Throughout February, The Mill has been working with local residents just down the road in Lea Bridge.
The community space in Lea Bridge Library is a brilliant resource, but has been underused for too long. So we are going to help bring this space back into use for more local people and groups, to complement continued services at the library.
The Mill won the chance to do this work through a contract with Residents First and the London Borough of Waltham Forest, which is hoping to bring the community space back into use for longer hours and for all local people.
As with The Mill, this will be achieved through local people focusing on the potential of their area and drawing on their skills and talents to choose what they would like to make happen. Our role is to help make this sustainable into the future, through supporting ideas, activities and groups.
In August and September we will evaluate and report to both the council and the community on how this community and other communities can make better use of public buildings.
During the next few weeks, Ingrid and Alison will be at Lea Bridge Library, speaking to local people, conducting interviews and workshops, and mapping how local people see their area, and the ideas they have for developing it.
We are hoping lots of people will get involved and are grateful for all the interest and enthusiasm we have seen. The people of Lea Bridge – like the people of St James Street – are clearly ready to make things happen. We hope we can help.
And from March onwards, we hope that the community’s ideas will develop and kick-start activities to bring the community space back into use.
This is being conducted as part of a new project at The Mill – to offer consultancy support locally, and generate income for The Mill in the process. We are grateful to Residents First for investing in this.