United Nations of Lewisham Park Towers event celebrates residents' diversity

Residents of L&Q’s Lewisham Park Towers turned out for a multicultural community event to celebrate the diversity of the estate’s tenants.

United Nations of Lewisham Park Towers, on 29 January, was organised by L&Q’s Major Works investment programme (MWIP) partner Axis Europe. As part of their contract, all partners on this programme have signed up to social value commitments to create a lasting impact in the communities where we operate.

The inclusion event aimed to bring together residents living across the three blocks, Kemsley, Malling, and Bredgar, by celebrating their different backgrounds and unique and vibrant cultures.

It featured a tasting of diverse cultural dishes, games such as ‘Guess the Country Flag’ and opportunities for residents to learn greetings in various languages. Residents also had the chance to dress in and showcase their traditional cultural attire.

Residents were full of praise for the event.

Wendy Bruchall said: “Well done Axis. I had fantastic evening; the food was great, and fellowship was even better. It was an awesome time."

Avril Augustine added: “The event was nice, and the atmosphere was enjoyable. It was good to meet different people from diverse parts of the world, not to mention the food was very nice.”

Lorriane Robinson said: “I enjoyed and loved the event; I met lovely people.”

Debbie Fadare, Resident Liaison Officer for Axis Europe, said:

“I wanted to organise an event to bring the local estate and community together. It was a lively and enjoyable day, highlighting and celebrating the beauty of diversity within the community. Our staff work hard to try and improve the lives and homes of L&Q’s tenants and days like this give local people an opportunity to come together on their estate and help create a better place for everyone to live.”

Mark Newstead, Director of Major Programmes for L&Q, said:

“At L&Q we believe in investing not only in the homes of our residents but also in the wellbeing of the wider communities that we serve. Lewisham is a very diverse borough that does a lot to tackle racial inequalities. It is also one of L&Q’s priority boroughs as we are one of the major social housing providers with around 11,021 homes.

"By encouraging and sharing in the diverse community of residents who live in our homes at Lewisham Park Towers, we are not only highlighting their cultural differences but celebrating what they have in common.”

Axis Europe is one of ten partners working with us on our Major Works Investment Programme. This will see L&Q invest around £3bn over 15 years to improve the safety, comfort, and environmental performance of residents’ homes.

The first phase of works at Lewisham Park Towers included the installation of fire-stopping and sprinkler systems.

Now in the second phase, works include window replacement, structural repairs to the façade, roof replacement, extension to boiler flues, extractor fans upgrade in kitchens and bathrooms, installation of new soil vent pipes on the building exteriors and external wall insulation.