Our Story

1960’s

The Allcroft Centre opens a drinking and social club for Queen’s Crescent’s largely Irish community

1999

Queen’s Crescent Community Association launches, effectively taking over from the Allcroft Centre. It secures one grant of £19,500 and has one full-time staff member and 12 volunteers, based at its 45 Ashdown Crescent site

2002 – 03

QCCA becomes a registered charity, incorporated as a limited company by guarantee

2006 – 2007

The charity now has an annual budget of £298,000. It serves a community of 70,000 people, operating out of Ashdown Crescent, Fleet Community Centre, the Allcroft Centre and Maitland Park Sports Centre. Services for children under five launch in Ashdown Crescent. Foyezur Miah, a local resident since 1992, becomes CEO

2008

QCCA gets Ofsted registration for its under-fives services as well as accreditation with the Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations (PQASSO). It supports 110,000 users

2009

The organisation celebrates its 10th anniversary. It has an annual budget of £500,000 and 30 staff, many of whom are local residents. It begins to diversify income away from a 60% reliance on local authority funding with applications to grant-makers and maximising hall hire. A youth advisory committee of 13-19-year-olds is established

2010

There are significant improvements to the IT centre and gym, resurfacing of the Malden Road football pitches and a new sound studio. The charity also stops the closure of the much-loved 10 O’ Clock Club for pre-schoolers on Hampstead Heath by taking over the Peggy Jay Centre. Youth worker Kito Suki is shot in the leg diffusing a fight outside the local William Hill betting shop

2011

A period of rapid development under the Labour government’s ‘local solutions for local people’ strategy. The charity has 40 paid staff, 60 volunteers and buys its first minibus. It takes over Caversham Nursery from Camden Council

2013

QCCA stops running services from Fleet Community Centre and Maitland Park Sports Centre. Building begins on the Dome youth club at the empty Weedington Road Play Centre, in partnership with local French school College Francais Bilingue de Londres. It also assumes management of the 100-year-old Queen’s Crescent market from Camden Council. During a successful 18 months, the number of licensed traders hits 65 for the first time. It launches a business development course for young people, 14 of whom run their own market stalls as a result

2014

A period of massive growth. Turnover hits £1.5m, employing 65 staff across seven facilities. The Dome youth centre opens. QCCA starts running Holly Lodge Nursery in Highgate. Annual users exceed 400,000

2015

His Royal Highness Prince Philip visits the Dome.

Management of Queen’s Crescent market returns to Camden Council and the numbers of stallholders begins to decline

2016

Rapid diversification away from local authority funding means nearly half of all income now comes from trade. The Healthy Families programme launches

2019

QCCA celebrates its 20th anniversary as an organisation. Just over half of the area’s population is now from diverse communities

2020

QCCA is one of the few local organisations that stays open through Covid. It launches the Fight C-19 emergency service to provide food, medicine and befriending phone calls to older and vulnerable members. Distributes 62,000 meals

2021

QCCA becomes an official Covid vaccination centre. The youth service runs 31 fitness sessions via Zoom and a term of dance classes to three primary schools. It also provides 46 families with laptops

2022

The food bank and its advice and advocacy service become a permanent programme at QCCA. Staff and volunteers deliver 300 Christmas hampers to members

2024

QCCA launches an ambitious five-year plan. It aims to increase turnover to around £2m by 2029 with QCCA taking a greater role in shaping local and national policy around delivering local services