Community Grant Programme

A youth arts organisation based in Tower Hamlets providing free creative projects in Art and Design, Fashion and Textiles for young people 11-19 years old, to 25 for graduates and SEND. With the overarching theme is “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, A Team Arts Education’s Summer Art and Design Academy will offer four courses, using the River Thames to explore its historical role in Tower Hamlets and global significance. Collaborations include schools, youth projects, the Kings Foundation, Museum of London Docklands, Whitechapel Art Gallery, and Totally Thames Festival 2025.

Society Links will offer weekly study support and sessions for young people in Years 9, 10 and 11 (ages 14-16). This would include supporting them with their homework tasks, intervention with core subjects e.g. Math, Science and English and revision techniques. Additionally, they will provide employment assistance for individuals aged 16 and above including job searching, interview practice and techniques, CV creation and opportunities to enhance existing skills/develop new skills tailored to the job being sought.

The Tower Hamlets Book Award engages students from approximately 55 primary and secondary schools in the Borough. Children take part in school-based reading clubs, exploring a shortlist of six carefully selected, diverse, and inclusive books for 10–13-year-olds, and vote for their favourite, which wins the award at a term-end event. Our grant will do help towards providing free copies of the shortlisted books, along with posters, bookmarks, activity booklets, and art competition materials, to each participating school. Books will be diverse and inclusive and carefully selected to appeal to the target audience and to be reflective of the cultural and social backgrounds present in the Tower Hamlets community. The resources help teachers establish reading clubs with activities including a competition inviting artistic responses to one of the books. Around 1,500 plus children are expected to participate in 2025. The programme concludes with a Grand Finale in November, where 25–30 schools present creative responses to their favourite book, meet authors, and witness the award announcement.

Our funding will assist the charity with their tailored financial literacy and employability workshops for SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) and SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) pupils in Tower Hamlets. The programme will work with Bowden House Primary School, delivering four enterprise-focused sessions for Key Stage 2 pupils (ages 7–11) to teach budgeting, profit and loss, teamwork, and presentation skills through product design and sales. At Ian Mikardo Special School, Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils (ages 14–16) will receive two employability workshops focused on communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills, including a visit to a corporate office. The grant will cover staff costs, workshop materials, and pupil prizes. The project begins in June 2025 and concludes by May 2026.

Real’s 12-month project will take learning from their current work with young Disabled people looking to build their confidence in applying for jobs. It will support Disabled young people aged 18-25 to learn about reasonable adjustments at work, self-advocacy, CV writing, interview skills and improving employment prospects. Through a co-production approach, Disabled participants will be central to designing and refining workshop themes and Real will be guided by them to ensure the content is relevant and what they need. All workshops will be fully accessible. The project will run for one year with the initial month being focused on promotion and seeking participants followed by the delivery of monthly workshops and skills building sessions. The sessions will be delivered by people with lived experience of Disability, with the aim of increasing Disabled people’s confidence in applying for jobs and advocating for their access needs at application stage. Real aim to reach a minimum of 15 people per workshop and will build on their existing connections with local youth groups, schools, colleges and universities to engage people.

The Work it Hub project will provide 1-2-1 information, advice and guidance (IAG) and mentoring support to 25 YP (14-25 year olds) living in Tower Hamlets who are NEET, at risk of dropping out of school and going into drugs/crime, need intensive support due to their disabilities and/or lack confidence/motivation/work experience. The six-month project will be delivered by an experienced and qualified Education and Employment Mentor. Working 2 days a week, the mentor will create SMART action plans with young people and work with them in Newark Youth’s office, youth clubs and local neighbourhoods to identify and overcome their challenges/barriers to achieving their career ambition.

Nour’s work with women in Tower Hamlets. This includes counselling and support to those who have experienced abuse. Their model provides wrap-around support and care for adult survivors of child abuse, sexual violence and domestic abuse. The project will:

Provide long-term trauma-informed, culturally attuned 1:1 to build a therapeutic relationship based on trust and safety, work through the impacts of abuse and work towards reconnection to self and others). They will also run 30 workshops at schools and community organisations/groups in Tower Hamlets enabling them to continue to reach clients who may not be able to access support and help in other ways. In terms of their model of services, 80 beneficiaries will be across all the elements of their work.

