In 2024, Foundation for Future London has embarked on a new campaign to understand what ‘safer spaces’ mean to East London’s young people and under-resourced and marginalised communities.
The campaign will inform a funding application to support scale-out ‘bottom-up’ community change. Funding will be sought for a five-year, sustainable network across the four Olympic legacy boroughs with built-in co-design, capacity building and network development at its core.
The campaign includes:
The campaign is supported by partner Westfield Stratford City, community partners including Social Ark and the wider community.
In 2025, we are pleased to launch COLLABORATE: SAFER SPACES Commission, which offers the opportunity for four teams to receive support and funding to develop collaborative ideas around the theme of ‘Safer Spaces’, as part of the Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund, supported by Westfield Stratford City and co-funded by Foundation for Future London.
Four shortlisted teams will receive up to £50k each in flexible funding, part of which will be a development grant. The commission will provide the time and space to develop, test and embed collaborative work alongside partners, with wraparound co-designed support across each stage of programme development. Teams will work in partnership with Foundation for Future London throughout this process, developing sustainable collaborative approaches together, supporting project development away from the restrictions of rigid applications.
In response to feedback and input from our grantees, our Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund Community Grant Panel and our Empowering Safer Spaces consultation, we are now seeking to commission new sustainable partner collaborations across East London to support more connected responses to this work.
At Foundation for Future London, we work to empower East London communities. A key part of this work has been supporting collaborations, with equitable partnership as a core criterion across the Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund.
This new round of commissions goes further by providing flexible funding and wrap-around support to organisations and networks, helping them deepen the impact and resilience of their collaborative work.
26 Sept 2024: Photos and Update from our Safer Spaces Panel Event at Newham Music
7 June 2024: London Sees Annual Drop in Community Spaces with Brent Hit Hardest
27 March 2024: Next steps for Empowering Safer Spaces campaign
28 Feb 2024: Empowering Safer Spaces Consultation 12 March
Foundation for Future London revealed community spaces lost, Hackney Gazette, 30 July 2024
Watch our series of vox pops from our Safer Spaces panel event at Newham Music, Westfield Stratford City.
Empowering Safer Spaces playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbAKiwpLuxIoQ9JwThTYB2ztnq79TQ56t&si=Z9p9j8sd8NHyCjjF
What does safe space mean to you?
Why do we need events like this?
Why is work needed to ensure safer spaces?
How much is safer spaces an issue in the four boroughs?
Watch the video from our Safer Spaces community consultation at Streets of Growth, produced by Jack Taylor Gotch and Marlon Rouse Tavares.
Main Photo: Aberfeldy Live! Talkaoke by The People Speak
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