This month, Pickering is featured in Tunbridge Wells Business Magazine following the successful exchange on our future new home at 17–19 Monson Road.
The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre and Imago Community, have recently signed a transformational property deal…
Two local charities have exchanged on a property deal that will enable them both to open the door on exciting plans for the future.
The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre recently exchanged on 17-19 Monson Road, the building it hopes will become its new centre, only a few doors down from its current home. The building it has signed the paperwork on is the current home of charity Imago Community which, in turn, has cemented plans to move to a bigger building in Lamberhurst Vineyard.
Pickering’s new building – double the size of the existing centre – will continue to provide a ‘warm and cosy hub’ for visitors, while offering the space for more quiet areas, as well as additional and accessible therapy rooms. In turn, Imago had out-grown its current location and needed a new head office to provide additional space for its expanding team, while remaining in the Tunbridge Wells borough.
The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre exists for anyone impacted by cancer, as well as their friends and family. It is entirely self-funding, run solely by volunteers and relies on donations to survive. Last year around 2,500 people turned to Pickering for help and support, with therapists providing 1,000 treatments, all of which is provided free of charge. This exciting move for Pickering, comes at a time when the charity is celebrating its 21st birthday.
“When it comes to finding a property, location is key,” says David Bartholomew, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Pickering. “We love being based in the heart of Tunbridge Wells – so are delighted to have found our new centre…on our doorstep. At Pickering, we already work collaboratively with other local charities, so it feels special to not only be securing our future as a charity but seeing Imago do the same.”
Angela Ward, Deputy Chair at Pickering adds: “Both charities now have a lot of work ahead of us and Pickering doesn’t expect to be in our new centre until at least the spring of 2026. But, we are thrilled to have exchanged and be in a position to start making plans for this exciting next stage for our charity.”
Imago Community is a social action charity offering a wide range of support services for people of all ages across Kent, Medway, East Sussex and London. Last year, the organisation celebrated 60 years of supporting individuals, families and communities to improve their health and wellbeing, creating positive change together.
“After we exchanged on the building, we told our team that Pickering would be moving in and they were thrilled that another local charity would be using this space,” says Caroline Shaw, Chief Executive at Imago Community.
David Bartholomew comments: “We couldn’t have done this without the assistance of Tom Lumsden and his colleagues at CooperBurnett LLP, who guided us expertly through the paperwork. Thank you to them all, as well as our Centre Manager, Caroline McGibney for helping to ease this transition. We will miss having Imago as our neighbour but wish them well in Lamberhurst.”
While the Imago office staff will be making the move out to Lamberhurst, the Imago Charity Shop will continue to operate on Monson Road.
To enable its move, The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre has launched The Key to the Door Fundraising Campaign to raise £150,000.