Reverend Martin Henwood was involved in the restoration of the Old Town Hall from the outset, founding Whole Community Works in 1993. He speaks passionately about the need for the local community of Kent to benefit from the regeneration of the area.
“Plenty of lip service is being paid to the fact that the regeneration is going to enable the poor to access opportunities, a lot of which does not actually happen,” he says, giving the example of a project teaching local people to sing. “The leader asked the children’s choir to close their eyes and put up their hands if they didn’t think they were any good. Every child put up their hand. Then he did the same with the adult choir and they all put up their hands too. People in this community do not have a strong sense that they really are capable of transforming the world or that they have possibilities.” He explains, “the dictionary definition of regeneration is ‘the recovery of excluded parts’, like when an animal regenerates a lost tail, but it also means spiritual renewal. Faith communities must be at the heart of regeneration.”
Martin describes his vision for the Old Town Hall. “It is right in the town centre and historically it was the place where everybody came together to meet and trade. You went with something to offer, made an exchange and came away with something you needed. Over its life the function changed, so at the end it became an excluding institution, which eventually died. This was a wonderful chance to return it to its founding vision in the heart of community. To ask the faith communities what they believed was being excluded. Together we could show that, through interdependence and exchange, you could provide people with the opportunity to give, feel the pleasure of sharing and value their humanity.
He outlines the Old Town Hall project’s responses to the practical realities of regeneration:
• Embracing the role of the Private Sector for wealth generation, by including the restaurant.
• Enabling the Public Sector to act as neutral public custodians, by including services such as the Kent Savers.
• Establishing opportunities for the voluntary sector and faith communities to use the space for out-reach projects, which provide safe spaces for the young and the old.
• Connectivity between all the parts, so that encounters between different groups generate interdependence and spiritual renewal.
Through consultation with faith leaders common concerns for excluded communities such as the new arrivals from Eastern Europe were uncovered. The Sikh, Muslim and Hindu communities empathised with the experience of being pushed to the margins and there was a shared desire across faiths to centre attention on people at the margins, by extending the hand of hospitality.
Martin has strong views about what art should be. “At the heart of the Old Town Hall should be the symbol of human suffering. One that shows what we as a community are going to do to wipe away someone else’s tears. How can we honour the worlds of the most excluded people right in the heart of the town? Historically there has always been a mix of good and ugly things in Gravesend and art should hold up a mirror to show those extremes today. To show people the difference between aspirations and realities, so that they can make change happen themselves.”
Even though he is not directly involved in the project anymore, Martin says that the process of getting it off the ground felt like “holding it all and then giving it all away.” “I started with a vision and went through a process of trying to get others to catch it. I got to the end feeling, well has it been lost? Has anyone really really caught the vision? Has it all been worthwhile? Having poured my heart out once more, I would like to see to what extent the vision is going to be picked up again. Now the building is re-opened, will the vision remain intact at the heart of the Old Town Hall?”
Lucy
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