For years the Cherry Orchard Day Centre was in need of a revamp – It opened in the 1980s as a day service for those with disabilities.

So all services were decanted into other buildings back in 2015 to make way for a £1m refurbishment.

It reopened this week as the Cherry Hub and on Tuesday (June 18) more than 100 people gathered at the centre to celebrate the new facility.

Now people are welcomed into an airy modern building which will be home to Croydon Council’s adult social care services and open to local voluntary groups and the wider public.

The St James’s Road facility includes a full training kitchen, dance studio with sprung floors and sensory room with all rooms having full disabled access including hoists and handrails.

The garden centre

What makes the centre stand out from other similar services is the Cherry Orchard Garden Centre.

It is staffed by people with learning disabilities and remained open for business throughout the construction.

Darren Hamilton has been working at the garden centre since he was 18, he is now 53, and describes it as a ‘hidden gem’ in Croydon.

The gardening enthusiast said: “I have made good friends working here and I know my regular customers by name.

“It is quite nice because people come and say hello to me now.

“I’ve been working here for 35 years and my favourite bit about the job is the public. I have learnt a lot about the plants I probably know the name of about 75% of the stock we have.”

This year 21-year-old Dana Xavier from Kenley joined the team.

She brought her new business Blossoms of Grace to the garden centre in February after completing a level two floristry course at Sutton College.

About her new job she said: “I love all of it. I really enjoy working here it has been a pleasure.

“It gives me more confidence and skills. I am thankful that I got a space here.”

She sells arrangements for all events including weddings and funerals and said her favourite flowers are red and pink roses and dark purple carnations.

Upper Norwood resident Martin Adderley has worked at the garden centre since 2006.

And at the opening event he was helping in the kitchen too.

The 62-year-old said: “I work here three days a week. I tend to the flowers.”

He is also part of a team that goes out doing garden maintenance, including the roof garden at Croydon Council’s Bernard Weatherill House.

Open up to the community

At the opening students from The Brit School were leading singing sessions for people with disabilities.

On the day there was also therapeutic massage, a live performance by disabled musicians The Carbonators and cookery sessions.

Pupils who study community arts practice at The Brit School will be visiting the centre regularly to put on workshops for service users.

Director of community arts at the prstigious performing arts school said: “Over the last seven years we have run various projects in the community.

“Community arts practice students are developing their skills as artists and putting them in community settings.

“They are all about taking the arts and using it to promote social change.”

It will make a huge difference

Annette McPartland head of adult day operations at Croydon Council said it was a big deal when services moved out of the centre back in 2015.

She said: “When we first closed we decanted to other areas in 2015 it was a huge deal for people. It was done very sensitively they really worked with everyone involved to make sure it was a seamless transition.

“The builders and workmen were also very sensitive to the clients still at the garden centre some whom have autism.”

Ms McPartland is impressed with how the building has turned out. She particularly likes the outdoor courtyard and dingy alleyway transformed into a green oasis which runs alongside the autism service based at the centre.

The centre will also open up to other community groups and organisations like the NHS for meetings as a way to generate income.

“We wanted it to look right, we didn’t want it to look institutionalised,” she said.

“We wanted it to be a relaxed place that is functional .

“Before, it was really old, it was bleak, but the people who were working here were fantastic. Now the building matches what it is going to be used for.

“All the way along we’ve taken people with us, it’s proper co-production people have had a say in what they like.

“This will make a huge difference it will be much more community led and it will be open seven days a week.”

The Whitehorse Youth Centre and nursery continues to use a separate part of the building.

And the borough’s Active Lives services for people with disabilities now have the opportunity to use the hub’s resources either in groups or as individuals.

Councillor Janet Campbell, Croydon Council’s deputy cabinet member for families, health and social care, said: “Helping people with disabilities to thrive is a council priority, and we’ve upgraded the Cherry Hub so it offers them lots of activities to enjoy as part of their busy daily lives.

“Whether you have disabilities or not, this newly-improved hub and its garden centre are open for the use of people across the borough, and I look forward to Croydon residents benefiting from it.”