Potential closure of YMCA Harringay Club - Tottenham Lane - by Haringey Council

This has been circulated in a number of parent Whatsapp groups; for those of you who have benefited from this great community service over the years.

Dear parents

Urgent news about the Harringay Club

This last week a letter simply addressed to ‘YMCA’, was opened by our staff at the Harringay Club. We were shocked to read that Haringey Council have served us 60 days’ notice to vacate the building.

We are incredibly disappointed to receive this information. We appreciate that you will equally be shocked by this news and the uncertainty that it will bring for everyone.

In the last few days myself, our Chief Executive and our executive team have sprung into action looking at options, seeking legal advice and demanding meetings with council officials. Despite our continuing efforts, we have been unable to secure any reassurances from Haringey Council. We have read that they want the site for council housing, otherwise we can only refer you to Haringey Council on this matter.

It’s therefore right that we share this news with you as early as possible.

As its custodian, YMCA London City and North has been committed to The Harringay Club and to securing it a healthy future. Young people are at the centre of all we do, and the Harringay Club impacts on the lives of nearly a thousand children and young people every week. Since Covid, we have successfully managed to return the Club to a strong position and were looking to ramp up our services again this year.

Following our 2020 merger, we took on the management of the Club fully aware of long-standing Haringey Council conversations over their desire to redevelop the site. We supported their ambitions of realising the building needed redevelopment and positioned ourselves to be key stakeholders in supporting an improved community facility.

The due diligence work we undertook for the merger identified ambiguity regarding a lease between the YMCA and Haringey Council. We immediately held meetings with council officials which were welcomed.

Unfortunately, we now find, by way of the letter we received, that the council want us to vacate with little notice. This places all the wonderful work and activities created by generations of young people will no longer be afforded to local young people in the future. The letter means that we may have to vacate the site by the 31 July 2024.

We are mystified by the actions and decision of the council; by the fact that they want to close the Harringay Club and its delivery of activities for children, young people and families; by the fact that they have made this decision without any consultation with the local community (including yourselves as parents) or with us at the YMCA; further, their delivery method – not addressed to an inpidual – leaving our frontline staff in shock.

We appreciate that you will be as astonished as we are over this news.

We are therefore calling for an urgent Parents Meeting on Tuesday 11 June at 6.30pm at The Harringay Club with myself, Harringay Club colleagues and Gillian Bowen our Chief Executive to discuss the impact on the children and the future of the Harringay club.

Please join us then.

Yours truly

Chris East

Director of Community and Enterprise