Festival of Communities Review 2017

Festival of Communities Living and Learning Together in Tower Hamlets Saturday 20th – Sunday 21st May 2017

www.qmul.ac.uk/festival #QMULFestival 

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 1

/QMULFestival

2

30/11/2017 14:47

f o l a Festiv s e i t i n u m m Co 2017 y a M 1 2 y a d n u S Saturday 20 –

The annual Festival of Communities brings local communities together to explore living and learning in Tower Hamlets.

Th e Fe s tiv b r i ng s a a l o f C ommu n i t ie ll a n d c om di f f e re n t c u l t u s re s mu n i t ie st i t ge ts e ve r yo ne o ge t h e r… i n te r ac w i t h lo c t in al re s e a rc o pp o rt u n i t ie s g ht and b o ro ugh a k i n g p l ac e i n our - a u n iq ue e ve n t.

Festival attendee

It is a collaboration between Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and over 40 local partner organisations, aiming to build connections between QMUL staff and students, QMUL’s research and teaching, and communitybased organisations, residents and opportunities.

The Festival weekend launches in Stepney Green Park and culminates on the QMUL campus in Mile End, giving residents the opportunity to explore local and QMUL spaces in a unique way.

The activities at the Festival of Communities are designed for local families to learn something new or try something different, and to provide an opportunity to meet and interact with people they haven’t met before. These varied activities range from hands-on experiments, sharing stories and views, watching demonstrations and performances and trying out fun new things.

The activities showcase the best of health, medical, science, engineering, humanities and social science projects and research from QMUL and local organisations and services, curated by our Festival Planning Group made up of ten local organisations.

2

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 2

30/11/2017 14:47

es s …

s t h g i l h g i H 2017

QMUL projects featured, with staff and students running activities to engage local residents with teaching, research and support opportunities spanning QMUL’s three faculties (Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Engineering and Medicine and Dentistry) and professional services.

local residents got involved in the Festival weekend.

Tower Hamlets based organisations, initiatives and services featured during the Festival weekend, who made new connections with local residents and raised the profile of their projects and opportunities.

metres of bunting was used over the Festival weekend.

QMUL student volunteers ensured the Festival ran as smoothly as possible on both days, supporting visitors, QMUL academics and community organisation staff and providing answers to hundreds of questions!

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 3

Community Organisations supported the Festival of Communities as part of the Festival Planning Group.

Shaping what the Festival should look like, shaping the content on both days, and creating a communications plan – all vital to ensuring the Festival was a great success.

QMUL PhD students acted as our Festival evaluation team, making sure we were collecting the information we needed to assess if the Festival had been a success and to help us plan next year’s event.

3

30/11/2017 14:47

d e n e p p a h t a h W th May 0 2 y a d r u t a S n Park e e r G y e n p e t S

2000+ local visitors

49 Stalls and activities including 16 QMUL projects and 21 local community organisations and services.

Stepney Green Park is situated in the heart of Tower Hamlets, and as such is an ideal place to hold the first day of the Festival of Communities. It is surrounded by residences and familiar to many people living locally. This was an opportunity for QMUL staff and students to engage people with their research and teaching in a setting which is different from what they may be used to.

How did people get involved?

From stall based hands-on activities and listening exercises, to watching performances, making and creating things and getting active with various sports, there were many ways for local residents of all ages and interests to get involved. We were happy to see that many of our visitors stayed with us all afternoon, trying everything on offer and taking part in several activities.

• Tasting the history of tea

• Listening to musical performances from groups across Tower Hamlets • Trying out a range of food from local based market traders • Experiencing science through hands-on activities, demonstrations and games with QMUL researchers • Having fun on the bouncy castle and fairground activities • Learning about turtle conservation across the world • Making DNA sequences out of Lego • Trying traditional fairground games • Handling replica dinosaur bones and fossils • Finding out how to get involved in local projects, campaigns and initiatives through community organisations running stalls • Exploring the history of our emotions • Experimenting with Henna, temporary tattoos and having their faces painted • Getting active with various sports clubs and projects • Meeting new friends and eating cake • Sharing their views and stories • Visiting our Makers Market – QMUL Student Enterprise and Prince’s Trust local community start-ups

4

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 4

30/11/2017 14:47

e w h at ’s e s o d t y a uni t y an m A n ic e w m o c e g in th t o ge t h e r y t i h a pp e n i n n u m t h e c om Festival Attendee br i ngi ng

s s f am i l ie e g a r u o c En am i l y o u t as a f

to go

Festival Attendee

5

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 5

30/11/2017 14:47

6

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 6

30/11/2017 14:47

Live Art by Jenny Leonard - www.jennyleonardart.com

7

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 7

30/11/2017 14:48

? d e n e p p a h t Wha May t s 1 2 y a d n u S mpus a C d n E e l i M QMUL

1500+ local visitors

40 Stalls and activities including 24 QMUL projects and 9 local community organisations and services.

The second day of the Festival weekend is held on QMUL’s Mile End campus, situated on a busy main road in the middle of Tower Hamlets.

