We are fighting a huge rent increase from Lambeth Council which threatens all our activities. We are asking all our users to leave a brief testimonial to help us demonstrate our value to the community.
Since 1973 Waterloo Action Centre (WAC) has stood to serve as a community hub for a wide range of services including Waterloo Legal Advice Service – the largest such volunteer-run resource in the country - benefits advice, as well as providing a host of classes, leisure and cultural activities and, above all, a friendly and welcoming meeting place for one and all. WAC’s valuable work has been recognised by the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
Computer Sessions at WAC
WAC has just had unwelcome news that Lambeth Council plans on raising rents for voluntary groups like WAC which occupy Council-owned property. This could see a rent rise to a massive £45,000 a year plus £5,000 building insurance within 4 years of the change. This would simply mean the end of WAC!
This rise represents a third of WAC’s hard-earned income and would mean a sharp reduction in activities and services we provide, hitting some of our most vulnerable citizens. WAC gets no public money but is funded by grants and renting space to users – activity groups, charities, churches – plus support from local residents, businesses and other well-wishers. There is extensive volunteer involvement in the running of WAC’s regular activities.
Our rent is increasing to £45,000
The first step in fighting the rent increase is to show Lambeth Council directly how important we are to the community.
We're collecting short testimonials from anyone who's used WAC, whether as a group member, a volunteer, service user or anything else. We'll use these to demonstrate to the Council our value to the community and why we need more reasonable rent terms.
If you've been to WAC and can spare a moment to tell the world what you thought, please leave us a testimonial and help us to carry on our work.
You can also sign our petition at Change.org
Tell us why WAC is important to you