Archbishop opens £47m Learning Village in deprived London borough

The Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols has opened a £47 million Learning Village in Tower Hamlets, one of London’s most deprived boroughs.

The project is a collaboration between the Department of Education, the Diocese of Westminster and Tower Hamlets Council.

Built within Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School, the centre includes a sports hall, library and village club for use by school pupils and the wider community.

The school, home to 1,700 pupils, is named after 18th century Catholic bishop Richard Challoner, who worked to help the poor and disadvantaged through education. The school’s mission is to the poor and marginalised in Tower Hamlets, where eight in 10 children live in poverty – the highest in London.

Also attending the opening ceremony today are the Chairman of the Diocese of Westminster’s Education Commission, George Stack, and local civic and faith leaders.

Bishop Stack said: “Challoner’s passion was learning. He committed himself to the moral, spiritual and intellectual education of priests and people under his care.

“It is fitting that the school which has borne his name for so many years now celebrates a “second spring” at the official opening of the Bishop Challoner Learning Village.

“It welcomes pupils from the global village which is the new London district. The old bishop would have been proud of that.”

Building work first began on the Learning Village in 2006, with the Village Club and all-weather sports pitch due to be completed later in the year.

Executive Head of Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School, Catherine Myers said: “We hope the Learning Village will be a beacon for high attainment and prove a landmark in the school’s growing relationship with its Tower Hamlets community.”