CLUBS that were evicted from a Chingford centre have now secured a new temporary home.

The Chingford Community Association (CCA), an umbrella organisation representing numerous groups, has secured a short-term lease on the Tom Oakman Centre, Weale Road, until October.

Angry members protested last September when the council decided to turn away clubs which had met for years at Friday Hill House, Simmons Lane.

Instead, the space was taken over by adult education classes which had been made homeless when the Louisa Oakes Centre, in Halls Lane, was closed.

Speaking about the temporary new home, CCA chairman Tom Dawson said the organisation wanted to thank council officer Paul Humphreys who provided support in helping to secure the use of the Tom Oakman site.

CCA vice-president, Peter Hone, said the handicraft club, art club, Forest Sequence Dance Club, Silverthorn Amateur Radio Club, and a Friday evening art club all run club meetings at the new centre.

Six other clubs have found other premises because of concerns about where they will go once the Tom Oakman lease ends.

But Mr Hone said that confirmation of a long-term venue could persuade them to meet in the same place as other CCA clubs.

In addition, the Christo-delphian Ecclesia Club has suspended meetings while the uncertainty continues.

ARTEFACTS inside the grade two listed Friday Hill House could be lost to the nation if it is sold off by the council to developers, claims Chingford Community Association vice-president Peter Hone.

Mr Hone said: "The artefacts inside should be left for the nation because their commercial value is priceless."

Items include a 19th century wall painting depicting decorative panels with flowers, re-used Jacobean panelling, fireplaces with two elaborate wooden cornices and over-panels, one possibly incorporating early 17th century work, and many other features not listed by English Heritage.

He added that he was convinced the community centre would be sold by the council to developers but is hoping it will reconsider and allow the CCA to return.

However, a council spokeswoman said the cabinet had agreed to the sale in principle, though a view of courses run by the Community Learning and Skills Service (CLaSS) would decide the fate of the centre.

She added that the council would take into account the fact Friday Hill House is a listed building when considering proposals to alter it, but said that its historical status did not prevent a private company from owning it.

The council's cabinet approved plans to slash CLaSS's funding by £45,000, cut 2.5 full-time jobs and remove the subsidy of over-60s course fees at a meeting held on February 6.

These plans will be scrutinised at a full council meeting later this month.