Leys residents urged to join the club (From The Oxford Times)

Leys residents urged to join the club

6:00pm Saturday 11th August 2012 in News By Damian Fantato, covering Summertown, Jericho and North Oxford. Call me on 01865 425429

BLACKBIRD Leys residents are being urged to make the most of the area’s community spaces.

Oxford City Council will work with the Leys Area Forum to find ways to promote the estate’s six community buildings, including the Blackbird Leys Community Centre, the Clock House and the Jubilee 1977 Hall.

Northfield Brook city councillor Scott Seamons said: “We have a number of great community facilities and we have some fantastic groups using them. But there is scope to develop it and we would like to see more going on.”

Of the six buildings two are owned by the city council while the others, which were built as part of the Greater Leys development, are owned by Leys Housing Consortium.

City council-owned Blackbird Leys Community Centre and the Jubilee 1977 Hall are used by groups such as the credit union, OX105FM, Oxfordshire County Council ’s early intervention hub and a Swahili group.

David Norland runs Soundworks recording studio, which has been based at the community centre since 2003.

He said: “This is a great space and we have had a good run here. It’s a very good facility to have here in Blackbird Leys and we work closely with the youth club which is also based at the community centre.”

The Clock House provides services for older people and is home to Age UK Oxford and an over 50s IT project, while The Barn hosts zumba classes and parties.

The Dovecote has a sensory room and a nursery starting in September while 26 Kingfisher Green is used by Leys News.

Val Smith, pictured, Blackbird Leys city councillor, attended a meeting of the forum in The Barn in Greater Leys last week.

She said: “It is great that we have something like the Clock House because nowhere else in the city provides what it does. We could try to move things forward to provide groups for what people are interested in such as chess.”

Lois Muddiman, from the city council’s community development team, said: “What we would like to see is a wider range of activities for the community going on.

“At the moment there is a definite leaning towards older people and we would like to make the centres a lot more visible.”

She added: “It’s great that we are working together.”