Whitehead Community Association

Whitehead Community Association

Whitehead Community Association (the Association) is a company, limited by guarantee.  It is administered in accordance with its articles of association and was registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland on 19 May 2016. 

The Association was formed in 1981 and is managed by a voluntary committee of up to 17 members, drawn from local residents who serve as individuals or representative members who serve on behalf of local organisations. 

The organisation promotes diversity, especially cross-community, and endeavours to make every person welcome, regardless of religion, ethnic identity, political beliefs, disability, sex, race, creed or nationality.

The objectives of the Association are to promote the benefits of the Whitehead area by associating with statutory and local authorities, voluntary organisations, residents and visitors, in a common effort to advance education, promote and foster a community spirit in favour of equality and diversity, and to provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation.

The Association owns and manages the Whitehead Centre situated at 19 Kings Road, Whitehead.  The residents of Whitehead acquired the property (a former cinema) in 1977, to form a Community Centre which is located in the heart of the town’s Conservation Area.  Subsequently, major refurbishments in 2007/08 and 2011/12 extended the community space.  In the 2019/2020 the Association received grant funding to refurbish the Kings Road side of the building.  This project saw the creation of the Whitehead Centre, which serves as a Community and Tourism Hub, with three additional retail outlet units for start-up businesses in the community. From the Centre, the Association delivers three main activities:

Community Support:  By providing a range of community spaces, consisting of a large hall including kitchen, 2 function rooms and a meeting room, the Association can support multiple leisure, education and community groups.  In addition, the Whitehead Centre on the Kings Road side of the building provides exhibition space and has become a conduit for community & local tourism information.  It provides signposting for welfare and leisure activities, together with being a focal point to promote the town to visitors.

Business Accommodation:  The Whitehead Centre provides and manages a range of small business units that are available to local residents.  The Association offers business accommodation on flexible terms to support new employment for the benefit of local residents and to add to the diversity of commercial offerings within the town.

Annual Events:  The Association aims to deliver three major and a number of smaller annual events in support of its object; each of these events are run to foster community spirit and pride in the town, namely .

The Easter Monday 5-mile Road Race

The Whitehead Festival

The Victorian Street Fair

The public benefit resulting from the Association’s work is the creation of social cohesion, allowing Whitehead and its environs to develop together as a community, offering chances for people to meet and work together, developing skill sets and widening the circle of social interaction and influence.

Services

The centre was refurbished 2007 / 2008 and has excellent accommodation for events and meetings, etc., with free parking outside.  Further renovations in 2019 / 2020 resulted in a new community hub which provides an office for centre management, an exhibition space and a tourism hub.

A large hall is available, with a stage, and is suitable for dances, sports, sales promotions, pantomimes, public meetings, etc and can accommodate up to 230 people (seated). A kitchen is available for use only with the main hall (at additional cost).

The upstairs conference room can seat 60 people, theatre style, and there is also a committee room: and a smaller room, which can be hired out as a meeting room and is used for counselling services.  The upper floor also contains three office spaces which are currently leased to small start up businesses.

There is a lift (suitable for disabled access) to the upper floor and facilities suitable for use by people with a disability.

The new Whitehead Centre exhibition space can be hired out by local artists to exhibit their work and is also used for pop up shops for local and national charity groups such as Royal British Legion, Royal National Lifeboat Institute, Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI, McMillan Cancer.

The Centre houses seven e-bikes which can be hired out for half or full days.

Opening hours

The Centre is open from 10am until 4pm Monday to Saturday with rooms available for hire seven days per week.

For further information contact the centre staff by telephone 028 9337 8077 between 10.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Saturday or by email [email protected].

Contact Details

NICVA will not disclose any contact details further to those published by the organisation below.

Address

19 Kings Road
Whitehead
Carrickfergus
Co Antrim
BT38 9PT
United Kingdom

Phone

02893378077

Social Media

 
Charity Number:
104912