The 31 successful projects offer wide ranging community services that give existing projects an opportunity to focus on specific and diverse needs in their local areas. This includes:

• Bloom: Nature In Education: Connecting young people to nature through a range of relatable educational activities. Activities include sensory experiences, art and movement at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
• D-Lab Studios: Building on their previous NPF-funded project, providing mentoring and upskilling for creative industries and support for their successful Architectural Apprenticeship Accelerator Programme.
• Football Unites: Female Football Programme: Football Unites is a programme offering women and non-binary participants of all ages free football development sessions, tournaments and leagues.
• 1st Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Rainbows, Brownies and Guide Units: Supporting the group to deliver inclusive residential camping trips.

The Fund, which has been running for four years has distributed nearly £4m in funding to more than 77 organisations based on and around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Lyn Garner, CEO of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: 

“The breadth of applications and the benefits that they bring to local people is genuinely inspiring. We know that the Fund can make a huge difference and it’s great to see significant investment being made into local community groups. We are incredibly proud that the Fund has awarded nearly £4m worth of funding to 77 local groups over the last four years and look forward to seeing this round of projects come to fruition.”

Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville said:

"We are hugely supportive of initiatives such as the Neighbourhood Priorities Fund, which can have a transformative impact on local communities. It is an important way that the LLDC is engaging with, and investing in our boroughs, and I am really pleased to hear Hackney organisations will benefit, building on the support we as a Council have provided to many of these successful bidders through funding and partnership working."

Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, said: “It is fantastic to see so many Newham community groups receive funding from the Neighbourhood Priority Fund. A wide range of important community projects from upskilling our residents for the jobs of the future and improving the lives of our young people to encouraging active travel have been awarded funds. The NPF will benefit many Newham residents and I know they will be thrilled by this announcement. I look forward to seeing the positive impact these projects will have.”

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) allows LLDC to raise funds from a charge on new floorspace that is built in our area. CIL contributions can be spent on infrastructure that will help support growth in the area. This means LLDC can support infrastructure projects that improve our area for current residents and businesses as well as those moving to the area and making it their home.

DOWNLOAD IMAGES HERE.

The full list of successful projects in 2022/023 is as follows:

Name

Details

Amount

Borough

Social Ark – Step-Up Programme

The project is to run the Step-Up Programme; over 12 months, Social Ark will work with up to 10 local young people (aged 18-30) from under-resourced communities to develop social enterprises, informed by their own lived experiences, and which will go on to provide direct services to the LLDC area.

£30,000

All

Sustrans and Newham Cycle Sisters – Cycling Programme

This partnership project between Sustrans and Cycle Sisters aims to address the under-provision of cycle training and cycle activities that meet the needs of Muslim women. The project would develop the current programme, whereby Newham Cycle Sisters meet weekly at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and hire cycles from the ViewTube for their sessions.

£30,000

LB Newham

Skaped – Skaped on Tour

Skaped is an east London charity that supports 11–30-year-olds from under-represented backgrounds to engage in social action. Using the creative arts, Skaped run relatable workshops, educational programmes, and community events to inspire and empower young people by exploring self-worth, community building and social change issues, from gender inequality to discrimination.

£26,780

All

Bloom: Nature in Education

Bloom: Nature In Education aims to connect young people to nature through a range of relatable educational activities. Activities include sensory experiences, art, movement and deeper self-directed exploration of nature in their immediate environment. Bloom aims for workshops to take place at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, however, if necessary, they could be run in a school’s local green space.

£27,452.25

All

Arbeit Projects Limited – Artists-in-residence

This project is to invite three artists for four-month paid residencies, during which time they would create a work for display in the new garden. Artists would receive a fee, a production budget, a secure workspace, and a curated exhibition with an opening event. They would also host workshops for the local community, with a focus on sustainability and recycling materials.

£29,481

LB Hackney

Gainsborough Primary School – Facilities for the Yard Theatre

The project is for the Yard Theatre to temporarily use facilities at Gainsborough Primary School for administrative, rehearsal and community purposes while their new permanent space is being constructed. The school currently has unused space due to a falling roll. Consequently, the attic, top hall, 3 classrooms, staffroom, toilets, and office space would be made available for the Yard Theatre on a temporary basis.

£30,000

LB Hackney

D-Lab Studios – D-Lab Creativity Clinic

D-Lab intends to build on their previous NPF-funded project, providing mentoring and upskilling for other creative industries in addition to their successful Architectural Apprenticeship Accelerator Programme.

£30,000

LB Newham

Social Farms and Gardens – Carpenters Estate Garden

The project is to use the theme of community garden management to build on the skills and employability of Carpenters Estate residents. Over 18 months, 50 sessions (of between 4-7 hours) would be run.

£29,347

LB Newham

The Yard Theatre – Yard Youth Access

The Yard theatre aims to unroll a new Yard Youth Access project to remove barriers to participation for D/deaf and disabled young people local to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Having spoken with local young people, parents and consulted with Disability consultants REAL over the past year, the Yard Theatre have identified the following measures needed to start removing barriers: travel costs & attendance bursaries; flexible wellbeing pots; transcribing and interpretation; sensory equipment; and the recruitment of D/deaf and disabled workshop facilitators. As the redevelopment of the area continues for existing residents and new families move in, the Yard Theatre want to ensure there is an environment where D/deaf and disabled young people are empowered to fully participate and explore their creativity and in the larger community.

