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 2012/13 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. We further extended our area of benefit eastwards to Gray's Inn Road in May 2013.

Aerial view of the local area

3D model of the local area

The Story so Far

The Marchmont Association began life as the Marchmont Street Improvement Campaign (MSIC) at a public meeting in September 2004, which was arranged in response to local traders' and residents' concerns about the decline of Marchmont Street. The chief issues of concern were street crime, late night noise nuisance and the general decline in the street environment.

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, new street trees, a History Project which led to an exhibition and the publication "The Story of Marchmont Street - Bloomsbury's original high street", a public art competition to redesign and landscape a neglected section of the street, Best Shop Front Awards and the annual Marchmont Street Party. We also promoted the restoration of the historic character of the area by encouraging property owners and leaseholders to make improvements to their buildings.

In response to demand from residents in the wider area we extended our 'area of benefit' in May 2008. We changed our name to the Marchmont Association (MA) to reflect our extended remit and launched the Friends of Brunswick Square. Since then we have created the Marchmont Community Garden, successfully lobbied for improvements to pedestrian safety at the Tavistock Place/Marchmont Street junction and for public realm improvements along the entire length of Marchmont Street and in Brunswick Square. We co-ordinated the implementation of the Marchmont Parade landscaping and public art project and established our own independent commemorative plaques scheme. We have also been instrumental in bringing several empty buildings back into use and for getting most of the footways and street lighting in our area upgraded.

We further extended our 'area of benefit' in 2010 and 2013, in response to requests from residents' associations in the area between Leigh Street and Euston Road.

For up-to-date details of our projects and campaigns for improving the area you should follow the links on the Home page.

	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.