A grassroots, user-led voluntary organisation based in Bethnal Green. Our funding is for a free women’s wellbeing club for those over 60 years old, running till Feb 2026. The target group is mainly elderly women with long-term health issues, unemployment, and cultural/language barriers. The club will deliver a range of activities: Drop-in Clubs Coffee Morning, Talk therapy, storytelling, themed based workshops i.e. mental health awareness, domestic abuse awareness, rights and entitlements, health awareness, Sewing/Embroidery Class, Exercise/Fitness Class, Healthy Cooking/Eating Lunch Club, Community Gardening Therapy. The programme will be rolled out for 40 weeks over the course of the year, with recruitment primarily through personal contact, outreach work, community networks and referrals from external agencies including GP/NHS. Participants will be encouraged to join based on their needs and interest, with a focus on those facing isolation and physical and mental health issues.

Ability Bow aims to maximise the health and wellbeing of adults living with disabilities or long-term health conditions. Our funding will help them to deliver a specialised exercise programme for autistic adults in a low sensory stimulation environment over one year (June 2025 to May 2026). This means featuring minimal artificial lighting, natural ventilation, low or no music, noise dampening of equipment, limited occupancy, and designated quiet times. This project is a pilot, based on the gym’s experience and feedback from those with autism on what could improve their experience to regularly be physically active. Weekly sessions will provide a choice between one-to-one personal training and small group exercises, tailored to individual needs. There project is a total of 4 hours/week of one-to-one and small group activities, incorporating outreach. Sessions will occur in their gym, guided by a consistent exercise trainer. They will adapt delivery aligned with participant needs and their feedback throughout the project. They will promote the project at community events, forums, and targeted outreach e.g. Tower Hamlets Autistic Service (THAS). They anticipate half of participants will be from  their existing GP referral network, and half from local community groups. In alignment with their commitment to inclusivity, they will gain The National Autistic Society’s ‘Autism Friendly Award’ as part of this project.

Public works is a non-profit design practice with the aim to bring about positive social and environmental change in cities.  R-Urban is an eco-civic hub located on the Teviot Estate in Poplar. In 2017, they started R-Urban Poplar, a community garden and civic hub in Tower Hamlets. The project engages residents of the Teviot estate in workshops about sustainability and wellbeing. The hub has grown into a community space which brings together food growing, workshop for repairs, a classroom for learning about biodiversity and a kitchen for community meals.

Our funding will assist with the Companions programme, which is a series of around 28 free workshops for gardening, food, and environmental learning. This programme aims to address isolation, improve personal wellbeing and support sustainability.

Speech Bubbles is a targeted early intervention programme for children with a Speech, Language and Communication Need and will work with 20 children aged 5-7 to promote communication, wellbeing and emotional literacy.

Funding will enable weekly lunchtime and after school sessions at Oaklands and Central Foundation schools supporting 50 children and young people year 10-13s who are at risk of exclusion due to emotional and behavioral challenges.

Funding will contribute to the groups four-week Summer Art and Design Academy for young people aged 15-18, consisting of a week’s residency at Highgrove Estate for 10 young people and a visual Communication Skills Programme running for 6 days in July/August.

The grant will support continued funding of the GCSE Math’s Club with sessions delivered once a week, 4pm-7pm with a qualified math’s tutor and a youth worker.

Funding will support a weekly, on-site, face-to-face study support and mentoring session running for four hours.

Working with Central Foundation Girls School, Diverse Voices (DV) aims to engage South Asian and Global Majority students in the theatre and careers in the theatre industry, working with girls from BAME communities.

Our grant will be used to enhance educational support for local residents and students by expanding booster sessions to Sundays, supplementing current Saturday provision. Our funding also supported THEB ‘LEAP AHEAD’ Summer program, delivered across local Idea Stores and TH venues.

This grant will enable WeJam to deliver three-week music programme to three schools located across Tower Hamlets, where participants will get the chance to form their own rock bands and rehearse and prepare for a school concert on the final day.

