At Olympia

Community is key.

Lockdown ushers in issues ranging from mental health crises, loneliness and domestic abuse to at risk children and those unable to access vital technology. Thankfully, there is a range of groups and small charities dedicated to tackling these problems in Hammersmith and Fulham.

United in Hammersmith and Fulham is a local organisation that helps provide for initiatives that promote social cohesion and togetherness.

The organisation has pulled in around £100,000 and distributed it to charities in the area, however, as we news about the vaccine comes in we must continue to remember the needs of the elderly and vulnerable.

unitedhf.org/grants/apply/wintercovid/

Being a classical musician was competitive before covid. Which is why in 2015, Laura Lamph, a singer living in the area gathered together some contemporaries and founded Kensington Olympia Festival of Music and Arts (KOFMA).

“The idea was to foster a sense of community for players in the Brook Green and Olympia area,” says Lamph

A big thank you to KOFMA who, this year, have helped the local community by bringing the festival online, safely supporting the arts.

Legacy is but continuity,
of superb creativity,
an eternal solace,
a people’s place.

Have you walked passed this hoarding designed by .bon.ton. With poetry from , creatively describing the future of our vision for the Olympia area.

Every time you buy from a small business, a real person does a happy dance.

In the run up to Christmas, don’t forget to check out your local high street for gift ideas.

Every present you buy, every penny you spend, casts a vote on the kind of high street you want to live near.

Barons Court Project was founded in 1985 when a group of psychiatrists and social workers realised that there was no real resource for people grappling with mental health and income issues in the area.

The support that Barons Court Project provides for the local community, in many way, could not be more important than it is today. Before covid-19 hit, Angus and his team were receiving 460 people with some 8,500 individual visits per year. With increased job loss and financial challenges brought on by the second lockdown, read the inspiring story of how Michael Angus and his team have prepared best help.

There are fifty to sixty thousand design pieces on show in the museum, but 280,000 more are stored in Blythe House, the V&A’s historic archive in the heart of Olympia.

Built between 1899 and 1903 with a design by famed architect Sir Henry Tanner, the place was originally the headquarters for the Post Office Savings Bank. Then in 1979 the building was acquired by the British Government with the intention of using it as a store house for museums and galleries.

When it was owned by the Post Office, some 4,000 office workers processed 9 million accounts and the place reportedly received 100,000 items of post every day. When it was a savings bank, people there were in charge of processing millions of pieces of paper and essentially it was a repository for information.

As museums prepare to bid a fond farewell to this beautiful building, you can read more about the history Blythe House, and when you can visit, via the link in our bio.

ATOLYMPIA.COM

At Olympia is an initiative spearheaded by the Future Olympia team who are working on the new and exciting masterplan for the Olympia London exhibition centre.

Our aim is to create a platform to support and promote the brilliant people and organisations in our local area and we are busy creating an online directory to celebrate all that is the Olympia community.

In light of recent events, we have decided to fast-forward the launch of this website and our social media streams to offer a community hub that supports local businesses, is a platform to share stories of local heroes and to offer a bit of light-hearted relief. Whether you’re working from home, self-isolating or facing uncertainty, community has never been more important.

If you are a business local to the Olympia area and you would like to be added to the At Olympia Directory, send us a DM.

Watch this space and keep an eye on our website over the coming week for uplifting stories from the area.

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