On Saturday 28th November our Communities Driving Change team held their first ever Online Community Voting Day.
50 people joined an online community meeting to support, and vote for, ten projects designed to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in and around Old Ford Road East, in Tower Hamlets.
Community Voting Days provide people with the opportunity to pitch their community project ideas to prospective beneficiaries in order to receive up to £500 funding to get their idea off the ground. The quality of the presentations and the projects was impressive, particularly given the additional demands of presenting online. Happily, all projects were able to receive the full amount of funding requested!
Mina Chowdhury, CDC Coordinator for the Old Ford Road said,
“It was heart warming and totally inspiring to see people presenting their projects. Their individual journeys have been amazing. For some, the sense of belonging in their community comes mostly from the groups that we have supported people to form. It has been a privilege to witness new connections forge for the benefit of the whole community. Now we have an exciting range of 10 projects due to launch in 2021 and it was sheer joy seeing everyone’s responses to the results.”
Participants remarked on the generosity and talent that the people pitching demonstrated and went away feeling hopeful because of the abundant creativity and generosity in our community.
Watch our short video summary of the event:
The projects that received funding include:
- Litspeel – Creative Writing for mental health (online)
- International Cooking – Learn to cook international dishes with your family (online)
- Spaces of Hope – Community art project with Chisenhale Art Gallery
- Death Cafe – Space for people to discuss death and dying at St Paul’s Church
- Cooking with Kids – Learn to cook healthy meals with your children (online)
- Roman Road Neighbourhood Plan Engagement – Supporting people to learn and input into plans for the Roman Road
- Goalgetters – Football sessions for home-educated children in Victoria Park
- Cycling Fun for Women – Improve your confidence and have fun cycling together
- You Can Draw Chinese – Lear Chinese calligraphy (online)
- Inspired with Coffee – Local women connect to improve health and wellbeing
A massive thanks to all involved, particularly all of the presenters, Mina and her brilliant team of volunteers and Gayle Wallace, who supported the team with training and facilitation.
