have worked with others in the past six months.

"I want to say on behalf of the town, a huge thank you to everyone at the Kenilworth Centre, your volunteers, your staff, and all your groups for what you have achieved in the past year.

"You have been, you are, and I am sure you will continue to be absolutely vital to the health and well being of Kenilworth."