“We had big sound system dances out the back and they used to do everything from black history to martial arts, but reggae was central… Places like this – they were safe spaces. It’s important how close things were – it was a whole world. And it was a black world, hosted by black people. And that was really powerful and important.”

- Professor Lez Henry

From the 1970s to the 2000s, Lewisham Way Youth and Community Centre provided services to local young Black people until it closed in 2016. The centre’s programmes included a Community Choir, a Black Women’s Group, mentoring, a Black Father’s Group, Heritage Classes, Numeracy and Literacy and much more.

Although the lease required the building to remain a community centre, Lewisham Council, the freeholder, failed to enforce this condition. As a result, when the ownership changed, the new leaseholders, House of Noise Ltd, a Music and Sound Design agency, began using the space as private offices. In response, the community launched a protest, arguing that the space's misuse was “oppressive, generating a negative force for mental well-being in the community”, however, since then 138 Lewisham Way has not been returned for use by the community.