£22,360

LB Tower Hamlets/LB Hackney

Skate Gals N Pals – City Mill Skate Park

Skate Gals & Pals wishes to create a semi-permanent skating facility at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at the future City Mill Skatepark (Newham side) and deliver regular skate sessions for individuals of all ages at the Park. The intention is to provide a greater range of physical activities options to Newham residents and facilitate a space for local skaters, visitors to the Park and local residents, for people of all generations and genders, especially marginalised communities (Black and other people of colour (BPOC), LGBTQIA+ community, marginalised genders, kids in deprived areas) at no or low-cost.

£30,000

LB Newham

XConversation – Be the Change

XConversation is a social enterprise based in East London. It is primarily a podcast platform that works with criminal-justice-experienced individuals to educate and inspire ‘at-risk’ youth to make better life choices. XConversation supports over 40 young people annually through partnerships with The Good Growth Hub, Social Ark, Forest Gate Youth Zone, Sirlute, Truce n Train, DWP and FFL. In addition, they run relatable, creative personal development programmes, offering employability training and paid work experience opportunities. The Conversation 'Be the Change’ project is a 12-month programme split into 3 parts. This specialist project will work with 30 ‘at-risk’ young people identified as NEET (not in education training or employment), supporting them to progress into meaningful employment, education, or training opportunities.

£29,990

All

Football Unites: Female Football Programme

Football Unites is a programme offering women and non-binary participants of all ages free football development sessions, tournaments and leagues.

£30,000

All

XLP: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Youth Worker

XLP seeks to create positive futures for young people growing up in inner-communities, living below the poverty line in London. XLP has a full-time youth worker at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and funding is sought to continue their work, and to integrate the project into other projects, including school mentoring, work visits and work experience placements.

£30,000

All

Truce N Train

Truce N Train is an inclusive youth-led group in Stratford. The team comprises trained lived experience volunteers, respected individuals known for turning their lives around. Truce N Train work with individuals, schools, and intervention services to empower 11–19-year-olds identified as ‘at-risk’. Using boxing, mixed sports, mentoring and tailored skill development, they help youth go from being ‘at risk’ to becoming respected leaders in their communities.

£30,000

LB Newham

Ambition, Aspire, Achieve (AAA) – Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub

Ambition Aspire Achieve (AAA) is a grassroots charity founded in 2016 that seeks to improve the lives of children and young people in the London Borough of Newham by providing a range of fully inclusive activities, opportunities and experiences, delivered from their neighbourhood play and youth hubs. Following a 2019 NPF grant, enabling the construction of a new single storey rear extension to the existing site (Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub, Stratford), this project seeks to fund a new phase of the site development

£29,000

LB Newham

Beyond a Song CIC

Beyond a Song is a social enterprise, based in East London that aims to support the wellbeing of women from under-resourced backgrounds, empowering them to develop their confidence and skills, using their voices to champion their communities. This is delivered through bespoke programmes, providing a combination of learning and wellbeing workshops to locals around the Chobham Manor Community Centre and the Good Growth Hub.

£22,700

All

Un-Age

‘Secret Sauce’ is an acceleration programme for food businesses based in Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest, with special attention to ethnic minority groups from disadvantaged backgrounds. It focuses on adults and seniors, and embraces the emotional aspects of starting/scaling a food business, to create a safe space in which participants are welcome to be open about their wellbeing and mental health.

£30,000

All

Badu – The Hidden Talent

The Hidden Talent projects aims to deliver a programme led by young people which provides support to people aged 18 - 25 from Black and Global Majority backgrounds by offering access into corporate industries and roles, combating the lack of diversity within corporate spaces. Badu will be mentoring, developing & up-skilling young people within the community, then partnering with corporate organisations who will be offering mentees a minimum of 3-6 months placement within their organisations in their prospective field. There will be 10-15 candidates who will be selected via an interview process.

£29,125

All

Sirlute – YoungStars Create

Sirlute is an established youth charity founded in East London in 2019. Sirlute provides creative music, film, and fashion programmes to majority Black and Minority Ethnic ‘at-risk’ children and young people (CYP) across the Olympic boroughs. Beneficiaries are aged 5 - 25 years old, from low socio-economic backgrounds and experiencing poverty. Referring partners are Newham and Tower Hamlets Youth Offending Teams, CAMHS, Ian Mikardo School in Bromley-by-Bow, Safer London and other organisations that work with young people from marginalised backgrounds.

£30,000

All

1st Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Rainbows, Brownies and Guide Units

This is supplemental to the NPF funding awarded in 2020. It will help the group to deliver inclusive camping trips. In particular, funding was sought for a range of camping equipment, as well as to make alterations to the storage shed and toilet/shower block at the group’s site in Chigwell Row. The project would enable all group members to go on local residential trips, including those that can’t afford to contribute.

