Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visits Newham arts and cultural charities
Newham was treated to a special visit by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal on Wednesday 10 November, as part of a tour organised by Stratford based charity and funder Foundation for Future London.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Patron for Foundation for Future London, visited Theatre Royal Stratford East and Stratford Youth Zone, both who work closely with the grant maker, and saw an inspiring display of talent and stories of lives changed through selected performances, exhibitions and film by local community groups and projects from the surrounding boroughs.
Foundation for Future London is one of the largest grant making and fundraising organisations focused on the people and places of East Bank, the new cultural district in development at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. To date the organisation has raised £11 million to support local people and communities in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and has awarded £1.09 million for 68 projects, programmes and initiatives that use creativity, arts, culture and innovation to provide people with skills, training and employment opportunities, with a total reach of 18,000 people. The work the Foundation achieves is crucial, and the team continues to be ambitious in their objectives to bring in further additional funding, resources and support.
The showcase featured funded projects, co-funded by City of London and retailer Westfield Stratford City, whose work ranged from fashion, cooking, visual arts, music, and theatre, working across the four boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. These included: Trashion Factory (Waltham Forest); S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys by Kay Rufai (Hackney); Streets of Growth (Tower Hamlets); The Line Art Trail project by The Line in partnership with National Portrait Gallery and London College of Fashion (Newham); Hear My Voice by Pinny Grylls (Hackney); Intermission Youth (Newham); and Deafroots (Newham).
In attendance at this special event were the following civic leaders: Elizabeth Baptise, London Borough Waltham Forest Mayoress; John Biggs, London Borough Tower Hamlets Mayor; Rokhsana Fiaz, London Borough Newham Mayoress along with The Rt. Hon Dame Margaret Hodge MBE, Theatre Royal Stratford East Chair and other stakeholders.
Maria Adebowale-Schwarte, CEO, Foundation for Future London said: “The Foundation for Future London is proud of its role as a charity by raising £11 million for the benefit of local people and communities of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. It was an honour to share the achievements we have accomplished so far, in partnership with our local communities, partners and donors City of London and Westfield Stratford City.”
Jean-Marie Tritant, Chief Executive Officer, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: “Westfield Stratford City is very proud to partner with Foundation for Future London on the ‘Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund’, to help us deliver meaningful impact in our local community. It was an honour to witness, in the company of the charity’s patron, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, the amazing talent that is being nurtured through this programme.”
Professor Dr Anne Bamford, OBE, Strategic Education and Skills Director, City of London said: “The City of London Corporation are proud to be supporting the work of Foundation for Future London. This programme is resulting in unprecedented opportunities for the arts and cultural activities and for education and enterprise. There are innovative developments at the local level. We are pleased of the growing global relationship between East Bank and the Culture Mile. Together we are involved in exciting activities boosting experiences for young people and in cultural leadership and research. These experiences transform lives and make London and even better place to live and work.”
Photo credit: Chris Baker