BREAKING GROUND I M PA C T R E P O R T DEC 2023
Contents About Breaking Ground
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We’ve been breaking ground...
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Impact
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Stories from our projects
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What’s next?
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Thank you to our partners
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About Breaking Ground Breaking Ground was a twelve-month programme of support for environmental and social change in London neighbourhoods, designed and led by the people who live there. Hubbub made grants to local groups who wanted to see greener, safer spaces for everyone to enjoy in areas that were more likely to be feeling the effect of climate change, but have been typically underserved by and excluded from environmental programmes. To ensure the projects that emerged were community-led, we nurtured local leadership, planned in legacy from the start and made sure the majority of risk sat with Hubbub. The first four projects took place in Templar House Estate in Camden, Radcliffe Way in Ealing, Glyndon Estate in Greenwich, and Harbeson Road in Newham, with support from the Mayor of London, City Bridge Foundation, borough councils, and the GLA. At the end of the year, we spoke to residents to understand the impact they felt and observed as a result of the projects. After all, who better to describe positive change than those who directly experience it? We then thematically analysed their stories to understand which changes were most significant. This is what we found: 3
Breaking Ground has “empowered people to have a voice in this community. Not just a voice about the green project and the climate agenda, but a voice about everything.” Rita Nganwa, Park Village Oasis
We’ve been breaking ground...
In Newham, a team of local residents identified and redeveloped an unused site that they named Park Village Oasis. Neighbours worked to get permission from the council to use the site after it had been locked and out-of-bounds for years. They developed a space where the community grew vegetables, formed new resource-sharing networks (that included collecting plants, pallets and other items for use in the Oasis site, as well as clothes, furniture and food sharing, and even regular fundraising using donated raffle items) and created an inclusive hub for the community to come together for events and activities. The positive impact that the project created extended beyond the physical space, instilling feelings of pride and ownership in residents, and creating a sense of belonging.
In Greenwich, residents created a new community hub that set up a community fridge to share food, organised walk-and-talk litter picks, and have started plans to redevelop a community garden. The resident’s stories described the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic factors in achieving positive change. This created feelings of inclusivity, the ability to meet the immediate needs of the community, and created a sense of belonging and support across the estate.
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We’ve been breaking ground...
In Camden, the project focused on creating a sharing space for the community to reuse, repair and share, created new ways to signpost and label waste and recycling on the estate, and planted trees and shrubs to tackle pollution from the nearby busy road. The stories of change described how addressing social, environmental, and cultural aspects of community development through an environmental project led to increased wellbeing and a greater sense of pride and ownership among residents.
In Ealing, the community came together to reclaim green space, grow food, and run cooking workshops. They found ways to improve and take care of the outdoor spaces on the estate, and foster wildlife and greenery to make the area more enjoyable for everyone. The project organised events for the community to come together and share food and music, and by working hard to engage all the residents on the estate, reduced isolation and created community bonds that residents felt hadn’t existed before.
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Impact 50 events with 2,512 attendees
4,456 people engaged through newsletters, WhatsApp groups, focus groups, conversations and more
We undertook in depth, free form interviews with twelve people involved in the four projects and asked them to tell us their story of what changed for them and their community, how that change happened and why it was important. We then coded key words describing the benefits, identified and grouped them to build a picture of local change brought about by Breaking Ground. Four key themes emerged:
34.5% Community Cohesion
25% Empowered
Over a third of the interviews’ focus was on greater community cohesion as a result of the projects. This included descriptions of more people getting involved and coming together, increased trust and social connections, better cultural awareness, and increased sense of pride in the local area and the people that live there.
24.5% Wellbeing and other benefits
A quarter of everything we were told about described a community becoming more empowered because of the project. This included feeling listened to, autonomy when designing the project and local ownership.
16% Environmental stewardship and long-term vision
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About a quarter of the conversation contents described benefits that could sit under a broad wellbeing heading. They identified seeing an increase in learning and education, better facilities for the community, a sense of positivity and personal growth. People also spoke a significant amount about an increase in long term vision for their community and increased environmental stewardship e.g. sharing resources and protecting green space.
Stories from our projects
There is no word to describe the love and togetherness of the people at the Oasis. It’s brought a lot of people together. People who live next door to me I probably didn’t know, people who I’ve been on the same road for, I don’t know, 18 years!
Air pollution, litter picking, and mental health were the top three priorities we wanted to tackle, but before you can do anything, if people haven’t eaten and are hungry, it makes doing anything pretty difficult. So, we focused on access to food first, through sharing in a way that is accessible and dignified, then when people had their stomachs full they had the capacity to come to the community centre and grow something, and maybe help feed their neighbours too.
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Stories from our projects I’ve seen great things being created from having the space to use. There was a street party, and it was great to meet people and socialise, but also there was a talk about Black History which involved difficult and emotional conversations. Because the safety and inclusion of the space had brought people together across backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities, we all had opportunity to learn from each other.
It’s so overwhelming to see the impact on families that were so interested in being healthy, but just didn’t know how or felt that it was unaffordable. Even I learned new ways to cook. At one event, a local chef showed us which of the vegetables we’d grown would go with what fish, and how to cook it, and you know, it’s helping me feed my family a lot better.
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Stories from our projects The Breaking Ground project has been exactly that, breaking ground. It’s supported us as residents to open doors. It’s been a roller coaster sometimes, but the benefits have really outweighed the battles to get the space and to get the council to understand what needs to happen in such a deprived area where people have nothing to do or nowhere to go to.
People used to say they were ashamed to come from this area, now they can say that it’s a clean and green area. It’s got vibrant energy. It’s got a lot of beautiful wildlife and beautiful green spaces that are taken care of. And there’s a space where people come together to eat that’s filled with music and enjoyment.
I have changed in terms of recycling more, and reusing things. For instance, house paint that I no longer have use for, or even clothes and furniture, either the project makes use of it or somebody in the community can, and the project gives us a way of sharing that we didn’t have before. 9
What’s next? This year, we’ll be inspiring more social and environmental change in Tower Hamlets with the support of the The National Lottery Community Fund’s Climate Action Fund, and we hope to take our approach to more communities in the future with the help of our partners. We have more info on our webpage, including how to contact us if you’d like to be a Breaking Ground partner, and an audio-guide to taking communityled climate action with top-tips directly from people involved in Breaking Ground projects. Or you can email us on hello@hubbub.org.uk to find out more.
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Thank you to our partners Throughout this report, we have shared stories and testimonials from those who have experienced the positive impact of Breaking Ground first-hand. These testimonials serve as a reminder of the power of community, and the importance of the work we do together. Thanks to our partnership with the Mayor of London and City Bridge Foundation, Breaking Ground has supported residents to tackle social and environmental needs, connect with each other, and learn new skills. Lastly, we offer our sincere thanks to the mentors, local authority teams, dedicated residents and project leads across the four locations who made all this possible.
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