CLEAR VILLAGE SMALL WORKS IMPACT REPORT 2015-2016
CLEAR VILLAGE SMALL WORKS IMPACT REPORT 2015-2016 This report summarises the achievements and stories of SMALL WORKS.
Authored by
October 2016
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CLEAR VILLAGE Clear Village aims to strengthen the resiliency of communities by bringing innovative ideas to underused spaces. Our goal is to transform these spaces into new community commons; places that bring people together, create local resilience and enhance community well-being. Our partners include social landlords, local councils and resident groups coming together around participatory urban design. We deliver both desktop and onsite research for every project with our Well-Being Analysis. This research, in conjunction with community engagement, leads to scalable projects that we see through from conception to implementation. Some of our projects to date include the restoration of the Bedfords Park Walled Garden, two Small Works social enterprise hubs and our role in the pan-European research and action project called Human Cities 3: Challenging the City Scale. At Clear Village we build our projects bearing in mind not only the wider societal challenges—social isolation, poor mental health, lack of community cohesion and personal development opportunities—but also the distinct needs of each community with whom we work. This is our approach for resilient urban growth.
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SMALL WORKS: SUPPORTING SOCIAL ENTERPRIS 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 manage 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 austerity 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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RISE, SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES
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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.” -MYRA, VAUXHALL BRIDGE ESTATE RESIDENT
+ 29 ORGANISATIONS SUPPORTED + 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 background + 121 mentoring sessions for start-ups + Volunteer opportunities with our members
+ 1300+ HOURS OF SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES DELIVERED + £1100 OF LOCAL FUNDRAISING 6
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.“ - PROJECT DIRT, SMALL WORKS MEMBER
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. Having access to affordable desk space means our members can spend more of their resources on business essentials like professional staff and web presence. This allows 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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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 traveling 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.” 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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.” 9
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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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