We hold the second day in QMUL spaces to encourage local residents onto the campus and to provide visitors with a chance to explore the space in a different way to what they may be used to.

The collaborative ethos of the Festival allows this event to happen in a space often perceived by local residents to be only for QMUL students and staff, helping QMUL to share the work, teaching and research which happens across all four of QMUL’s campuses with festival attendees.

t his o n g in v a h ble e l y v a lua - i t remo ve s an m e r t x e ’s It p us s i t y c am r e v i n u e th b a r r ie r in v is ible Festival Attendee

8

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 8

30/11/2017 14:48

How did people get involved?

• Listening to a musical performance of Peter and the Wolf • Experiencing science through hands-on activities, demonstrations and games with QMUL researchers • Watching a series of films exploring child migrant stories

• Climbing to the top of our climbing wall • Exploring collaborative music making through virtual reality • Finding out how to get involved in local projects, campaigns and initiatives through community organisations running stalls • Making balloon animals

• Exploring QMUL’s archives

• Testing out e-textiles

• Interacting with a model CT scanner

• Tasting different foods and toothpastes linking to QMUL research

• Taking part in the ‘Maths and Computing Magic’ and the ‘Genes and Evolution’ shows • Discovering the QMUL Mile End campus in a different way

• Decorating toothbrushes • Building a Lego universe

• Contributing jokes as part of a research project

• Voting for their favourite image exploring Life Sciences research

• Playing mini-golf

• Trying out an interactive selfie mirror

• Talking to people of different faiths over breakfast

9

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 9

30/11/2017 14:48

e h t s i Why n u m m o C

f o l a v i t s Fe Over 3500 local residents took part in the Festival of Communities over the weekend. Our audience was mostly families with children under the age of 10, who live local to QMUL campuses – Mile End, Stepney Green, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Shadwell and Bow. Feedback from the event shows that people mainly came along to enjoy themselves and for their children to have fun, hearing about the Festival through their friends and family and/or seeing the Festival advertised in local businesses and organisations.

For Queen Mary University of London The Festival of Communities is an opportunity for QMUL to connect with the local community. It is an opportunity for QMUL staff and students and local residents to learn from each other, helping QMUL to shape its research and teaching. It provides an opportunity for QMUL to build relationships with potential future collaborators, increasing connections between staff, students, local community organisations, and local residents.

This is a strategic priority for the university, building on QMUL’s history of being a university of and for the local community.

With these institutional priorities in mind the Festival of Communities was created to achieve the following aims: • To increase connections and build networks between QMUL staff, students and local communities • To improve the feeling of connectedness between QMUL staff, students and local residents • To improve community cohesion amongst communities in Tower Hamlets • To increase awareness and knowledge of QMUL amongst local residents • To increase social capital among local residents through QMUL research • To increase the skills of QMUL staff and students in public engagement • To increase the awareness and benefits of public engagement across QMUL 10

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 10

30/11/2017 14:48

? t n a t r o p m i s e i t i n u y p ort un i t p o l a v i t h Th e Fe s r re s e a rc t. u o , s u s e mak e re le v a n r o m L U and QM QMUL researcher

For Community Organisations The Festival of Communities provides an opportunity for local organisations, initiatives and services across Tower Hamlets to come together to showcase the ways local residents can become more involved and active in their communities.

This is achieved through the Festival by organisations: • Holding listening exercises to gather views and opinion from residents to shape future work • Organising information stalls for residents to pick up literature and to talk to staff and volunteers about their organisation and opportunities they provide • Showcasing their services in interactive ways such as musical performances, demonstrations and hands‑on activities

For Local Residents The Festival of Communities provides an opportunity for residents to meet each other and interact with new people, organisations and ideas in familiar and new environments.

All people surveyed over the weekend thought the Festival was really valuable, with many identifying that the Festival is a unique borough‑wide event for everybody, bringing communities together, making new friends and connecting with QMUL and local organisations when they wouldn’t have otherwise.

For QMUL Staff and Students The third piece of artwork created from the Festival (see page 7) showcases the thoughts and experiences of QMUL staff and students who designed activities and engaged with local residents over the Festival weekend. This piece explores benefits of, and motivations for, engaging with local communities and explores the variety of ways this engagement has enhanced and developed their skills, experiences, and opportunities for the future.

Many families tried something different or learnt something new through the various activities on offer. Some of these comments have been included in the first and second pieces of artwork created during the festival (See pages 6 and 7).

11

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 11

30/11/2017 14:48

Thank you to our Festival Planning Group: Do Little London Citizens Mile End Community Project Roman Road Trust Salvation Army

Social Action for Health Spotlight Stifford Centre Tower Hamlets Council Tower Hamlets Mums

www.qmul.ac.uk/festival #QMULFestival 

/QMULFestival

2

QM17-0015 - Festival of Communities Review Document Update v2.indd 12

30/11/2017 14:48