Carnival is at the ’art of a derelict centre
A derelict former parish centre in Southwick has been completely transformed into a carnival-themed arts space and cafe.
After 18 months of renovation works and an investment of £200,000, Carnival House opened its doors to the public for the first time today.
Derelict for 17 years, the former St Hilda’s Parish Centre, situated in The King’s Road, is now a colourful multi-purpose site, which will host arts workshops for all ages, performances, food and alcohol served at the Carnival Kitchen as well as function room hire.
It’s been brought to the city by community interest company Creative Seed who also operate a centre in South Tyneside where they are well known for their work on events such as the annual Festival Summer Parade.
Owners, husband and wife team Garner and Sandy Harris, who organised the community parade for Sunderland’s Halloween Lights Out Festival last year, were looking for premises in the city and saw the potential in St Hilda’s, despite it being in major need of repair.
Costume designer Sandy said: We needed a large space for all the activities and this fitted the bill perfectly.
"When we first saw it there were piles of rubble, no glass in the windows, holes in the roof and pigeons in the rafters, but we could see the potential.”
Creative Seed have been working closely with the Southwick community and they say there’s been a lot of interest in the redevelopment of the building.
“There’s been a lot of excitement and the feedback has been great.
The plan was to open the site with a Great North Carnival in the streets of Southwick, which can’t take place because of social distancing. Instead, there will be an online carnival.
Sandy and Garner, who received some funding from the Arts Council, Big Issue Invest, Sport England and National Lottery, have an 11 year lease on the building and have big plans for the site.
The programme of workshops begins with daily kids activities, ranging from carnival drumming to carnival costume making, and you can book ahead at https://www. creativeseed.org/book-online
Carnival House will be open from 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday at first, with a view to extending the hours.