Funding will support a three-month filmmaking project for secondary students at London East Alternative Provision. Students will participate in development sessions, creating a story about a fictional young person in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in Tower Hamlets. Students will choose roles for their short film and receive mentorship in sound recording, lighting, camera operation, script writing, and performance.

Funding will go towards two six-week behavioural change programmes in partnership with anti-knife crime charity The Ben Kinsella Trust at Bishop Challenor Catholic school. Head Held High will work with 20 young people at risk of exclusion or affiliation with knife crime (through two cohorts).

Funding will support Mudchute’s Educational Programming. Activities include environmental workshops on habitats and life cycles, farm tours, and Forest School sessions that teach children to care for the environment. The project will offer inclusive sessions and workshops tailored to the abilities and ages of children and young people.

The grant will support a 40-week programme focused on skill development and employment in a creative industry targeted for 15 local BAME working-class young people aged 18–25 years old.

This project will facilitate a BAME Women’s Employment Support Programme recruiting disenfranchised women living in Tower Hamlets including carers and single parents.

Ocean Estate’s Youth Social Action programme is co-designed and co-produced by local young people, living in the local wards who are NEET aged 13-25 years old.

YOH will engage 2 cohorts of 22 young people aged 14-18, develop aspirations, promoting entrepreneurship, and introducing skills available in and around Canary Wharf. 

The Spear Programme will assist 16-24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (NEET) in developing skills and mindsets for employment success.

Funding will support Island Advice’s volunteer training programme which upskills people in the field of advice work. Trained volunteers secure employment in the advice sector through City & Guilds NVQ qualifications and work placements at nearby community centres. The grant will also contribute to computer packages and support for online learning in this training programme.

Funding is for Purple Moon Drama to deliver two accredited facilitation courses in January and April 2025, for eight young people, prioritising those not in education, employment, or training (NEET), and two drama clubs for primary school-aged children with priority for families on Universal Credit. Trained facilitators will receive paid opportunities and job references.

This project will provide a range of walking and workshops to improve participants mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Our funding will enable this heavily attended seniors centre an extra day a week to provide activities and a hot meal for local senior citizens in Stepney and nearby TH Wards. CWG will also look to support them again with volunteering opportunities for our staff to support with running their programme of activities to their users.

Shadwell Community Project will run 30 sessions for children aged 5-12 years and intergenerational events addressing gardening, nature education, bush craft and cooking, which aligns well with our biodiversity goals.

Our grant will support delivery of the Companions@R-Urban, a programme of workshops and events addressing health and wellbeing through engagement with nature, food and gardening. The programme will be delivered during May to September 2024, reaching 125 residents with a focus on biodiversity and engagement on the Teviot Estate in Poplar.

St. Luke’s will provide school-term-time one-hour baby and toddler music sessions over a period of 12 months once a week (39 hours per year) or twice a week (78 hours per year) for pre-schoolers and their parents.

NOUR will provide counselling and support to women who have experienced abuse including mental health support with trained counsellors.

Our grant will assist with the foundation’s year-long theatre project for the LBTQ community targeting migrant communities. The project will help address and combat isolation faced by vulnerable members of our community.

Funding awarded to support delivery of a series of 8-week mindful nature photo walks over the year, designed to enhance physical and mental well-being, and educate on sustainability and biodiversity. A body of work/photography by participants attending the photography workshops will be showcased in our Newfoundland Community Window.

WEN in partnership with Mohila Ongon Bengali women’s collective will deliver an annual Bengali fruit and veg festival.

Sponsorship of the Mayor’s Cup Football Tournament 2024 taking place in August/September. The tournament will engage both youth and adult teams with approximately 9,000 individuals taking part and over 1,000 spectators at Victoria Park and Mile End pitches.

Funding will support the school, which is for children with autism, in creating a community herb garden with parents in a currently neglected space outside their school building. After the year, they will continue to maintain the project with support from volunteer parents and staff who will take over the running of workshops using the knowledge and skills they have gained through participating.

Funding will go towards digital literacy sessions to older people with long-term health conditions predominantly from BAME communities in Tower Hamlets. The sessions will offer practical help with information technology to participants in self-managing their condition and to access information about their conditions including nutritional information, diet and physical activity. Our grant will enable them to support one cohort of eight people.

