Community centre

A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a specialized subgroup within the greater community. Community centres can be religious in nature, such as Christian churches, Islamic mosques, Jewish synagogues, Hindu temples, or Buddhist temples; though they can also be secular and in some cases government-run, such as youth clubs or Leisure centres.

The community centres are usually used for:

Around the world (and sometimes within single countries) there appear to be four common ways in which the operation of the kind of community centre are owned and organised. In the following description, "Government" may refer to the ordinary secular government or to a dominant religious organisation such as the Roman Catholic Church; and it may refer to the central, national, or international branch of a government/church or to the local subdivision of it.

In addition to these models, community centres are also run by humanitarian organizations and the national societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. These centres serve as hubs for providing humanitarian aid, offering services such as psychosocial support (MHPSS), socio-economic development programs, social cohesion activities, and protection services for vulnerable populations, including refugees and migrants. These community centres are vital in crisis contexts, facilitating recovery and resilience by addressing the social and emotional needs of affected individuals.

The community centres typically have their own origin and history. There are some examples:

Early forms of community centers in the United States were based in schools providing facilities to inner city communities out of school hours. An early celebrated example of this is to be found in Rochester, New York from 1907. Edward J. Ward, a Presbyterian minister, joined the Extension Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, organizing the Wisconsin Bureau of Civic and Social Development. By 1911 they organized a country-wide conference on schools as social centers. Despite concerns expressed by politicians and public officials that they might provide a focus for alternative political and social activity, the idea was successful. In 1916, with the foundation of the National Community Center Association, the term Community Center was generally used in the US. By 1918 there were community centers in 107 US cities, and in 240 cities by 1924. By 1930 there were nearly 500 centers with more than four million people regularly attending. The first of these was Public School 63, located on the Lower East Side. Clinton Child's, one of the organizers, described it as:

In the UK many villages and towns have their own community centre, although nearby schools may offer their assembly or dining hall after school for Community Centre activities. For example, local schools near Ouston, County Durham may host dance or sporting activities provided by a local community centre.

Parks are also considered community centers. Another pioneer of community centers was Mary Parker Follett, who saw community centers as playing a major part in her concept of community development and democracy seen through individuals organizing themselves into neighborhood groups, and attending to people's needs, desires and aspirations. This can also include parks.