Being Part of the Albany Festival

Georgie works for Together UK, which is a resident organisation in the Albany building. Here she tells her story of working at the Albany.

I currently work for a charity that is a resident at the Albany - we work with people in Lewisham that are 18+ on their wellbeing. We got office space here roughly a year ago and I come here four or five days a week. We also use various spaces like the Red Room, the Studio, or more recently, the Garden – we run groups for people who access our services there. 

Before the Albany we were just in a hotdesking space above Lewisham Shopping Centre; as a community organisation, the space wasn’t equipped to have different community members come to see us and wasn’t appropriate for our group activities. We have lots of different community groups - a Women’s Group, a group for those Living With Depression, and those who Live with Suspicion; and we have a yoga group here at the Albany now which is great.  

Before, we had to do these groups outside in the community or online, because we just didn’t have the space. When we found the Albany it was a perfect match; we rent an office as a ‘home’ for us, but also have use of all of the community rooms – like using the Red Room for our Yoga Group. I mentioned we used the Garden a bit recently – another benefit of moving here is that we’ve been able to meet people who run similar programmes to us.  

That means David, the Garden Coordinator here, and Izzy the Garden Assistant - they run Come n Grow, a gardening club, and we’ve been able to collaborate with them for the last couple months to run our own wellbeing sessions in the Garden. That’s something we wouldn’t have if we hadn’t moved to the Albany – it's a really wonderful thing that’s come out of it. 

Another thing that’s great is how much of a community hub the Albany is; people can come in and use the café without any pressure – just to use the Wifi or to grab a drink using the pre-paid tokens that people have paid forward. As a community organisation, it models the kind of interaction with community members that we also want people to associate with us. The Albany has already created a safe and welcoming space for us to have our participants – and you can see that there’s an effort being made for that space to exist. 

Personally, I love it – it’s one of my favourite places. I’d never actually come in before we got an office here, though I’d followed the Albany on Instagram for ages. It really aligns with my own personal interests and values – I studied Drama at University, so the theatre has really won my heart – and the fact that it has so much going on for so many different people is amazing. It’s a perfect example of a community space; a real hub of something for everyone. It’s so important, more than ever – it helps us to remember how important togetherness and coming together is for our lives. It can be so easy to become isolated, but if you’re here, even if you’re alone there’s a sense of not being alone. I walked through the garden the other day, and people were sitting out and someone was just playing guitar and singing. It’s that feeling of comfort. It actually improves my want to work by being here – even when it’s raining and I don’t necessarily want to come in, I’m happy to come to the Albany. 

A lot of people that I’ve met since we moved here, who use our service, know the Albany somehow. They’re usually between forty and sixty, and came here when they were younger – so a lot of them are really familiar with the history, and have a lot of memories to share. When they come back in they’re usually really impressed with how it’s still being used. 

It reminds me a little of being at a festival – there are set acts and times, but you might turn a corner and someone’s decided to get out a little drumming circle. That’s what it’s like here! And I’ve noticed that our service users have started to stay for a coffee after our workshops; they can feel that it’s a safe place to be.