Harlow: Community hub to open in The Stow

A new community hub where people in Harlow will be able to access help from the police and other public services is opening in The Stow on Saturday.

The hub, located in the shopping centre, is part of Clear, Hold, Build - a Home Office-baked project where our officers, Harlow Council, the NHS and local charities have been working together to address underlying issues affecting the local community and tackle offending.

The aim is to produce sustained, long-term change in places by pursing offenders, breaking up and dispersing gangs, and creating strong, resilient neighbourhoods.

The hub will host outreach sessions from organisations including the NHS, the Department of Work and Pensions, Peabody housing, the Youth Council, and domestic abuse charity Safer Places.

There will also be sessions focusing on physical and mental wellbeing from partners including Mind, Rainbow Services, Phoenix Futures and the Butterfly Effect.

The official opening on Saturday will begin with a litter pick at 10am before representatives of the organisations involved gather with residents and business owners for a brief ceremony.

A circus performer will be there to entertain children, and the hub will have a permanent kids’ zone where youngsters can play whilst their guardians find out information about local groups and services.

In the coming months, the hub will also host school visits and there are days planned where residents can meet officers from the force’s Dog Unit and firearms teams.

Harlow’s District Commander, Chief Inspector Paul Austin, said:

“The hub is in the heart of The Stow and it’s there to connect the community with the police, council, third sector agencies and charities from across the town.

“It's a one-stop shop for all those community needs and hopefully it's going to be an excellent facility for those who live and work locally. If you need advice, whether that’s from the police, or to do with housing, finances or health, there will be people for you to talk or we will be able to put you in touch with someone who can help.

“The Stow is the first area in Essex to be part of the Clear, Hold, Build. We chose it because it's an area where we knew we needed to tackle some criminality but already we’ve made a number of arrests, executed warrants, and taken a number of criminals off the street.

“I want the people who live, work and shop here to feel safer when they visit, to also feel the area is beginning to improve, there’s regeneration, and also that there's an increased sense of community moving forward over the next few years.”

Local resident Trula Hall has lived in The Stow since she was 13. She believes the hub is a big step in the right direction:

“I think this will make people feel a lot safer, it will boost business and deter bad people. People care about the area and they want it to do well. They don’t want people to think they live in a run-down, crime-ridden place, as it’s sometimes portrayed, because that’s not what we - the people who live in the community - see at all.”

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