Royal Docks Team announce grant recipients of the first ever ‘Create Your Docks’ Community Fund

Today, the Royal Docks Team revealed details of the thirteen recipients of their first-ever 'Create Your Docks' community fund. The fund, which aims to enable community groups to take an active role in the area's regeneration, supports groups and organisations with a turnover of less than £50,000 based in the Royal Docks or Newham. Of the eleven successful awardees, five received between £6,000 and £10,000 and eight received between £1,000 and £5,000.

The fund enables diverse communities from different backgrounds to channel their creativity into making their priorities a reality amid the significant changes taking place across the Royal Docks. The successful projects that promote local culture and bring local spaces to life span community greening, skills and training, digital storytelling activities, and more. These community-led projects will connect people to each other and their local area.

Below is a snapshot of five of the thirteen grantees:

Connections Café

Led by Custom House community members, Connections Café will train and mentor eighteen local 18-25-year-olds in hospitality and catering inspired by Caribbean cuisine. Participants will gain essential certification and full working insight into how a restaurant is run. The hosting community space will transform into a vibrant Caribbean 'Connections café' three times a week over the course of four months.

Daniell Hambrook, Director of Newham Wellness, said: "The Royal Docks area has amazing young people who post-pandemic are competing in a highly competitive job market. This amazing opportunity enabled by the Royal Docks Team will give these young people better pathways into work and further education, enriching their lives and that of the local area."

Green School Gates

Both Britannia Village school and Drew school will host creative ecology projects co-designed with pupils and their communities. Along with creating biodiverse gardens with growing areas, planters and seating, a community food sustainability programme: 'grow it, cook it, eat it will be led by Eco-committees within each school.

Dock Wayfinders

Local artist Matt Ponting will coordinate a project with communities to make a series of 10 brightly illustrated Wayfinder markers along the dock edge. Mini maps will let the public know where they are on the route and provide information about the local area. Drawing workshops and interviews with dockside locals will inform the project resulting in videos visitors can watch on their phones via a QR code.

Matt Ponting, local artist, resident and fund recipient, said: "I love cycling around the Docks and appreciating the big dock and river views, but if you're visiting, you may not know the paths and connecting routes and could miss out. I'm hoping my wayfinding project will help will make the current routes safer, clearer and encourage more people in the area to take up cycling and discover a new way to see the Docks while improving their mental and physical health."

Camel Road Community Garden

Celebrated local gardener Mo Parker will work with the community surrounding Camel Road in North Woolwich to transform unused space next to an existing playground into a community food growing garden and play area. The garden will increase biodiverse habitats and provide herbs, fruit and vegetables for locals to enjoy. The community will develop the skills to build a safe place where people can be side by side gardening, relaxing, playing or learning about and reconnecting with nature.

Dockside Diaries

This creative digital inclusion project will see participants produce their own story exploring their personal connections with the Docks. Communities will join mud-larking field trips and learn skills to create a personalised multi-media digital book using accessible creative apps on iPads, culminating in a public exhibition in North Woolwich.