Second “high street” for Forest Gate to be one outcome.
Newham is set for a boost to its recovery from the effects of Covid following the award by the council of over £1m in total to nine enterprising Newham organisations. The award has been made through the Additional Restrictions Grant following an intensive and rigorous application process. The organisations demonstrated how their proposals could support their recovery whilst benefitting the wider community.
The organisations are: Stratford Original Business Improvement District (£249,999); Theatre Royal Stratford East (£230,000); Atlantic Pacific International Rescue, Royal Docks (£187,578); Build East Skills Centre, Stratford (£114,597); Tracks, Forest Gate (£100,000); East End Citizens Advice, Custom House (£120,000); the Carpenters & Dockland Settlements Food Bank (£50,000); Children’s Discovery Centre, Stratford (£47,387) and Newham Chamber of Commerce (£25,000). The exact amount totals £1,124,561.
These amounts will fund a range of activities, such as community events in arts and entertainment venues; business training and support; skills building and employability; responses to the climate emergency; support for young people and the development of Covid-secure workplaces.
Councillor Gen Kitchen, Deputy Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building, Inclusive Economy and Air Quality, said: “I was thrilled that 81 organisations applied – a truly impressive number.
“Our Covid-19 Recovery Strategy is focused upon two distinct stages of activity: recovery and reorientation.These large grants will help businesses to reorientate and enable them to embed community wealth building practices in their daily activities. These grants are essential, as those who know the business community in Newham best were able to apply for them in order to help our grass roots organisations.”
Aiden d’Araujo of Tracks said: “We’re very excited to get started. Our vision is to create a community-focused area in Forest Gate that expands on our current position within the local area. This grant will help us realise this vision and add long-term, sustainable value to the local community and businesses. Our goal is to create Forest Gate's second high street, 'The Avenue', on the strip in front of the arches. We believe this will attract new businesses and footfall, with a view of regenerating this area over the next five years.
“Forest Gate needs community-focused spaces. As advocates of the local community, we believe we have the know-how, contacts and reach to deliver a truly beneficial community space on the strip. We plan to convert our arch into a community-powered, Covid-secure space that will be exclusively available for local community projects, launching with a Forest Gate radio station, classes and talks from local residents, coffee space for meetings and workshops; plus a place for the younger generation to learn with us, prioritising training people from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds.
“We believe communities thrive with access to local produce and local businesses. At The Avenue we plan to build three semi-permanent market stands that will have regularly changing vendors and will be provided free-of-charge to local small businesses. Building semi-permanent structures means easier setup, configuration and will increase footfall to all local business with regularly populated market stands. The outdoor regeneration will also include new signage, lightbox installations and extended seating area to create a communal plaza.”