ABOUT US : Who we are and what we do

The Marchmont Association unites local residents and businesses in a simple cause - to improve the local area for the benefit of all.

Our Aims, as outlined in our Constitution, show how we intend to achieve this:

• To promote the on-going improvement of Marchmont Street and the surrounding area, including the conservation of its historic character, for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors.

• To establish and maintain a safe, high-quality street environment within Marchmont Street and the area of benefit of the Association, thereby making it an attractive place to live, work and visit.

• To promote community spirit and ‘pride of place’ through a sense of shared responsibility.

• To work in partnership with Camden Council, the Police, local residents groups and other relevant organisations in order to achieve the above aims.

• To attract investment into the area from a variety of external sources in addition to local fundraising.

The Chair's Annual Report for 2010/11 highlights the work we have done over the past year to promote these Aims.

Our Area Of Benefit

By popular demand we extended our 'area of benefit' in May 2008 and changed our name to the "Marchmont Association" (MA), reflecting our interest in this wider area. We extended the area of benefit again in May 2010 to include the whole of the area between Euston Road and Guilford Street and Judd Street and Woburn Place.

Aerial view of the local area

3D model of the local area

The Story so Far

We began life as the Marchmont Street Improvement Campaign (MSIC) at a public meeting in September 2004, called in response to concerns being expressed by traders and residents about the decline of Marchmont Street.

The 100+ people who attended the meeting, including residents from neighbouring streets, were particularly concerned about street crime, late night noise nuisance and the general decline in the appearance of the street.

Within 8 months of this initial meeting much had been achieved so another public meeting was held and the Marchmont Street Association (MSA) was formed, with a view to building on the work of the campaign and developing a broader programme of community involvement. This included a Window Box Project (workshops and annual competitions), tree planting, History Project culminating in an exhibition and publication of a book "The Story of Marchmont Street - Bloomsbury's original high street", a public art competition to redesign and landscape a neglected section of the street, the annual Best Kept Shop Front Awards, a Shop Fronts Design Manual and the annual Marchmont Street Party. We also promoted the historic character of Marchmont Street and the wider area by encouraging property owners and leaseholders to make sensitive improvements to the appearance of their buildings.

By popular demand we extended our 'area of benefit' in May 2008 and changed our name to the "Marchmont Association" (MA), reflecting our interest in this wider area. Since then we have launched the Friends of Brunswick Square, set up the Marchmont Community Garden project to create a new, public garden on an under-used site, successfully lobbied for improvements to pedestrian safety at the Tavistock Place/Marchmont Street junction and improvements to the public realm along Marchmont Street and in Brunswick Square, co-ordinated the implementation of the Marchmont Parade landscaping and public art project, installed commemorative plaques to 4 noteworthy former residents of Marchmont Street and been instrumental in bringing several empty and derelict buildings back into residential and commercial use.

We further extended our 'area of benefit' in May 2010, in response to requests from residents' associations in the area between Leigh Street and Euston Road.

	We are particularly grateful to our early sponsor, the Kings Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association, for pump-priming us during our initial campaign period. www.kcbna.org.uk
	Since we formed the association in May 2005 we have enjoyed the generous support of the Bloomsbury Holiday Inn hotel, who have hosted all our meetings and provided valuable support to our annual Street Party.