The Attlee Centre, located near Brick Lane in Tower Hamlets, is a vital youth and community centre. It provides a range of play, youth, and sports services, with a particular focus on children in a deprived area of London, including those with special needs. Since 1980, the Centre has operated on a peppercorn rent of £10 per year.
The lease granted in 2001 for 25 years is now nearing its expiry, and despite concerted efforts by the Centre to negotiate a new agreement with the Council since 2023, its future tenure remains unresolved. This lack of security has severe operational consequences.
As a free service, the Attlee Centre relies heavily on grants and donor funding for its services, upkeep and development. However, potential funders are reluctant to invest significantly without the guarantee of a long-term lease. A spokesperson for the Centre highlighted a critical issue: “Our adventure playground is literally rotting inside out and we can’t replace it because we haven’t got a lease“. This situation directly threatens the Centre’s ability to deliver its much-needed services to the thousands of children who use its facilities annually.
For over 40 years, the Attlee Centre has thrived on a “peppercorn rent” – a tiny, symbolic fee (originally just “one peppercorn per annum” as per our 2001 lease). This isn’t just an old tradition; it’s a vital system allowing community champions like us to pour every resource into what truly matters: serving Tower Hamlets’ children, youth, and families free of charge. It means safe adventure play, youth clubs, and essential support for thousands, including those with special needs – all because our focus is on community value, not costly rents.
Our 25-year peppercorn lease expires in May 2026. Without a renewal on the same basis, the Attlee Centre faces closure. The current uncertainty already blocks crucial funding for essential repairs – our playground is “literally rotting inside out.” Market rates or even reduced “community rents” are simply unaffordable for an organisation built on providing free services, thanks to a historic peppercorn agreement.
Many community organisations across Tower Hamlets are being pushed towards unaffordable rents. In a borough with significant resources and income (including from substantial business rates), why squeeze the life out of vital community hubs like ours? The Attlee Centre delivers immense social value that far outweighs any minimal rental income.
A new long-term lease at peppercorn rent is the only way the Attlee Centre can continue its essential work. It’s not just about saving a building; it’s about safeguarding a cherished community lifeline. This is a direct investment in the future of Tower Hamlets’ children and families.
Your voice is essential in this campaign. By taking a few minutes to complete these steps, you can make a huge difference in securing the future of the Attlee Centre for our community.
Sending a letter or email is one of the most effective ways to demonstrate the strength of community support. We’ve created templates to make it easy.
By Email: Attach the file to your email
Subject Line: Urgent Appeal to Renew Lease for the Attlee Centre
To Us: Please also cc or forward your email to admin@attleecentre.org so we can track our collective impact!
Pleasee the the contact details below:
Contact Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman
Tower Hamlets Town Hall
160 Whitechapel Road
London
E1 1BJ
Bus. phone: 0207 364 4000
Email: mayor@towerhamlets.gov.uk
X (formerly Twitter): @LutfurRahmanTH
Contact your MP
Help us make noise online and ensure as many people see our campaign as possible.
Every donation, no matter the size, helps us continue our vital work and fight for our future. Your support allows us to provide essential free services to the community while campaigning for our survival.
The potential loss of the Attlee Centre directly impacts thousands of children, young people, and families in Tower Hamlets, particularly in Spitalfields and Banglatown, where safe, free, and inclusive spaces are scarce.
The Attlee Centre welcomes 672 children per year, with an increase of 495% since 2021 (Post Pandemic).
For over 42 years, the Centre has been a lifeline, offering an adventure playground, youth club, and vital community services that foster creativity, physical fitness, and social skills for all, including children with special needs – it was the first inclusive adventure playground in the borough. Its closure would mean these children lose a cherished safe haven to play, learn, and grow. Furthermore, numerous other local charities and community groups such as Coffee Afrik CIC, The Complete Works (TCW), The CORE Project (ICM Foundation), and ParaCarnival, who rely on the Attlee Centre’s affordable space to deliver their essential services to vulnerable residents, will also be displaced, creating a devastating ripple effect across our community.
The Attlee Centre and its beneficiaries are not the only ones in Tower Hamlets facing the loss of their lease. Other organisations providing social value to their communities:
Shadwell Community Project (SCP), which runs the historic Glamis Adventure Playground, shares a similar struggle with the Attlee Centre.
Like us, SCP has provided vital, free services for decades in an area of immense need – a ward with the UK’s highest level of child deprivation. They have a long history of operating on a peppercorn rent, which has allowed them to invest their own funds into building and maintaining facilities on their site.
Now, Tower Hamlets Council has demanded a significantly shorter five-year lease with a new rent of circa £6,000 per annum – a huge challenge for a charity with an annual budget of around £150,000.
