Community news

Salima Abdallah appointed as Community Engagement Manager for British Library extension project

Somers Town Community Association (STCA) has appointed a Community Engagement Manager (CEM) to work on behalf of Stanhope Mitsui British Library Developments Ltd (SMBL) and the British Library as the key point of contact between local people and community and business groups in the Somers Town area and the delivery of the £1.1 billion British Library extension.

Salima Abdallah previously worked as a Local Opportunities Programme Manager at the British Library for more than two years. Her appointment to the CEM role offers a clear opportunity for the project to build and sustain close relationships with the local community, as well as to create and manage social value for Somers Town residents based on the significant long-term benefits which the development will bring to Camden.

Sarah Elie MBE, Executive Director STCA, said: “Salima’s appointment is great news both for the British Library extension project itself and for those people living and working in the wider Somers Town area. Salima is vastly experienced and has a wide range of established community connections in Camden. The STCA is about inclusiveness and diversity, community and collaboration; it’s about working for change and growing together. Against the backdrop of these values, Salima is ideally placed to manage effective community engagement across all stakeholders from Somers Town residents to Camden Council and all existing – as well as future – tenants in the Knowledge Quarter.”

The CEM will be based across both STCA’s main centre and the St Pancras and Somers Town Living Centre, the latter being a community centre run and managed by STCA in partnership with the Living Centre Partners where local people and organisations help to co-design, deliver and use projects that help tackle their own health, wellbeing, economic and social issues. The Centre is funded by the Francis Crick Institute.

Salima Abdallah, CEM for the BLE project said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be taking on this role at such an important moment for one of London’s most high-profile developments.

“What makes it special is the opportunity to bridge the connection between local people and the project. Over the coming months, I’ll be listening, building relationships and delivering social value projects shaped by local priorities, including the co-design of a new community garden. In addition, I will be engaging with stakeholders on progress of the development and ensuring that our social value goals are fully aligned and integrated with the ESG goals of tenants. This role is about amplifying local voices and sharing the wider benefits of the development and I believe that I am well placed to rise to the challenge it presents.”
Charles Walford of Stanhope PLC said: “We are delighted to be working with STCA and Salima in this newly-created role. Salima’s appointment will help ensure delivery of the project’s social value from design through to construction and occupation, encouraging the occupiers of the new development – both the British Library and commercial tenants still to be confirmed – to continue the focus on social value already established at the project’s outset nearly a decade ago.”