Community Focus – #3 – Swinnow Community Centre

Pudsey has a number of wonderful groups and charities within the town. Each month we want to shine the spotlight on one and let them tell you more about what they’re up to. This month, it’s the wonderful Swinnow Community Centre. Swinnow Community Centre is a fantastic community initiative that runs a lot of events weekly to look after people within the town.

We caught up with Yvonne to find out more about what they’re up to in the community.

Tell us about yourselves, where it all began and your ties to Pudsey?

We are a volunteer run community centre, for any member of the local community and surrounding areas. We pride ourselves on being welcoming and friendly.

The centre was first opened in the 1980s and has gone from strength to strength, helping more and more of the community than ever, especially throughout the pandemic. Until the COVID pandemic, we provided over 22 groups / classes a week, from sports and dance to over 50s lunch groups and tots groups.

We do Easter, Summer, Halloween and of course Christmas Events plus lots more.

Our hall can be hired out for private parties, fundraisers and more.

How would you describe your group/charity in one sentence?

The beating heart of the community.

What makes you do what you do?

As volunteers, we truly care about the people in the community and the centre. We give up our spare time because we genuinely care, there’s no greater feeling than getting home at the end of the day knowing you’re making a difference to the local community.

Tell us more about what you’re up to in the community

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve spent a lot of time providing food and essentials to those in the community that are in need. This has been an absolute lifeline to some families, we’ve been there to help keep children fed and entertained, and we’ve helped the elderly and more vulnerable in society by providing regular deliveries of food and essentials.

Everything we do is unbiased and we will help anybody regardless of their circumstances, we don’t judge. Anybody that has needed our help we have either provided that support directly ourselves, or if it’s something we can’t help with we always help support the individual or family by getting them help from the relevant support group.

Are there opportunities for the community to get involved with you or support you in any way?

The centre is currently in urgent need of support, we desperately need people to support the day-to-day running of the centre as well as people with specific skills.

We’re currently on the lookout for people, people who are passionate about their local community, people that truly care about the local people living within our community and people that genuinely want to make a difference.

Alongside general volunteers, we’re on the lookout for people to volunteer with other skills, for example:

• Office and computing skills
• Gardening and DIY skills
• Machine sewing skills
• Chefs and cooks

But ultimately, we want people who can bring their passion to help our local community,

We genuinely, genuinely care about what we do and the people we support and we would love for you to join us on our mission.

Final notes from the MyPudsey team

We set the MyPudsey website up to help the businesses and people within our local community, a massive part of the success of a local community can be found within the local groups and charities. Swinnow Community Centre is no different, in-fact it’s a local gem. Without initiatives such as Swinnow Community Centre people would genuinely struggle to get the support they need. These groups don’t just exist to help people get through day to day, but these groups actually help people thrive and go on to become a bigger and better version of themselves. Without the support of local volunteers, initiatives like this just wouldn’t exist. If you do believe you have something to offer this wonderful group, even if it’s just to help steer it, please do get in touch and find out what you can do to help.

To make this easier, we’ve created the form below. Simply enter your details below and we will automatically forward your details and contact information on.