Cv impact report final draft 260117

CLEAR VILLAGE IMPACT REPORT APRIL 2015 MARCH 2016

CLEAR VILLAGE IMPACT REPORT APRIL 2015 - MARCH 2016

Authored by

October 2016

CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION

2. SMALL WORKS COMMUNITY STORIES

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3. WALLED GARDEN COMMUNITY STORIES

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4. HUMAN CITIES THE MAKER MILE

5. EXPERIMENTS

6. CONTACT

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8 10 12

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1. INTRODUCTION CLEAR VILLAGE aims to strengthen the resiliency of communities by bringing innovative ideas to underused spaces. Our goal is to tap into the enormous potential of these community “commons� to create assets that enhance the lives of those who live and work in the area.

Copyright CLEAR VILLAGE 2016

Resiliency is as vital for communities as it is for individuals. It underlies the issues that drag contemporary society down: lack of community cohesion, social isolation, poor mental health & well-being and limited opportunities for personal development. We build our projects bearing in mind not only these greater societal challenges but also the distinct needs of each community with whom we work.

This report tells not just our story but also the stories of those who work with and benefit from our projects.

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“WE PROGRESSIVELY STEP OUT OF THE PICTURE AND HAND OVER TO A COMPETENT LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUP, WHICH CLEAR VILLAGE ASSISTS IN PURSUING SELF-SUSTAINING OPERATING MODELS RELYING ON RECIPROCITY AND CIVIC VOLUNTEERISM.” --THOMAS ERMACORA RECODED CITY: CO-CREATING URBAN FUTURES

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2. SMALL WORKS: SUPPORTING SOCIAL ENTERP Small Works is where communities meet social enterprise. Our approach bridges the relationship between landlords, social enterprises and residents.

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Working in partnership with Peabody we managed two spaces: Small Works Victoria on Vauxhall Bridge Estate in Westminster and Small Works Kings Cross on Priory Green Estate, Islington.

To mitigate the impact of council funding cuts Small Works works with social entrepreneurs to bring community and individual support back to people’s doorstep.

“SMALL WORKS GIVES US A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. IT LOOKS, AND IT IS BETTER, TO USE A COMMUNAL SPACE CONNECTED TO A NEIGHBOURHOOD.” - EVERY VOICE SMALL WORKS MEMBER, 2015

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PRISE, SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES

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2. SMALL WORKS COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY IMPACT The Small Works model provides a smart and low-cost way of delivering a wide range of services and activities to communities:

Some examples of community services and activities delivered through Small Works include:

+ as part of their membership our social enterprises deliver their services directly to local residents as a “give-back” + local organisations and volunteers organise activities from Small Works spaces and get support from our staff + Small Works community managers organise activities to connect local residents to our members and celebrate the community

Health & Well-Being

SMALL WORKS QUICK FACTS: + 35 DESK SPACES

+ Regular Health Trainer sessions + Mindfulness Therapy + Well Being, Resilience and Emotional Intelligence workshops

Social Isolation vs. Community Cohesion

+ Project Soup micro crowdfunding events + Open community days + Networx computer classes for elderly people + Apple juicing on the estate “SMALL WORKS HELPED ME TO REACH THE RIGHT SERVICES AND MADE ME FEEL BEING PART OF SOMETHING TOGETHER.”

+ 29 ORGANISATIONS SUPPORTED

-MYRA, VAUXHALL BRIDGE ESTATE RESIDENT

+ 300+ RESIDENTS REACHED

Personal Development Support

+ 30 VOLUNTEERS

+ Weekend schools for young children with classes in maths, English and Arabic + Language exchange groups for women with a BME backgroud + 121 mentoring sessions for start-ups + Volunteer opportunities with our members

+ 1300+ HOURS OF SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES DELIVERED + £1100 OF LOCAL FUNDRAISING 10

MEMBERS SUPPORT “WE LOVE BEING LOCATED WITH OTHER SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, WHO SHARE SIMILAR GOALS AND CHALLENGES TO US, AND HAVING AFFORDABLE OFFICE SPACE REALLY HELPS US AS A SMALL ORGANISATION.“

Small Works furnishes 35 desks across our two spaces at prices significantly below the market rate - yet we deliver services to our members similar to any commercial coworking space. Our members include local, national and internationally operating social enterprises and charities such as Sunday Assembly, Project Dirt, The Orchard Project, Acknowledging Youth, Peer Power and Clay Media.

- PROJECT DIRT, SMALL WORKS MEMBER

Having access to affordable desk space means our members can spend more of their resources on business essentials like professional staff and web presence - allowing faster growth in their businesses. In addition, Small Works staff facilitates collaboration between members and offers opportunities for them to connect with potential clients.

