A London housing association has refurbished and modernised one of its sheltered accommodation centres by naming it after anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela on the anniversary of him being freed from a South African prison.
Gateway Housing’s staff and elderly residents welcomed Tower Hamlets Mayor John Biggs at the official opening on February 11 of Bethnal Green’s Mandela House, near the East End’s famous Virginia Road flower market, on the 26th anniversary of the late South African president’s release.
The mayor unveiled a portrait of Mandela which also marks Gateway Housing Association’s 90th anniversary year.
The £500,000 upgrade to the property includes a computer suite as well as data cabling laid throughout the complex where the 28 elderly residents can go digital and catch up on the 21st century.
The communal lounge, kitchen and guest room are now refurbished, water tanks in the 28 one-bedroom flats replaced and roof repairs completed.
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