Burrowed in the centre of a town down on its luck, Park Centre has suffered from a lack of investment. But now a community has joined together, desperate to save it.

It’s a story that extends beyond the borders of Burgess Hill. With local councils facing budget cuts, many community centres across the UK have been forgotten. Over 1200 council-run youth centres closed between 2010-2023, according to Unison. 

Park Centre was donated to the people of Burgess Hill in 1873 by Emily Temple, a woman who is regarded as the town’s first benefactress. Temple, like many Victorians at the time recognised the importance of supporting the local community and turned to philanthropy.

Since then, generations of the town’s youth have benefitted from the building’s role as a community space. Guy Wakeford, now 60, attended a youth club there when he was 11 years old and then went on to volunteer and work as a weightlifting instructor at the centre for 30 years. 

“The coffee bar was always full of people sitting and playing cards, there was a TV room with a 24 inch television, and a box of rented videos from blockbuster, and a disco on Fridays.” He says.

“Home wasn’t a particularly fun place to be when I was a kid, so it was great for me to have somewhere to go. The youth leader and his wife were like surrogate parents to me.”

But in 2021 for the first time in over 150 years the doors of Park Centre were slammed shut, leaving it eerily quiet.  The groups that had once filled the rooms were forced out. 

This came as West Sussex County Council (WSCC)  , the trustees of the building, were looking to transfer ownership.

But, for the people of Burgess Hill closure was not an option. Certainly not for Karen Taylor, a resident of Burgess Hill for 48 years who started a youth club in Park Centre just before it closed.

Karen, 52, started Escape Youth Club in 2019, shaped by a tragedy that struck close to home. The year before, 15 year old Elido Vargas, a boy from her daughter’s secondary school took his own life. His death cast a long shadow over the town and Karen decided she needed to do something. She wasn’t sure where to start, but doing nothing no longer felt like an option. So, she created a youth club focusing on mental health, where young people could feel supported and safe. 

“I said to myself whatever hurdles got put in front of me, I would either jump them or kick them down, either or. But I was going to make sure something happened, that something positive came out of something so negative.” She says.

Karen, 52, started Escape Youth Club in 2019, shaped by a tragedy that struck close to home. The year before, 15 year old Elido Vargas, a boy from her daughter’s secondary school took his own life. His death cast a long shadow over the town and Karen decided she needed to do something. She wasn’t sure where to start, but doing nothing no longer felt like an option. So, she created a youth club focusing on mental health, where young people could feel supported and safe. 

“I said to myself whatever hurdles got put in front of me, I would either jump them or kick them down, either or. But I was going to make sure something happened, that something positive came out of something so negative.” She says.

Escape youth club had its first session in the Park Centre in January 2020. However, with Covid-19 lockdowns right around the corner and the closure of the Park Centre in 2021 her work was interrupted, and the youth club displaced.

After the closure of Park Centre, Burgess Hill Town Council (BHTC) started to consider being the sole trustees of the building, with potential plans to redevelop it as the Beehive Community Arts Venue.  

But Karen and many other local residents weren’t convinced. They wanted to preserve the building’s legacy and carry forward the vision of Emily Temple, creating a space where community groups, like the youth club, could return.

Looking back, she says: “Lots of people were saying: ‘West Sussex is going to tear it down.’ But the building doesn’t belong to anybody, it was left for the youth.

“Keeping Park Centre was important because what else did we have? With the demolition of the Martlets shopping centre we didn’t have anything in the town centre anymore. We needed a decent community building.”

So, the group formed the Park Centre CIO Charity, working with WSCC to reclaim the building and keep it in the hands of the people who needed it most.

After four years of the building sitting empty as discussions unfolded about its future, they succeeded, and in February 2025 the group secured ownership of the Park Centre.

But this was only half of the battle for Karen. Now building manager, she faced months of time consuming and expensive refurbishments. She describes how local businesses and volunteers stepped in, offering their time and resources to help. “Grummit Wade Mason, without them, we wouldn’t have been as far as we are. That business, especially Mark Mason, has given over 500 hours of time that he could have quite easily charged us for, but he didn’t, because he sees what we’re trying to achieve.”

Park centre reopened in September of 2025, allowing all community groups to return back, including Escape.

Now, in a freshly painted Park Centre, surrounded by clattering pans and the soft swish of a broom, Karen stands beside volunteers tidying in preparation for this week’s events. “This building meant so much to so many people as it used to be their youth club, it was my youth club. Now, it’s a new generation’s youth club.” She says.

A few days later in the back room of the centre five black punching bags jolt back and forth as children swing their gloves forward with determination. It is the newly formed South Downs Amateur Boxing club, the only boxing club in Burgess Hill. 

41 year old Lisa Houston, director and coach, established the club in 2025 after noticing noise on social media about young people in Burgess Hill causing trouble: “Every neighbouring town has three or four boxing clubs. But here, there’s not a lot for kids to do.” She says.

“It helps to use boxing as a tool, it helps manage their frustrations, anxiety, depression, all these issues that are causing them to do things in society that are undesirable.”

Coming from Peacehaven, Lisa was unbeknownst to the rich history held by Park Centre but from opening day, discovered that there used to be a boxing club there back in the 1930s.

“For some of our members their families have been coming here since they were kids. So it’s just this really lovely story about how it’s kicking back into a community setting.” She says.

“As the building takes on more groups you’re just seeing so much life flowing through one place. It’s quite remarkable that one building can offer so much.”

Although the Park Centre remains to be a foundational building for the youth, it has always been a place for people of all ages to come together and find community.

Since the reopening, Summerhaven, a local mental‑health drop-in, is among the groups finding their way back.

For ten years they’ve met every Sunday, their purpose is simple, but necessary – to create a space in which people can come together and be heard. Now, back in the Park Centre, 72 year old Elaine Parr, a volunteer of six years, sits behind the cafe bar, offering tea and coffee to the familiar faces wandering through the door. 

“Meeting here gives people a break, it gives them a chance to chat, and to have some company.” She says.

“A lot of our members do not have much contact with their families at all, we’ll do things like sending them a birthday card, and for some they tell us quite often it’s the only birthday card they get.” 

When the building closed Summerhaven relocated to the Kiln, another community run centre located in a former Argos unit, a temporary space already marked for demolition.

“Returning to the Park Centre has been terrific. It’s nice for the group to feel as if they’ve got ownership of the space. It wasn’t quite the same at the Kiln, there were a few that didn’t come anymore because of the situation.” Says Elaine

For many, being back here brings a sense of comfort. It’s not only a return to years before, for some it’s a return to their youth. 

“The Park Centre has a good history with Burgess Hill and I think everybody’s quite rightly proud of it. What they’re doing with running the youth club is terrific, now some of the youngsters have got somewhere to go.” Elaine says.

But the fight for Park Centre is far from over. Park Centre CIO are already planning for the next chapter. They aim to raise 3 million pounds to make economical, eco-friendly, as well as accessibility improvements.

“We want to be able to get this building back to what it used to be. Having it as a thriving community hub, which eventually will be open all the time.” Karen says.

“People say why do you do it? Because we care about this building. We want our community to have what it deserves.

“We need the money and support to make it happen, but the determination is definitely there.”