During the period of this report; + 45% of members have hired more staff + 67% have gained more clients + 45% have increased their turnover + 78% have profited from networking opportunities

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2. SMALL WORKS STORIES PROJECT SOUP 3 WINNER

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DANNY BAKER has a number of tattoos but it’s the tally marks tattooed on his right forearm, representing his winners, that he flashes with the proudest smile, “I’ve had six winners so far.”

He’s talking about his students who have won at Disco Kid - the country’s biggest and brightest dance competition for children.

Danny has been bringing his dancers to compete for the last few years but unsurprisingly working toward the year’s biggest competition isn’t easy. “To be seen and considered you have to be travelling to as many competitions as you can – picking up regional titles in order to build up to the big one at the end of the year.”

Danny runs The Academy London for nearly 40 children in the hall at the Hugh Cubitt Centre. He often finds his most promising students are the ones struggling the most to meet travel costs. He relies a lot on the generosity of families in the community but knows without fundraising many of his most talented students would miss these key competitions - and it’s these competitions that provide the important opportunities.

“They do in a couple days what others may not do in a month. They see places that others may not ever see in their life. If it wasn’t for dance some might never fly in their life.”

More than just opening their eyes to the world Danny is helping his kids gain something practical. Three of his students so far have received full scholarships; and that is the significance of competing.

The £370 Danny won at Project Soup paid for the mini-bus to a three day intensive dance camp in Scotland open to his students of all standards. It is contributions like those from Project Soup that help keep The Academy London moving.

“IF IT WASN’T FOR DANCE SOME MIGHT NEVER FLY IN THEIR LIFE.”

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VOLUNTEER & SPACE USER “Now that I’ve taken over I try to make Friday afternoon a place where people can be creative.”

Sarah has seen the group grow and adapt under her encouragement, “as well as drawing and painting people have started bringing along crafts. Doll making is an example in recent months.”

SARAH KILGOUR-GIBSON: If you drop into Small Works Victoria odds are your first greeting will be a smile and “Hello” from Sarah. She is a regular in the space averaging three days a week, “it’s about having a flexible space that’s in my local community. I live 10 minutes from Small Works. When I’m working on various projects it can be useful to take that work out of home and look at it in another space.”

When Sarah first arrived at Small Works Victoria it was to attend a weekly art group she saw advertised on a flyer in her building. Interested in the prospect of working amongst other creatives she began attending regularly; more than a year later she now facilitates that art group.

To Sarah Small Works Victoria is a homey space that is welcoming and flexible. In addition to the art group she has been helping fellow Small Works member Danny Barnes, CEO of Acknowledging Youths, with proof reading documents and writing several bid applications.

To Sarah Small Works is a place where people can have encouraging conversations about their projects and collaborate on ideas without worrying about being disruptive to other users.

Her latest project sees her meticulously scaling up a map of the area around Small Works Victoria for an upcoming Open Day. Her project, like Small Works itself, is an opportunity “to understand the different types of people within the local area.”

“WHEN I’M WORKING ON VARIOUS PROJECTS IT CAN BE USEFUL TO TAKE THAT WORK OUT OF HOME AND LOOK AT IT IN ANOTHER SPACE.” 13

3. BEDFORDS PARK WALLED GARDEN In collaboration with our project partners Havering Council and the Friends of Bedfords Park, we have carried out a huge amount of work since we broke ground in 2012.

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We have raised almost £1 million in project funding, carried out major reconstruction work, built partnerships with dozens of local organisations and launched a range of programmes to address health and well-being issues in the community.

WHO BENEFITS FROM THE GARDEN: + VOLUNTEERS: Diverse group ranging from ages 13-85 + LONG TERM UNEMPLOYED: People on long-term unemployment have done work placement + CHILDREN: Ranging in age from 7-11 years old participating in Grow>Cook>Eat programme 14

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3. WALLED GARDEN COMMUNITY

BUILDING COMMUNITY The Bedfords Park Walled Garden brings together a variety of people who participate in our beneficiary programmes.

Working together on various gardening and DIY tasks ensures interaction between people of different generations and backgrounds our youngest volunteer is 12 and our oldest volunteer is 88.

In addition to the vegetables our garden volunteers grow their network of friends and acquaintances. Some have told us how their work in the garden has increased their interpersonal skills - so much so they now feel closer to other people in the community.

