Hillaballoo

What is the background to Hillaballoo? Where has it come from?

Telegraph Hill is the central area of Lewisham Council’s Telegraph Hill Ward, which spreads into New Cross, Honor Oak and Brockley. The Council has funded Hillaballoo for the past two years from its Localities Fund.

The Telegraph Hill Society supports residents to maintain and appreciate its special heritage as a Conservation Area. The community supports a flourishing cultural scene, its highpoint being the Telegraph Hill Festival. There is also a range of events and groups running throughout the year, centred on its schools and the Community Centre attached to St Catherine’s Church. The Park has an active Users Group, including a Young Friends of the Park, and an early years drop-in centre.

In these and other groups, we have been talking about ways we can forge better links in the community for mutual benefit. Moves have included:

• more creative use of the Parks for youth and community activities, including a Farmer’s Market and sports tuition
• a community survey, eliciting diverse needs and visions of the Hill’s future,
• plans for Telegraph Hill Nest, a development plan for the Community Centre now that its offices and cafe are no longer occupied by Carr Gomm
• a skills-sharing event to pilot the idea of a Time Bank.

Hillaballoo aims to provide an annual occasion in which we celebrate the Park, the Conservation Area and all the groups or organisations that work for the community. It takes place at the end of the school summer term to celebrate the start of holidays.

It is devised and organised by Bridget McKenzie (Flow Associates) in partnership with the Park Users Group and the Telegraph Hill Centre.

www.flowassociates.com