Club officially opens Percy House - new home of Tottenham Hotspur Foundation

• A £1.8m grant from the National Lottery and match funding from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has funded the full restoration of the historic Grade II* listed building on Tottenham High Road.
• Percy House is now the engine room for Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s unique range of community development, health, employment, education, training and sports initiatives.
• Representatives from the Club, Foundation, Heritage Lottery Fund and Haringey Council were joined by Earl Percy, George Percy, to officially open Percy House.
• The House was a residence of the Percy family during the 18th and 19th Centuries with the Football Club’s name inspired by famed medieval nobleman Henry ‘Harry Hotspur’ Percy.
• The restoration of Percy House forms part of the major sport-led regeneration of North Tottenham.

The Club has today officially opened Percy House, the new home of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, following the full restoration of the historic Grade II* listed building on Tottenham High Road.

A £1.8m National Lottery grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), match funded by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, has secured the building’s long-term future in the area, creating a hub for the Foundation’s unique range of community development, health, employment, education, training and sports initiatives.

Representatives from the Club and Foundation were joined by Blondel Cluff, Chair of Heritage Lottery Fund London, George Percy, the current Earl Percy, and Joseph Ejiofor, Leader of Haringey Council, to declare Percy House open.

The building of Percy House was originally commissioned in 1742 by Sir Hugh Smithson, an aristocrat who married Elizabeth Percy, then Duchess of Northumberland, the sole surviving heir to the Percy titles and fortunes. The House remained a London residence for the Percy family and stayed in its ownership until 1844. The name Tottenham Hotspur was in fact inspired by Henry ‘Harry Hotspur’ Percy, the most famous member of the Percy family – a medieval nobleman immortalised in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1.

Over subsequent years, the building was used as office space and even home to a local pirate radio station during the 1960s but had sat derelict for several years before being acquired by Tottenham Hotspur. With the support of the National Lottery, the Club spent nearly two years restoring and renovating the building to create an anchor site for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s life-changing work at the very heart of its community.

Today, guests observed examples of the work that is now delivered within the fully restored property, including workshops that help improve the digital skills of local people, free community health checks for men and women over the age of 40, employment support for people with disabilities and sports leadership courses for young people who are training to be football coaches.

Since its launch in 2007, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation has created over three million opportunities for local people. Its innovative programmes aim to increase participation in physical activity, promote health and wellbeing, provide educational and employment opportunities for local people and contribute to community cohesion.

The restoration of Percy House forms part of Tottenham Hotspur’s wider stadium development scheme, acknowledged as the catalyst for the regeneration of North Tottenham – creating a new sports, leisure and entertainment destination for London. Once complete, the stadium development scheme will have created 3,500 new jobs and pump £293 million into the local economy each year – almost double the impact of our previous stadium.

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, said: “More than a decade ago, we created the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation with a vision of truly making a difference for people living within our local community. It is fitting, therefore, that our Foundation now has a home at the heart of the community that it serves following the full restoration and renovation of one of Tottenham High Road’s iconic historic buildings – one with close historic links to the Club itself.”

Sarah Ebanja, Chief Executive, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, said: “Tottenham Hotspur Foundation uses the power of football and the Tottenham Hotspur brand to engage hard to reach people and tackle the social-economic issues within the Club’s local community. Restoring Percy House has meant our staff now have a space to give hands on support and mentoring to local people in a safe place within their neighbourhood. This is our home, our engine room and our door is always open to those who need us most.”

George Percy, Earl Percy, said: “It’s a huge honour for me to share my name and part of my family history with this building, and in some small measure be associated with Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and the fantastic work they do.”

Blondel Cluff, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund London Committee, said: “Percy House has been saved from dereliction and given a new purpose as a space for Tottenham Hotspur Foundation to continue its charitable work, a space for people to learn and gain new skills. In a time of regeneration within Haringey, it’s fantastic that part of its heritage can remain at the heart of its future, thanks to National Lottery players.”

Joseph Ejiofor, Leader of Haringey Council, said: “The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation offers a brilliant boost in the community and we are pleased to be able to support their work making a difference in Haringey. This relationship will continue as we work together to ensure residents are at the centre of everything we do here in Tottenham. Percy House is a beautiful building and has been fantastically restored – it is a great setting for the good work that will be done in the community.”