Funding will go towards Stonewall Housing’s Charitable Foundation creative wellbeing workshops themed around “What does home mean to you?” in collaboration with Queer Noise (a performance platform for queer artists in London, founded by Canary Wharf residents) and The QPOC Project (Queer People of Colour Project), grassroots LGBTQ+ organisations. The project is proposing one event per month for four months from March through June.

Funding will assist Beyond the Streets Tower Hamlets Door of Hope project to provide holistic and specialist support for women dealing with or at risk of sexual exploitation.

Many of the children on the Will Crooks Estate have not been able to keep up with their education since Covid and many have very little support as parents have insufficient English skills to support their children. Our grant will offer extra-curricular tutoring for two sessions per week, one to young people in years 6 and 7 (the transition between Primary and Secondary), and the second session for young people in years 8, 9 and 10 to assist their studies and help them to reach their potential.

Many of the children on the Will Crooks Estate have not been able to keep up with their education since CovThis grant will support the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service’s Annual Book Awards. Six new books are donated to each school in Tower Hamlets aimed at students aged 10-13 years. The books are read and the students vote for their favourite and an art competition invites artistic responses to one of the books. At a Grand Finale event in November eight schools will present their favourite book to an audience of around 350 children from participating schools. A panel of authors will then judges the presentations and presents prizes. This initiative aims to encourage children to read and share the pleasure of it with others.

The Homework Club will be led by qualified teachers and supported by youth workers. Weekly sessions during term-time will include group sessions to motivate young people to persevere with their schoolwork, provide coaching on key-skills and topics and provide 1-2-1 support to individual children with homework they are struggling to complete. The project is focused on young people in Tower Hamlets who experience high levels of deprivation and hopes to improve the student’s attainment, wellbeing and optimism as well as reduce anxiety for parents who feel unable to support their child.

Union Stage Kids is a 30-week extra-curricular performing arts programme delivered by local artists at Poplar Union, focused on creativity and inclusion. Children, aged 5-12, who do not have access to the arts due to cultural or socio-economic barriers, will have the opportunity to explore diverse aspects of performing arts, with a new topic each week e.g., creating poetry, playwriting, voice and stage presence, directing. The project will culminate in a play created, directed, and performed by the participants at the St Paul’s Way Festival.

Christ Church Primary are preparing a gardening space for the students and parents to use. Our donation will fund workshop sessions for all students to learn about gardening and growing flowers and food. Most of the children live in flats so they will not have had the experience of planting something and watching it grow.

The Learning Advisory Service will support over 30 Primary schools across Tower Hamlets to offer disabled children and those with complex medical conditions sports events. Often these children dont access after school sports or facilities due to barriers to participation. the project brings community sport; sporting opportunities and aspirations to disabled children across the borough.

Diverse Voices is a playwriting programme to empower, predominantly Asian, black & ethnically diverse, students at Central Foundation Girls’ School through delivering a series of playwriting activities.

Nine taster workshops will introduce the basic elements of playwriting (creating characters and writing a dramatic scene) to 270 participants. A group of 20 students will go onto 9 in-depth workshops to write their own play, engage in a Q&A with a local playwright, and have a theatre excursion.The project will culminate in a professional showcase of plays by the young people to an audience at the school.

The Sign Language Project will be delivered across 30 weeks by bringing in a qualified instructor to teach participants sign language. It is open for members of the community aged 14+. Wapping Youth centre will deliver the sessions every Tuesday and participants will work towards the Level 1 UK BSL qualification.

Upon completion members will be paired with 5 deaf people who are seeking befriending. The members will then create a sign language community for deaf people to make friends. Furthermore, throughout the process they will fundraise to create more deaf awareness tutors who can teach this qualification to other peers.

Sport Inspired will be able to be able to set up after-school sports clubs with their local partner schools including Lansbury Lawrence Primary, Manor Field Primary, Arnhem Wharf Primary, Old Ford Primary, Cubitt Town Primary, Halley Primary, Culloden Primary, Our Lady and St Joseph Primary. Sport inspired will fund after-school clubs to facilitate a positive behaviour change in children as they continue to carry out a sport they enjoy.

