Westfield Stratford City and the Foundation has been shortlisted for Corporate Engagement Award

We’ve done it again: our partnership with Westfield Stratford City for our collaborative five-year £10 million catalyst change programme Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund has been shortlisted for a Corporate Engagement award for Best Arts and Culture partnership programme!

We are incredibly proud to see the Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund recognised for its profound impact in creating inclusive social and economic value for the people and communities of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Now in its fifth year, the Fund has distributed £7.8mn to 148 community-focused projects and initiatives, reaching an estimated 51,190 people across four interconnected themes:

• Employment: paid work experience/internships; apprenticeships/bursaries, jobs
• Learning Opportunities: lifelong learning e.g. early learning and schools through to late career, and post-retirement; bespoke career and higher education path support, training and secondments; employment and access to next-level careers
• Young People Opportunities: career workshops and related learning offers; one-to-one career and coaching/mentoring
• Business Entrepreneurship Support: freelance and entrepreneur set up, development and training; business set up and development support

The programme provides resources, training and opportunities so that no one is left behind and provides a platform for collaboration, participation and meaningful ideas exchange.

The Fund aims to help tackle inequality and improve life chances for communities surrounding the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the new East Bank cultural district as part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

An important part of our success is our inclusive and sustainable approach to innovative partnerships and authentic community engagement, so a huge thanks goes out to all of our community and corporate partners, grantees, participants and colleagues. We are working together to create something great for local people.

We will find out on Thurs 19 September 2024 who the final winning partnerships are, so stay tuned!

For more information about the awards, please see corporateengagementawards.com. 

Year 5 of our Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund will open in July 2024 for our fifth and final year.