“I’VE MET QUITE A VARIED AMOUNT OF NEW PEOPLE, ALL WITH DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, AND MOST OF THEM YOUNGER THAN ME. SOME OF THEM HAVE BECOME FRIENDS, WHICH IS VERY NICE!” - CAROL, A GARDEN VOLUNTEER

A HEALTHIER COMMUNITY Our Grow>Cook>Eat holiday programme aims at preventing obesity among children aged 8-12 by increasing knowledge and skills.

Children learn to prepare healthy meals for themselves and their families. During 5 days in the garden children can grow, cook and understand the importance of the food they eat.

At the end of the 2015 programme all participating children were better able to articulate why healthy eating is important - with parents confirming their increased knowledge.

GARDEN QUICK FACTS: + 3000m2 OF GROWING SPACE

Being in an environment where food grows around them, and helping to grow it themselves, means children overcome barriers to trying new foods. Every participant in the programme ate vegetables they had never encountered before. Moreover, half of the children reported eating more vegetables at home - illustrating that Grow>Cook>Eat is capable of changing eating habits within the household.

+ 211 TOTAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS + 3385 VOLUNTEER HOURS + 788kgs OF FREE PRODUCE FOR THE COMMUNITY 16

Through our volunteer scheme adults have opportunity to engage in work activities of various intensity levels. As a result, our volunteers found they feel more healthy, and three quarters of our volunteers said they now feel physically stronger.

“I’M FEELING A LOT MORE CONFIDENT NOW IN JOB SEARCHING. LAST WEEK I HAD A JOB INTERVIEW FOR A GARDENER ROLE. HOPEFULLY I CAN TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL!” - COLIN, LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED

INCREASING CONFIDENCE AND WORK SKILLS During the year more than 100 long term unemployed people have worked with us on a 4-week placement programme through the local job centre.

As a result of the work placements 95% of participants felt more motivated to apply for jobs/pursue further education - and more than half of participants feel increased confidence in their chances of new employment within 3 months. More than half reported an overall increase in their confidence - measured through indicators: confidence in their interpersonal skills, ability to solve problems, and making the right decisions.

The success of the programme is shown in the fact that several of the participants have stayed on in the garden as committed volunteers.

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Copyright CLEAR VILLAGE 2016

3. WALLED GARDEN STORIES

HARRY HEXTER: It was almost 70 years ago when Harry first visited the garden. He was a young boy full of curiosity as he climbed over the ageworn walls of what is now the Bedfords Park Walled Garden.

During Harry’s childhood the garden was a forbidden place - something off limits for the imagination of a young boy. Back then it was used by the local Council as a nursery. When Harry heard that his elusive garden had finally opened up he couldn’t help but come by to have a look.

Harry now volunteers once a week; he’s picked up a few bits and bobs about gardening along the way. Lately walking is difficult for him and he relies on a cane to steady his steps, but he makes sure visiting the garden is always one of his outings during the week.

“Coming here is getting me out at least once a week. I’m really enjoying it as I’m meeting new people, we have a laugh and a cup of tea. That’s what it really is all about!”

“I’M REALLY ENJOYING IT AS I’M MEETING NEW PEOPLE, WE HAVE A LAUGH AND A CUP OF TEA. THAT’S WHAT IT REALLY IS ALL ABOUT!”

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LUKE: When we spoke with Luke he was in the midst of his second week in the garden. Job Centre Plus connected him with a work placement in the Bedfords Park Walled Garden through the agency Seetec.

Luke is grateful to have a placement outdoors; he says the work is absolutely no problem for him. Being in the garden and having a laugh with the other folks is the ideal situation.

He’s gained so much through the garden he’s inspired to pursue a related career, “Gardening makes me happy, I want gardening to be my life!”

Luke’s plan is to continue volunteering at the Bedfords Park Walled Garden until his next job opportunity.

“GARDENING MAKES ME HAPPY, I WANT GARDENING TO BE MY LIFE!”

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4. HUMAN CITIES Human Cities is a pan-European programme to explore how ordinary citizens can reclaim and reinvent their cities into more livable and sustainable places to thrive.

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Human Cities is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and runs from 2014 to 2018. With our 12 partner organisations a host of activities will be carried out during the 4-year programme including individualised Urban Experiments testing participatory approaches.

With its focus on participatory placemaking Human Cities has a strong connection with the ‘recoding’ philosophy developed by CLEAR VILLAGE founder Thomas Ermacora.

OUR 2015-2016 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUMAN CITIES: 1. Research into participatory placemaking in London to be included in the 2018 Human Cities publication 2. Co-organisation of the extremely successful 2015 Recode the City Festival exploring the link between technology and placemaking 3. Co-operation with our sister organisation the Machines Room to launch the Maker Mile as an Urban Experiment 20

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4. HUMAN CITIES / THE MAKER MILE

The Maker Mile was launched during the 2015 Recode the City Festival curated

by CLEAR VILLAGE founder Thomas Ermacora.

