Art & Culture
People Powered Places: Building community through creativity with Waymakers Kids
Waymakers Kids is a thriving community initiative established by Royal Docks resident Cheryl Noutch to support young families affected by the isolation of lockdown. What began as a baby and toddler group has grown substantially, boosted by early backing from the Royal Docks former grant making programme, Create Your Docks, and currently by Newham’s People Powered Places. We caught up with Cheryl to learn more about her hugely successful Painting in the Park events, which recently engaged nearly 800 people in art workshops in Thames Barrier Park.
The two-day ‘Painting in the Park’ events were a delight to see, transforming a corner of Thames Barrier Park, just next to the newly opened café With Milk, into a creative wonderland. The area was occupied by a cardboard city and filled with bursts of colour created by balloon painting, fabric spraying, paper weaving, giant weaving looms and tote bag designs.
Cheryl worked with local artists CJ Pidlaoan, a designer and artist from Ugly Kids Club and Maria Nagawa, a rising artist from Forest Gate, to curate the free event where children, young people and parents took part in the People Powered Places project they named "Woven Together." Their aim was to celebrate all the ways our community is woven together in culture, colour and life. The atmosphere was welcoming, filled with joy and full of creativity.
On the Friday, the event was attended by 180 pupils from Beckton’s Winsor Primary School, who designed and created their own tote bags, wove on mini looms using sustainably sourced fabrics, and collaborated on large scale art pieces.
A teacher from the school said "This has been so inspiring, we never just let the children have this kind of freedom and free flow with paint. It was fantastic to see the children enjoying this event. They were all so engaged."
The following day over 600 participants from the young to the old engaged in the events and parents could be seen having just as much fun as their children – with one dad saying how therapeutic it was to fling paint onto cling film!
Cheryl founded the initiative in 2021 in response to the pandemic after noticing the impact lockdown had on her own children, who missed out on crucial social interactions. Recognising that masked environments were not ideal for children's development, and drawing on her 15 years of experience as a primary educator in leadership and the arts, she created Waymakers Kids. It became a space for mothers to connect, share their fears and concerns, and allow their children to grow in confidence and build friendships. The parents and carers also enjoyed the creative process, relishing the opportunity to engage in art without worrying about the mess. At its core, Waymakers Kids promotes a message of community, creativity, and nurturing the inner artist.
From these early beginnings and with the encouragement of other parents and her husband, Cheryl applied for the Royal Docks Create Your Docks fund in 2021 and was awarded funding to deliver her first Painting in the Park events. She says, "Were it not for that first fund, I wouldn't have gained the experience and the confidence to apply for People Powered Places. I am so grateful for the support of the community who voted for Waymakers Kids and thankful for the support from all the team in Newham and the Royal Docks. We couldn't have done this without the funding!"
Cheryl aims to showcase the work of the Woven Together project in a forthcoming exhibition and is also running family art workshops and monthly Mama Makes sessions as part of the remaining funding from People Powered Places.
Waymakers Kids is one of 33 projects voted for by local people across the Beckton & Royal Docks, Custom House & Canning Town community neighbourhoods, as part of Newham Council’s pioneering People Powered Places programme and supported with additional funding from the Royal Docks Team. The Newham Co-Create platform provides information on the successful projects, events and key timelines.
For more information on Waymakers Kids:
@waymakers_kids
