After a small fire erupted in Queen Mary Hall in Cambridge Gardens last week, Cambridge Road Estates (CREst) Community Group have been forced to change the venue of their weekly community kitchen to St Peter's Church in Norbiton.

The fire led to the venue closing for the foreseeable, meaning that community events cannot be held there until it is reopened.

CREst's Jill Preston said: "Given all the effort it took to relocate our group from Piper Hall to Queen Mary Hall in spring last year and adapt to the smaller venue, the fire has obviously come as a shock to all the local charities like us who rely on the venue.

"But, thanks to the swift efforts of our local councillors, our local partners and our incredible team of volunteers, we're grateful to be able to continue offering the weekly community kitchen and food bank service to all our regular guests who rely on us during the cost of living crisis."

"With a temporary new home sorted, our efforts will next turn towards the restoration of Queen Mary Hall to ensure we work with the council to determine how quickly it can be repaired and returned to the community as a valuable facility that many charities like us rely on to support local residents in need," she continued.

CREst's Tuesday lunch club takes place every Tuesday, and the first event since the fire will take place tomorrow, 20 August at the new venue.

Up until last week, CREst's Tuesday lunch club took place in the Queen Mary Hall (Credit: Suzanne Seyghal)

Natalie Jones, Curate at St Peter's Church, said: "We were saddened to hear about the fire at Queen Mary Hall and were thankful no one was injured or hurt and that the fire brigade dealt with the situation very swiftly.

"We are aware of the upheaval and disruption this will cause many groups who use the hall regularly and are only too happy to have helped support CREst in our main St Peter's Church Hall plus other groups at our Archway Parish Rooms."

She continued: "This is the essence of community spirit, and we are happy to be part of such an inspiring community."

RBKares has been running a monthly Wellbeing Day service to support the Tuesday Group for the last few years.

RBKares' Kate Kenyon said: "We know the services our partners offer are a genuine lifeline for many guests and we're in the process of finalising our 3 September arrangements to ensure we can continue to be there.

"Our events have become a fantastic example of what the community is capable of when we come together to maximise our collective limited resources, and we're grateful to the team at KCAH for stepping in to ensure our event can go ahead as planned next month using a mix of their offices and their St Peter's church car park."

Kate Kenyon and Natalie Jones along with other service providers at an RBKares Wellbeing event (Credit: Suzanne Seyghal)