Echoing our own experience, the lease renewal process has been crippled by a lack of response from council officers, leaving SCP in limbo since their previous lease expired in November 2024. This delay and uncertainty makes it impossible to secure funds from major donors who require long-term lease security – a critical issue also faced by the Attlee Centre.
This situation jeopardises another of the borough’s few secure, managed open spaces for children’s play and threatens the survival of a long-standing community asset.
Located in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, the Soanes Centre is an education hub where the charity Setpoint London East has provided hands-on science and nature workshops for over 8,000 primary school children annually since 1997. Despite its crucial role in environmental education in a borough with limited green space access for many children, Setpoint London East has faced eviction attempts and has been without a secure long-term lease for over a decade, restricting its access to crucial funding.
Save Weavers Adventure Playground: A Lifeline for Local Families
Since 1974, Weavers Adventure Playground has delivered free, supervised play for thousands of Tower Hamlets children. With 1,421 members from every background, Weavers reflects the borough’s rich diversity and provides a safe haven where young people build confidence, resilience, and friendships.
Founded by local parents and run on under £100,000 a year, Weavers supports families facing poverty, overcrowding, and limited access to safe outdoor space. Despite recognising Weavers’ role in supporting statutory services, the Council now proposes replacing its peppercorn rent with commercial terms—effectively pricing us out, even with an 80% “discount.”
Without Weavers, hundreds of children will lose access to a safe, welcoming space. And families will lose one of the last truly affordable community lifelines.
Supervised play isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Keep Weavers open. Keep our children safe.
The Attlee Foundation is founded in honour of Lord Attlee, former Prime Minister, whose Government launched the National Health Service, to mark and commemorate his concern and lifelong interest in all social problems, particularly those he experienced in the East End of London. One of his greatest passions was children and young people.
The Foundation’s objectives include:
If Tower Hamlets Council does not renew the Attlee Centre’s lease on an affordable peppercorn rent basis, the Centre faces inevitable closure. What’s at stake is not just a building, but a vibrant community hub that has served generations. We stand to lose a unique, free-to-access resource that provides crucial support, especially in a densely populated urban area with limited outdoor play areas. The Attlee Centre’s ability to secure funding for essential services and much-needed repairs to its play structures is entirely dependent on a secure lease. Generally any potential funders are reluctant to progress or commit funding if the lease is precarious. Allowing the Centre to close would mean abandoning a legacy of community support, failing the children who depend on it, and losing an irreplaceable asset that contributes to the well-being and cohesion of Tower Hamlets.
The clock is ticking. The Attlee Centre’s lease expires in May 2026, which is now less than a year away. The uncertainty surrounding the lease renewal is already harming the Centre’s ability to plan for the future and secure vital funding, as funders require long-term security. Despite efforts to negotiate with Tower Hamlets Council since June 2023, a commitment to renewing the lease at a peppercorn rent – the only viable option for the Centre – has not been made. We cannot afford to wait until the last minute. Immediate action is crucial to urge the Council to recognise the immense value of the Attlee Centre and make a decision that safeguards its future, allowing it to continue serving the community for generations to come.
“I am deeply saddened by the potential closure of Attlee Youth Centre, a place that has been an invaluable part of my children’s lives. They attended the holiday club, where they had the opportunity to learn, play, and grow in a safe and supportive environment. The centre provided them with positive experiences, new friendships, and valuable life skills that they wouldn’t have gained elsewhere.
Attlee Youth Centre has been more than just a facility—it has been a lifeline for many families, offering a space where children can engage in enriching activities, stay active, and build confidence. The dedicated staff and volunteers have made a real difference, creating a welcoming and inspiring place for young people.
Its potential closure will be a huge loss to the community, leaving fewer opportunities for children to thrive in a structured, nurturing environment. I sincerely hope that alternative provisions can be made so that young people continue to have access to the support and opportunities they deserve.” Parent
Your voice is essential in this campaign. By taking a few minutes to complete these steps, you can make a huge difference in securing the future of the Attlee Centre for our community.
Sending a letter or email is one of the most effective ways to demonstrate the strength of community support. We’ve created templates to make it easy.
By Email: Attach the file to your email
Subject Line: Urgent Appeal to Renew Lease for the Attlee Centre
To Us: Please also cc or forward your email to admin@attleecentre.org so we can track our collective impact!
Pleasee the the contact details below:
Contact Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman
Tower Hamlets Town Hall
160 Whitechapel Road
London
E1 1BJ
Bus. phone: 0207 364 4000
Email: mayor@towerhamlets.gov.uk
X (formerly Twitter): @LutfurRahmanTH
Contact your MP
Help us make noise online and ensure as many people see our campaign as possible.
Every donation, no matter the size, helps us continue our vital work and fight for our future. Your support allows us to provide essential free services to the community while campaigning for our survival.