'We did it' says tenacious campaigner as Poppies Community Centre opened in Kettering
A new community centre manged by Kettering Town Football Club has been officially opened by the resident who championed the facility.
Cutting the ribbon at the Poppies Community Centre was Lesley Thurland, who with her late husband Kevin fought to create the new centre, in Britannia Road Kettering, for 17 years.
Helped by Ash Davies, Lesley carried on her tireless efforts after Kevin, a local councillor, tragically died suddenly three years ago.
Under the working name of Maplefields Community Centre, last year the project was boosted by a partnership with Kettering Town Football Club.
The club’s chairman George Akhtar said: “When I met Lesley and heard her drive and her love of community it really resonated with me. I was so passionate to work with Lesley to get this over line. I’m so proud for Lesley and Ash. It really really makes me proud to say that Kettering Football Club stepped in not only to make something that the community is proud of, but this can be an income stream for the football club.
"As chairman I need to make sure the football club is sustainable. The Poppies Community Centre will be at the heart of the football club.
"We want to echo everything that is happening at Latimer Park and all the good stuff that’s happened at Rockingham Road back into the community.”
It’s the end of a long journey for Lesley that started when she and her husband Kevin, a local councillor, saw the need for a community centre in their ward.
Numerous meetings over the years, including around the couple’s kitchen table saw volunteers come and go.
Lesley said: “It’s been emotional. I’m pleased and grateful. Seventeen years ago we realised the north end of town was a deprived area and the way to help everyone was to get somewhere where young and old could come, meet, join in and have some fun. It took a long time – we had Covid, and my husband died.
"It’s all being done in the right spirit, I can only thank George.
Her tenacity paid off, even when ‘true community champion’ Kevin died – a plaque in his memory has been put in the centre.
Lesley added: “He wouldn’t have wanted me to have given up. To see it open, I can now relax. I’ll be forever grateful to George that I can say, we did it.”
Poppies Community Centre in Britannia Road can be hired for ‘all occasions’ and boasts a state-of-the-art kitchen and brand new toilets, as well as on-site parking. For all enquiries email [email protected].