Culmore Community Partnership (CCP) is a volunteer-led organisation that delivers community services, activities and support for residents across Culmore through its base at the Culmore Community Hub, located in the former Victoria Hall. The organisation’s work is grounded in a clear principle: accessible, well-used community space is essential infrastructure, enabling people to come together, access support, and participate in community life in a consistent and meaningful way.
This principle is reflected in CCP’s development of the Hub itself. Established in 2018, the organisation undertook the refurbishment of Victoria Hall to create a functioning community facility, which opened in 2021 as a shared space for local activity and support. Over time, this has developed into a sustained programme of delivery, supported by staff, volunteers and external funding, including a multi-year National Lottery programme focused on reducing isolation and improving wellbeing.
The impact is most visible in how the space is used. Local reporting describes the Hub as a “thriving community hub” with more than 1,400 weekly attendances and a wide range of activity for children and young people, families, and older residents. Programmes are designed around participation and inclusion, creating regular points of connection where people can engage with one another, access services and build a sense of belonging within their community.
As activity has grown, so too has the need for different types of space. CCP has expanded provision to meet this demand, recognising that some services — particularly those focused on mental health and wellbeing — require more private, smaller-scale environments. This is reflected in the restoration and reuse of Culmore Fort, which now operates as a complementary space to the Hub.
Culmore Fort has been reimagined by CCP as a safe and welcoming setting for children and young people’s emotional wellbeing, as well as a place for adult support and cultural and heritage activity. Public reporting also describes the Fort as providing facilities for youth mental health support and for community organisations to meet and deliver activity. Within the overall model, the Hub enables high-volume, open access participation, while the Fort provides a setting suited to more focused, small-group and one-to-one support.
Taken together, this creates a layered community infrastructure: multiple spaces, each designed for different types of engagement, but collectively enabling participation, connection and wellbeing at scale. The impact lies in the consistency of use and the breadth of people reached — ensuring that community space supports both everyday activity and targeted support where it is needed most.
The Society’s role has been, as the owner of both Victoria Hall and Culmore Fort, to make key assets available and to support their long-term use for community benefit. The Society also supported community discussions around the transition of the Fort into usable community space. The community worked hard to secure funds to undertake the sensitive restoration of both buildings.
