Double celebrations at Elizabeth House!

It was cause for double celebrations at the end of July as we launched the second phase of the ‘Past, Present and Future Waterloo’ exhibition, a collaboration between Morley College and HB Reavis, and marked the relocation of the Waterloo Job Shop to Elizabeth House.

The evening was a chance to see the amazing artworks first hand and hear from members of the Morley College and Waterloo Job Shop teams. We were proud to welcome so many key figures from the Lambeth community to the event, not least the Mayor of Lambeth, Ibahim Dogus, who also kindly offered to say a few closing words.

Now in its second phase, the Past, Present & Future Waterloo exhibition is the creation of Morley College students and staff, which is part of our plans to bring the colonnade at Elizabeth House to life ahead of longer-term ambitions to redevelop the site. It sees a series of columns and window display decorated with works from the Ceramics, Advanced Painting Practice, Sculpture and Printmaking departments. If you’re walking by, make sure to have a look!

Opening the event, our Development Manager, Natalie Essa, thanked the Morley College team for their hard work in creating the display and for finding such a fun and fitting way to celebrate the Waterloo community. Natalie then gave a brief overview of our ambitious plans to transform the building and surrounding public realm, where we are looking to create a new landmark for Waterloo that could support up to 11,000 jobs and open up vital new links into Waterloo Station.

Sara Robertson-Jonas and Nick Rampley from Morley College echoed Natalie’s kind words, remarking on their students’ creativity. It was wonderful to hear both peak so passionately about the college, in particular the work it does to empower individuals through adult education courses in the areas of Arts, Culture and Applied Sciences.

We then heard from Nic Durston, Chief Executive of the of the South Bank Employers’ Group (SBEG) and South Bank Business Improvement District (BID) on the fantastic initiatives the Job Shop is delivering to drive employment opportunities for people in the local area. Since, 2002 the Job Shop has helped thousands of local people into work.

To top off a truly inspiring event, the Mayor of Lambeth Ibrahim Dogus gave his closing words. He said: “the best bit about this job, is celebrating Lambeth success stories. There is so much talent, so much energy, running through our borough. It gives me great pride to showcase and promote it, in any small way I can… and I’d like to welcome HB Reavis as the latest member of our growing family and thank them for all they have done for our communities so far.”

Our thanks again to all those who attended the event, to the students and staff who continue to curate the fantastic Past, Present and Future Waterloo exhibition and to the Waterloo Job Shop whose work is truly inspiring.

If you’d like to find out more about Morley College and the fantastic range of courses it offers, then visit its website here. You can also find out more about the work of the Waterloo Job Shop, by visiting here. Finally, to hear about our plans for Elizabeth House, visit here.