Welcome to Dee Space

We opened our new Dee Park community centre - Dee Space, with a fun-packed community event in August.

Published: 11/09/2023

---

Three hundred people attended the event. With residents, councillors, and Reading's Deputy Mayor, Glenn Dennis, coming along to celebrate.  

Guests enjoyed a tour of the new facilities and fun activities for all ages. A steel band filled the air with music while a children's entertainer amused the younger guests with a magic show. Face painters, balloon artists and more also added to the fun. 

Thank you to our local partners who came along to support the day. Ranikhet Children's Centre provided a petting zoo, which was great fun for all ages, and The Reading Rockets kept the older kids amused with some basketball coaching. There were also Dee Park cycling tours on low-rider choppers and a fantastic climbing wall from local youth club, Grassrootz. 

Local enterprise - Joys Catering also provided free Caribbean and British food, which went down a treat with everyone.  

 Dee Park resident Naudia said: "Dee Space has been long awaited, and now we have a community space that will benefit everyone. I really enjoyed the day, and it was wonderful to see the community come together to celebrate."  

 What does Dee Space offer? 

 The Ranikhet Children's Centre is now based in the building, offering its service to the local community. The local youth club, Grassrootz, will start weekly sessions on Thursday evenings for young people aged 11 – 16 years very soon. The sessions will include arts and crafts, sports and games, a mentoring programme and day trips.  

Upcoming activities with The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and a one-off event with the Beat the Street Initiative are also underway.   

Furthermore, the team is organising community bring-and-buy sales, festive activities, and more. They're also working with your local housing team to ensure a regular drop-in surgery is available at the centre.  

The Dee Space is your space, too – with a new hall and meeting rooms available to hire for clubs, community groups, events and parties. Visit our community centres page to learn more about Dee Space and make a booking. 

How you can get involved 

We'll have more on all these events and activities, including how you can join, on our events calendar, Facebook and Twitter very soon. Remember to keep an eye on them so you'll be one of the first to find out what's happening at Dee Space.