Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
How Pauline and her team changed ‘Little Beirut’ life
In the late 1990s, the Thanington estate was plagued by youth crime, unemployment and deprivation, earning the area the unenviable tag of ‘Little Beirut’.
But since its resource centre opened in 2000, the transformation driven by staff and volunteers has been remarkable.
In just two years, crime halved and a new sense of pride in the community began to grow.
Now its manager has been named a winner at the Kent Women in Business Awards.
Paula Spencer won the contribution to the community category for her stewardship of the centre for the last 15 years.
Speaking afterwards, she said: “Having trained in social work and worked with vulnerable children prior to taking on the post in Thanington, I didn’t consider myself a businesswoman.
“But you have to run a place like this as a business to survive.
“To win really is a thrill but is a credit to all the staff and vol Stories from the 1990s unteers here who make it work.”
The multipurpose centre, which also has a skate park, ball court and football pitches on site, is hugely popular with residents for recreation, social gatherings and learning.
Open every day, it provides services and support for all ages, from homework clubs, youth clubs and computer lessons to keepfit classes, bingo and play groups.
It is also used for meetings and training sessions by numerous agencies and groups, from which it derives most of it income.
Paula, who lives in Whitstable, says she came to the project with a clean slate and believed it was a fantastic opportunity to try to make a difference to the community.
The 58yearold said: “All our eight staff and 30plus volunteers are from the local community, as are our trustees.
“From 2013 to 2014 we recorded more than 46,600 users, which shows just how popular and important the building is.”
The turnaround in Thanington has been hugely satisfying for Paula and her dedicated team.
But the cost of bringing about the social changes has not been insignificant.
The housing estate itself received £3 million from the Single Regeneration Budget for a package of improvements, and the centre itself cost £500,000.
A further £400,000 from the Lottery for an extension doubled the size of the building in 2010 and provides even more benefits for the community.
But now trustees face the challenge of raising the £160,000 annual running costs.
Paula said: “Such has been the success of the centre and its impact on Thanington that we can no longer apply for grants on the grounds that the area is deprived. For some years we have had to be selfsufficient and we are nearly there.”