Client:

Independent charity

Assignment:

Executive Director of an 'indigenous' renewal organisation

Timescale:

1997 to 1999

Project Description:

At the same time as Peter Williams was running the Lambeth Walk Partnership, Giles Semper was running a very different kind of organisation in the same 'manor'! This marked his evolution from publisher to regenerator!

Vauxhall St Peter's Heritage Centre was another name for St Peter's Church, Kennington Lane. It received its new 'branding' when English Heritage injected a large amount of money to restore the fabulous, Grade 2*, building by J. L. Pearson (later to be the architect of Truro Cathedral).

The Heritage Centre operated on a variety of fronts. Its key function was to seek to improve the Vauxhall area and life for the people in it. It did this by pulling in regeneration and other funds, and deploying them always with the guidance of local residents and businesses.

The Centre hosted the monthly forum 'Vision for Vauxhall'. Giles acted as Company Secretary & Co-ordinator for the Vauxhall Employers Group (VEG). The Centre convened the annual 'Vauxhall Festival'. He also sat as a board member on 'Crossing the Line', a rare private sector-led regeneration project.

Giles and his team also ran the Heritage Centre as an events venue, attracting high-quality lettings, the proceeds of which helped fund the Centre's work.