A SCHOOL and community group have joined forces to bring a new, inflatable sports dome to the heart of Gospel Oak.

The joint venture between the Collège Français Bilingue de Londres and the Queen's Crescent Community Association  will be used by pupils during school hours and open to the community during evenings and weekends. 

The sports dome in the middle of being inflated in Weedington Road

The French school in Holmes Road asked for the centre to be built as they had nowhere for their students to be active, having to split sports sessions between the Talacre Sports Centre, Maitland Park Sports Ground, and Haverstock School. The QCCA's members also found these facilities to be impractical as they were often oversubscribed, too far away and too expensive for some people. 

Chief Executive of the QCCA, Foyezeur Miah explained they had decided on the  inflatable structure as it could be installed quickly, not wasting any time in tackling the issue of health inequality in the area: “Mansfield Road is what I call an invincible border, people living on the other side of it live around 12 years longer than this side… We needed a solution now, not in five years time, so I think this tackles that problem,” he said.  

Youngsters from Collège Français Bilingue de Londres ready to play badminton

It has been agreed that the multi-sports facility in Weedington Road, which stands in the spot of the former play centre, will be open for at least five years. To celebrate the launch, Camden councillors took on QCCA members and kids from the French school in a game of badminton.

The Collège Français Bilingue de Londres  paid £500,000 to cover five years of rent up front, which was combined with extra funding from Camden Council's section 106 pot, to install an adjoining youth centre, complete with a gym, recording studio, IT suite and changing rooms.