SocietyLinks aim to prevent NEETs by providing support and early intervention to around 50 15/16 year olds about to take their GCSE Exams. Providing Maths tuition; overcoming individualised barriers and filling in gaps left by Covid closures.The young people will also think about their future and reignite their aspirations from pre-covid times, with support with university applications; finding work and applying for vocational courses.

Tower Hamlets schools are inclusive, which means most children go to their local school, which means children with Down Syndrome may never see another person like themselves. This funding is for World Down Syndrome Day and a celebration of what it means to be a young person with DS. A performance will be designed and delivered by the young people, they will gain confidence and new skills through working with professionals, celebrate their strengths and have fun putting on a show which is filmed and then can be shared to promote inclusion.

This donation will go towards the 2023 Neighbourhood Schools Programme. Specialism in singing and song-writing enables equal participation and requires no previous musical experience from participants. The 2023 programme has a mindfulness theme and will work with approximately 1300 children and young people aged 7-16 across East London and up to 9 Neighbourhood Schools.

FabricWorks, the textile social enterprise training programme, has supported local long-term unemployed migrant BAME women in learning garment production skills since 2015. This 12-month programme will focus on supporting up to 144 migrant Bangladeshi women in Limehouse with three sewing projects, providing 100 supported workdays in the professional production team, free weekly studio drop-ins, 10 specialist workshops for high-skill textile work, and individual microenterprise, ongoing requestable information, advice, and guidance support for complex issues.

Knock The Door Down was set up by seasoned BAME artists, teachers and creative practitioners with a remit to “engage under-represented audiences through education, experiences and stories, inspired by life, told in extraordinary sometimes fantastical situations”. This project will run from September to December and remove the barrier for Tower Hamlets residents of low-socio economic and/or ethnic minority backgrounds to be involved in theatre by providing free access to the family comedy whodunnit show Marriage is Murder playing at The Brady Arts Centre Theatre in November 2023. This project will also provide volunteering and training for 10 students or unemployed residents with professional artists on a stage show that will be seen by 600 live audience members and over 1500 online viewers.

Screen Share UK collects used and faulty laptops from individuals and businesses and uses the power of volunteers to repair and refurbish them to distribute them to refugees and sanctuary seekers free of charge as a permanent gift. They receive numerous requests for tech from Tower Hamlets residents and have tech volunteers in three different Tower Hamlets wards.

The Preparing for Employment Project will help local unemployed and economically inactive people aged 25+ into employment in the catering/hospitality sectors. To help support fifty long term unemployed Bangladeshi women in Tower Hamlets to gain confidence, skills, and knowledge to increase numbers and rates of applications for jobs in the catering/hospitality sectors.

The ICAN project will recruit/train ten youth leaders, 19-25 years old, 8hrs per week, over 4 weeks to co-deliver a youth empowerment programme with young people, 11-15 years old for a 2hrs per week, over 12 weeks.

The project is designed to guide women in a way that will enable them to make informed choices for their futures, by facilitating a platform for further education, training, work experience and employment.

The ‘’It’s A Mag Ting’ project is a creative self-development programme designed to teach 29, 16–25-year-olds practical, transferrable creative skills (camera operating, digital content creation, editing, producing, presenting and marketing), interpersonal and employability skills (punctuality, presenting professionally, interview techniques and etiquette), so that they can progress into employment opportunities within the creative sector and/or re-enter educational pathways

This project will support 200 disadvantaged NEET young people (16-24) through a programme of workshops and workplace visits with their network of employers. Workshops will be around reaching their potential, achieving sustainable employment, exposure to different industries.

The project will recruit 20 BAME ex-offenders (age 18-25) to provide personalised support to each participant leading to sustainable progression opportunities including vocational training and employment. All participants will receive personalised mentoring and advocacy in an intensive and ongoing basis throughout their time on the project.

Band for Life is a music-based mental health project based at Bow Road Methodist Church. They run a weekly session involving music-making and singing. The group is a lively community of people who identify as having varying mental and physical health difficulties.

