The Sutton Life Centre is a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

, South London. It is an £8 million facility that uses audiovisual equipment to make young people more "street smart" and better able to deal with the dangers and risks they face in life. It was opened on 27 October 2010 by the then

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...

Features

Sutton Life Centre, SUTTON , Surrey, Greater London (3)

Sutton Life Centre is a community and education centre in South London, which houses a blend of facilities under one roof, including an educational experience, a library, café, climbing wall, eco garden, sports pitch, and youth club. There are a number of spaces which are available to hire including meeting rooms, events spaces and an IT suite equipped with 12 Apple Mac computers. The library is designed to be more like a High Street bookshop than a traditional library. It also offers longer opening hours and a self-service facility for borrowing books. The centre's educational facilities support PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) studies for pupils in Key Stages 2 and 3. They provide an immersive virtual world through the use of

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to s ...

, lighting effects and interactive features. Pupils are taught about topics such as citizenship, personal safety and the environment.Safety Centre Alliance
/ref> They will experience a range of real-life scenarios which help young people to deal with them in the outside world.

The Life Skills Zone

The Life Skills Zone is divided into four distinct areas. The Street Experience has a film set feel, and is designed to look like a real street, complete with shop facades. Topics covered include bullying, alcohol, smoking, drugs, peer pressure, knife crime and gang culture. The Transport Experience is designed to look like a railway station, and covers topics to do with public transport, including platform safety, respecting others, robbery, personal safety, littering and graffiti. The Home Experience is a fully fitted apartment with four rooms. Pupils will make their way through a kitchen, dining room, living room and bedroom to learn about keeping safe in the home. Topics covered include nutrition, domestic violence, fire safety, cyberbullying and internet safety. The Virtual Experience is a 360° white room theatre which delivers fully immersive videos about urban hazards and the environment. Topics covered include exploring derelict buildings, trespassing on the railway, arson, waste, recycling,

climate change and energy In the 21st century, the earth's climate and its energy policy interact and their relationship is studied and governed by a variety of national and international institutions. The relationships between energy-resource depletion, climate change, ...

efficiency.

Safety Centre Alliance

Sutton Life Centre is a member of the Safety Centre Alliance which was designed as a forum to help support permanent UK safety centers through development and networking between members. There are a number of safety center's which exist across the UK which deliver educational experiences on safety to children.

Energy Efficiency

Renewable energy on site provides for half of the building's requirement, and it was given an award of excellence by

BREEAM BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...

for its use of sustainable energy. The centre was included in the 2014

Open House London Open House London is an annual festival celebrating the architecture and urban landscape of London. It is staged by the charity Open City which campaigns to make London a more accessible, equitable and open city. During the Open House festival, ...

programme.

Award from Suzy Lamplugh Trust

The centre was instrumental in the ''Safer Sutton Partnership Service'', a joint venture between the London Borough of Sutton and the Metropolitan Police, winning the national ''Safer Community Award'' from the

Suzy Lamplugh Trust Susannah Jane Lamplugh (; born 3 May 1961) was a British estate agent reported missing on 28 July 1986 (aged 25) in Fulham, London, England, United Kingdom. She was officially declared dead, presumed murder in English law, murdered, in 1993. The ...

in 2010. Sarah Haddon of the Trust said:

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Sutton Community centres in London Sutton, London