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Devas Club

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Coordinates:51°27′54″N0°09′23″W/ 51.46492°N 0.15648°W/51.46492; -0.15648
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Devas Club
Named afterJocelyn Devas
Formation1884
FounderJocelyn Devas
Founded atLondon,England
TypeEducational institute(1884–1970);Club(1970 onwards)
Legal statusOpen
PurposeEducation;youth club;sports club
Headquarters2a Stormont Road,Battersea[1]
Location
Coordinates51°27′54″N0°09′23″W/ 51.46492°N 0.15648°W/51.46492; -0.15648
OriginsUniversity College,Oxford[2]
Region served
London
ServicesYouth education, sports, activities, events
Official language
English
Websitedevasclub.org

TheDevas Club for Young People(theDevas Instituteuntil 1970[3]) is ayouth clubinBattersea,southLondon,England,which provides sporting, educational and creative opportunities for disadvantaged youth.[4][5]

History

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TheDevas Institutewas founded byJocelyn Devas,a student atUniversity College, Oxford,[2]in 1884, as a ‘Club for Working Lads’ with the aim of providing young men with job skills.[6]The club was originally calledUniversity College Houseand was in a room above acoffee shopin Stewarts Road.[7]Following Jocelyn Devas's death eighteen months after founding the club, in a climbing accident on theMatterhorn,his father offered a substantial endowment if his college friends would carry on the work in Battersea.[8]Oxford Househelped the club early in its development.[9]

The Devas Institute was constituted first under a scheme set up by the Charities Commissioners in 1901, when University College Oxford and thenBattersea Polytechnic Instituteprovided members of the Management Council for the Devas Institute.[10]The institute moved to larger premises in Thessally Road inNine Elmsin 1907. DuringWorld War I,the Devas Institute site was used as anair raid shelter.[11]

The comprehensive redevelopment of the Nine Elms area to buildNew Covent Garden Marketprompted a further move, to a purpose-built building on Stormont Road nearLavender Hillin 1969, in a notablyBrutalistarchitectural style.[12]It was renamed theDevas Clubin 1970.[3]The club was reconstituted in 1974 by order of theCharity Commissionersunder independent trustees.[13]

The main purpose of the institute's work was initially educational, but as this function became increasingly taken over by theLondon County Council,sporting and creative activities began to take precedence in the programme. A separate club for girls was started in 1960, which was later merged with the main activity of the club. The club maintains a small meeting space for alumni of the club ('old boys').

The club celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2014.[14]

The club today

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The Devas Club is primarily targeted at young people between 11 and 19, with specialist programmes targeted at the age range 8 to 11. It aims to enable young people, particularly the disaffected and at risk, to reach their full potential as responsible, talented individuals and as active participants in the community.

The building includes a gym, a recording studio (the Stormont Studios[15]), performance space, cooking and computer facilities, a range of meeting and rehearsal rooms, and a basketball court on the roof. The club is aregistered charity(Registration Number 1129419)[13]with the stated purpose of "providing a youth centre for the purpose of helping and educating young persons under the age of 25 years through their physical, mental and spiritual capacities that they may grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society and that their conditions of life may be improved."

The Devas Club has maintained close links withUniversity College,as well as with the Devas family, over the years.[5]It has also developed a close relationship over many years withWandsworth Council,who provide full-time youth staff to support the club's activities.

Development projects

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The building is now rather dated, and no longer fully appropriate for a modern youth club. It has been the subject of a bid to turn it into a modern centre for sports and the creative arts for disadvantaged youth, as well as providing enhanced facilities for local community use. The bid was supported byWandsworth Borough Councilby means of a £0.5m capital grant as well as support for design fees.[citation needed]It will include extensively modernising and extending the facilities, as well as upgrading the building provide a more open, flexible and welcoming layout. The exterior walls will be insulated to make the building more sustainable, and a new terrace will be introduced on the rooftop. A large and easily adaptable performance space will be created on the first floor by altering floor levels in the gym.

The club received UK GovernmentCulture Recovery Fundin 2020 for support during theCOVID pandemic.[16]It has also aimed to reduce its energy use.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Devas Club".Wandsworth Arts Fringe.Wandsworth Council.Retrieved18 July2022.
  2. ^abOckwell, Anne; Pollins, Harold (2000). "27: 'Extension' in all its Forms". In Brock, M. G.; Curthoys, M. C. (eds.).The History of the University of Oxford.Vol. VII: Nineteenth-Century Oxford, Part 2.Oxford University Press.pp. 661–688.doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199510177.003.0027.ISBN978-0199510177.
  3. ^abGee, T. P.;Wild, J. H. S.(1979). "Social Work in London: the Univ. Connection".University College Record.Vol. VII, no. 5. pp. 251–259.
  4. ^Powley, Terry (2014).Getting On With It: A History of London Youth.London Youth.ISBN978-0957087323.
  5. ^ab"Univ and the Devas Club"(PDF).UK:University College, Oxford.Retrieved18 July2022.
  6. ^"Battersea youth club celebrates 125th birthday".www.thisislocallondon.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 4 June 2011.Retrieved7 February2010.,Wandsworth,This is Local London,19 October 2009.
  7. ^Darwall-Smith, Robin(2008).A History of University College.Oxford University Press.p. 410.ISBN978-0-19-928429-0.
  8. ^"Oxford youth club celebrates 125 years"(PDF).Lambeth Life.UK:Lambeth Council.1 November 2009. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 March 2012.Retrieved7 February2010."Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 March 2012.Retrieved7 February2010.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link),Lambeth Borough Council,London,page 15, 1 November 2009.
  9. ^Arnold, F. (1 April 1888). "The Oxford House and Toynbee Hall".The Leisure Hour:An illustrated magazine for home reading.pp. 274–279.
  10. ^House of Commons(1904). "The Devas Institute".Parliamentary Papers 1850–1908.Vol. 73.H.M. Stationery Office.pp. 305–308.
  11. ^Corkill, Claire; Kolonko, Chris (2020)."Devas Institute, 82, New Road (PRN: 10670)".Home Front Legacy 1914–18.UK:Archaeology Data Service.doi:10.5284/1059297.Retrieved29 July2022.
  12. ^Survey of London: Battersea, pt. 2. Houses and Housing.University of Londonfor theLondon County Council.2013. pp. 129, 296.
  13. ^ab"Annual Review and statements of financial activities: Devas 2020/21".UK:Charity Commission.2021.Retrieved29 July2022.
  14. ^Gee, Tim (Winter 2014)."130 Years of the Devas Club"(PDF).The Martlet.No. 2. UK:University College, Oxford.p. 12.
  15. ^"Stormont Studios".archive.today.Archived from the original on 5 May 2013.Retrieved5 May2013.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^Adkins, Frankie (16 November 2020)."Devas Club gets government financial boost".Wandsworth Times.UK.
  17. ^Hancock-Bruce, Matt (21 December 2020)."Battersea youth club looking to raise funds to reduce energy use".SWLondoner.UK.
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