£17,137.02

All

English for Action (EFA) London – Together for Tower Hamlets

The project will provide two accredited ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses for 35-40 local migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum in Tower Hamlets (Bow East and Bow West wards).

£27,076

LB Tower Hamlets

Apply Yourself

Apply Yourself is a mentoring programme, specialising in educational, career, early intervention and life guidance for young people. The project, which would be run from a gym space at Fern Street in Bow, would provide monthly mentoring sessions for 15 young people (aged 11-18) who would be referred by local schools (Bobby Moore Academy and East London Science Schools)

£30,000

LB Newham

Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust - Community & Enterprise Activator

Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust (HWFI CDT) is seeking to create a temporary (10 years) circular economy hub (The Loop), which would be accommodated at the UCL East Campus at Pool Street East. NPF funding has been allocated for employment of a Community & Enterprise Activator.

£30,000

LB Newham

Groundworks – Slow Crafts Club

The Slow Craft Club will enable LB Hackney residents, aged 50 +, to improve their wellbeing through social and therapeutic crafting. Textile gifts created by participants will be donated to beneficiaries located within the LLDC planning area.

£22,172.50

LB Hackney

Groundworks London – Chippy & Chips

Chippy & Chips Club is a new project offering activities such as carpentry and woodwork workshops, to appeal mainly to local men aged 65+. Following a successful pilot project, the proposed Chippy & Chips Club will involve the delivery of 20 sessions where 22 older Hackney residents will be invited to share woodcraft skills, enjoy lunch together, and donate their creations to local people in need. To ensure members play an active role in shaping Chippy & Chips, volunteers themselves will nominate and select the beneficiary groups who receive their donations.

£22,974

LB Hackney

Skate Cabal

Skate Cabal is Stratford-based roller-skating platform, that will run roller-skating activities for both adults and young people at the following locations:

• Hackney Bridge
• Chobham Academy Sports Hall
• School 21 Sports Hall

£30,000

LB Hackney; LB Newham

Aspire, Support, Learn CIC – Chobham Manor Community Centre

The project is to improve facilities at the Chobham Manor Community Centre, which provides support for the local community, including offering recreational, educational and training opportunities for young people. Namely, NPF funding would contribute towards the installation of a sustainable ventilation system, which will help to mitigate the impacts of high summer temperatures

£30,000

LB Newham

Hackney Wick and Fish Island CIC (Creative Wick) – Hackney Wick and Fish Island Cultural Interest Group (CIG)

The Hackney Wick and Fish Island Cultural Interest Group (CIG) is a free business-to-business innovation network which connects creative/cultural economy organisations within Hackney Wick, Fish Island and the wider QEOP area. The project is to develop a method of measuring the CIG’s impact within the local area, which would inform the future development of the CIG in a sustainable manner.

£10,000

LB Hackney; LB Tower Hamlets

Yucan CIC – Young Carer Space

Yucan is a youth and lived experienced-led organisation that supports young carers aged 6-25 from East London with expert co-designed care plans, befriending, workshops and respite opportunities. ‘Young Carer Space’ is a 12-month programme that supports the wellbeing of young carers.

£23,640

LB Newham; LB Hackney

Newham Muslim Forum CIC – The Space

Newham Muslim Forum CIC is currently operating a multi-faith space in Westfield Stratford City (The Space), which is used by around 1,000 people per week. The intention is to expand the offer, running mental wellbeing activities, as well as providing bereavement support, addiction clinics and relationship counselling. This would include employment of a dedicated mental health professional to run these services, with The Space operating as a base.

£27,600

LB Newham

Hackney Tree Musketeers

The Tree Musketeers project will work with three primary schools within the LLDC boundary area. The schools consist of Gainsborough Primary School, Mossbourne Riverside Academy and Carpenters Primary School.

The project aims to run 2 sessions with Year 5 children from each school. Sessions will involve learning about tree growth and propagation, as well as practical activities, including tree planting (Mabley Green/Hackney Marshes).

£15,114

LB Hackney; LB Newham

Notes to Editors:

Spread across 560 acres of stunning parklands, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is home to beautifully landscaped gardens, historic waterways, famous sporting venues, a vibrant arts and events programme and the ArcelorMittal Orbit visitor attraction.

As the new heart of east London, the Park is still transforming, providing homes, jobs and an unrivalled education and cultural district housing Sadler’s Wells, BBC, V&A East, UAL’s London College of Fashion and UCL East.

The London Legacy Development Corporation promotes and delivers physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the surrounding area by maximising the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For more information visit our website (QueenElizabethOlympicPark.co.uk), sign up to our e-newsletter (QueenElizabethOlympicPark.co.uk/subscribe), follow us on Twitter (@noordinarypark) and like us on Facebook (facebook.com/QueenElizabethOlympicPark)

The Neighbourhood Priorities Fund was set up to administer the Neighbourhood Portion of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). The LLDC CIL Charging Schedule was brought in to effect in April 2015. CIL is a charge on developments to support delivery of infrastructure in the local area. Government guidance sets out that in an area with no parish councils, a Local Planning Authority that charges CIL should allocate 15% of annual CIL receipts to be spent on projects in consultation with local communities.