The Maker Mile is our Urban Experiment for the Human Cities programme.

Located in London’s East End, between Bethnal Green and London Field stations, the Maker Mile is one square mile of maker activity. It comprises open workshops, artist and design studios, fabricators, galleries, shops and businesses.

The launch event offered a trail of workshops, open studios and activities and managed to attract around 800 visitors.

An online directory has been set up (http://makermile.cc/), regular network meetings are organised and a project co-ordinator from our sister organisation the Machines Room drives the initiative forward.

THE MAKER MILE HAS GROWN INTO A DYNAMIC NETWORK OF ALMOST 50 ORGANISATIONS.

THE GOAL OF THE MAKER MILE IS INSPIRATION AND SUPPORT - AS SOMETHING THAT IS A CORNERSTONE IN THE MAKER MOVEMENT THAT IS GROWING IN HACKNEY. ENCOURAGING PRIDE, RESILIENCE AND COLLABORATION AMONGST RESIDENTS AND MAKERS.

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The Maker Mile is a tremendous opportunity to strengthen local networks and build awareness of maker activity in the area.

For CLEAR VILLAGE it has been an invaluable opportunity of collaboration with the Machines Room strengthening our joint focus on the potential for technology for social good.

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5. EXPERIMENTS We believe that experimenting is not only fun but essential to developing innovative ways for addressing local concerns. If successful the goal of our Experiments is to thrive locally and to replicate elsewhere.

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PROJECT SOUP Inspired by the internationally recognised Detroit Soup, Project Soup has grown into its own success story raising more than £600 for projects in Islington. In the two Project Soup events hosted so far we have brought together 100 community members, 8 local project leaders and 50 litres of soup.

The idea is simple: Four local projects have four minutes to pitch their idea to the audience. For £5 each audience member gets a bowl of soup and one vote. The project with the most votes at the end of the evening wins the funds raised.

THROUGH THE POWER OF OUR SOUP EVENT WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO RAISING £1000s FOR PROJECTS DIRECTLY IMPACTING THE KINGS CROSS AREA. Through partnership with Small Works, member Project Dirt and the Barnsbury Community Group, our experiment in microfunding has not only successfully funded important projects directly, but has helped network other participants in ways of which we are still seeing the effects.

COMMUNITY BENCH PROJECT In August 2015 we demonstrated what a Small Works location means to an area: real community engagement.

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The Small Works Kings Cross team, Small Works members and the residents of Priory Green Estate worked together in an act of “space intervention.” Experienced facilitators held a series of up-cycling workshops to teach woodworking, designing and painting.

FOR FIVE DAYS RESIDENTS DESIGNED AND BUILT BENCHES THAT WOULD THEN BE PLACED AT KEY POINTS AROUND KINGS CROSS - ADDING A LASTING ARCHITECTURAL MARK ON THEIR COMMUNITY. Together everyone sanded, designed and painted the benches. And now eight community-created benches have been donated to areas in and around Priory Green Estate.

THE GOOD BIKE Cargo Bike Life, an organisation working toward free and independent movement in London, asked us to engage the residents of Somers Town with the Good Bike to find imaginative ways to use a cargo bike.

Together with collaborative design group Eclective we transformed the bike into a pingpong table, a crepe kitchen and used it as a pop-up taxi service.

To celebrate the creativity of the residents we then staged an exhibition of all the ideas at the Somers Town Community Association and had a feast of crepes made directly on the Good Bike.

WITH THESE BRIGHT IDEAS THE GOOD BIKE WILL BE A COMMON SIGHT ON THE STREETS OF SOMERS TOWN.

PROJECT SOUP

COMMUNITY BENCH PROJECT

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CONTACT CLEAR VILLAGE

Charitable Trust, Registered Charity #1142779 Admin Office Block A Vauxhall Peabody Estate, Vauxhaul Bridge Road SW1 V1TA London UK Thomas Ermacora Creative & Strategic Director, Founder thomas@clear-village.org

Frank van Hasselt CEO frank@clear-village.org Dan Daley Project Manager dan@clear-village.org Robin Houterman Project Impact Manager robin@clear-village.org Sarah Mann Communications Manager sarah@clear-village.org Mohan Rajaratnam Finance Manager mohan@clear-village.org Small Works Stephanie Blundell Community Manager Kings Cross Juliet McNelly Community Manager Victoria

stephanie@clear-village.org juliet@clear-village.org

Bedfords Garden Kirsty McArdle Project Manager kirsty@clear-village.org Paul King Garden Coordinator paul.king@clear-village.org

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