Our funding will enable Mudchute to subsidise environmental and farming workshops for local schools and out of school activities for local children, which are quite unique for an Inner City Area.

This project will deliver touch therapies from massage and acupuncture experts to people with severe mental illness from ethnic minority groups in a group format. It will help participants increase their social interactions and provide an opportunity to form new friendships with peers.

Our donation will contribute towards Shadwell Basin’s School Holiday Project which will run throughout the school holidays daily with a unique developed curriculum, ‘Pathways’. This enables all young people to engage in adventure activities at increasing levels of challenge and skill with National Accreditation. As part of the programme personal and social development through the underlying the charity’s values are taught e.g. humility, respect. Leadership, teamwork, communication and problem solving are also part of the Project. These are seen as vital developmental skills needed to pave the way into employment.

This programme will train local Mums to act as Peer Support Volunteers for other parents who are struggling during the “First 1001 Days” of their childs life. It will also provide equipment for the Peer Support Volunteers such as mobile phones, enabling further communication and support to young families. Ongoing professional supervision and support will be provided to individual Peer Support Volunteers through monthly Forums. Families will also be able to access relevant Toyhouse sessions, reducing isolation.

The Spitalfields City Farm Young Farmers Programme is for young people aged 12-17 in Tower Hamlets who predominantly experience marginalisation in society, participants will have the opportunity to build their confidence, gain new skills, make friends, build connections with nature, supporting physical and mental wellbeing.

Let Me Know (LMK) is an education charity working with young people to prevent domestic violence, relationship abuse and sexual assault. Our funding will contribute towards LMK’s delivery of ‘10 Signs’ domestic violence and relationship abuse prevention education workshops. Our grant will enable them to deliver nine workshops in Tower Hamlets teaching young people about healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviours, empowering young people to thrive in their relationships and preventing them from becoming victims of abuse.

Reach and Teach Project – A Sporting Chance Provision of a wide range of free weekly sports activities for young people, across two housing estates, Collingwood and Bancroft estate in Tower Hamlets. Using sports as a means for engagement to build self-confidence, develop skills and give residents the opportunity to live their best life with the aim to improve health and well-being through a range of quality sporting activities offering support, advice and guidance. The need arose through a targeted consultation period with these housing estates, overall the data revealed high demand for localised estate-based activities that were accessible and tailored to the needs and interests of young people. Our funding will go towards holiday activities, trips and mini competition days for young people to take part in.

Supporting Women’s Health and Wellbeing in Bethnal Green. Good Shepherd Mission (GSM) is a church, charity and mission, engaging in activities to support the community of Bethnal Green. GSM allows Zumba classes, a women’s support charity and Ukrainian ladies cooking together to use the building free of charge. Our funding will assist them to continue to offer this free provision to the numerous groups and help towards the costs of hosting these events including light and heat, cleaning and general overheads.

Get Active Together is a 42-week multi sports and physical activity programme held over three venues across Tower Hamlets. Over 200 young people aged 8-19, including those with a disability, will have regular access to structured fun physical activities. The programme will also raise awareness of health issues impacting the community and ways to address them.

The Sundial Sunbeams are a group aged between 18-65 with recurring mental health problems living in the community who meet once a week on Thursday at the Sundial Centre. This funding will offer a service user led day trip with a vision to enhance the wellbeing and quality of life for service users in need of support in the community.

The St. Matthias Community Centre in Poplar will be a Warm Hub open to local people in need on Sundays in January, February, March and April. A team of Volunteers have been helping the homeless and others in need since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Many in Tower Hamlets have been affected badly by the isolation and loneliness suffered during the Lockdowns. Many have lost their social skills and have become even more vulnerable.

Tag fit & feisty aims to help over 50s and disabled people to be healthy and improve their wellbeing and diet through activities, exercise, coffee mornings and a meal in winter. The aim is to promote positive ageing in later life through advice and friendship in a safe warm place.

The Happy and Healthy Project supports people with long-term pain whom are four times more likely to experience depression and anxiety. This project utilises a proven approach: mindfulness, acupuncture and health-coaching, with peer-support social groups to reduce depression, anxiety and social isolation caused by long-term pain.