Chiswick Library to become a ‘Community Hub’

Chiswick Library; Photograph A McMurdo

Libraries will now provide advice on services which provide information about money management, housing and  health as well as access to books, journals and computers

Hounslow Council has announced that all its libraries, including Chiswick’s library on Duke’s Avenue, are to become ‘Community Hubs’ where people can go to get advice on services which can help them with money management, housing and health.

The extra provision at the library ‘will complement the existing library offer of books, computers and workspaces’ say the Council.

At the moment, library staff are just being trained to help people find the relevent organisation or Council department that can help them, rather than giving specific, detailed advice themselves. They will be supported by organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Chiswick’s library is only a few hundred yards from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) at the Town Hall, which provides specific advice on a range of issues, including money management, housing and health.

LB Hounslow increased Hounslow CAB’s budget in February, approving funding of £325,000 a year for five years, reflecting the increasing need for their services.

READ ALSO: Hounslow Council extend Citizens Advice funding for next five years

Since the launch of Hounslow’s Community Hubs in 2023, they have helped more than 10,000 local people to access support, the Council says.

(L) Cllr Ajmer Grewal, Cabinet Member for Resident Support, Communities and Equalities, visits knitting and needlework group at Osterley Community Hub and Library; (R) Cllr Grewal with Cllr Salman Shaheen, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Public Spaces, launching the initiative at Osterley Library

‘Knit and Natter’ aka ‘Bitch and Stitch’

The Community Hubs also offer free activities for children and adults.

‘During the winter, people can also stay out of the cold in their local library, reading, using a computer or making friends at one of many activities’, they say.

Currently listed for Chiswick Library are a ‘Knit & Natter, (known to devotees as a ‘Bitch & Stitch’), a communal jigsaw and a book club:

Chiswick Community Hub and Library

Though the preschool Storytime sessions are not currently listed on the Community Hub link, we understand the sessions, for 0-4 year olds, are still running on Tuesday mornings from 11 – 11.30 in term time.

A spokesperson for the Council told us:

‘The Community Hubs are being gradually rolled out borough-wide. Library staff in all Hounslow libraries have been trained to offer local people help and support to find the services and support they need.

‘Early in the new year we’ll also be making physical improvements to all our libraries, including Chiswick, enabling us to provide more services and support from the council, charities and local organisations, to meet the needs of residents’.

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