Newham Community Group Receives £20,000 in Grants

Lendlease and LCR are pleased to announce awarding their first grants to support communities in Newham through The International Quarter Community Fund. Launched earlier this year in partnership with local grant-making charity East End Community Fund (EECF), The International Quarter Community Fund focuses on education, arts and culture and health and wellbeing to support communities around The International Quarter development at Stratford City.

The first round of successful applicants was announced on Thursday evening at an end of summer barbecue at The International Quarter in Stratford. Eight local groups have been awarded a total of £20,000 to help residents feel empowered and more involved in their communities. The eight beneficiaries are:

• Chain Reaction Theatre Company - A 6 week free issue-based drama group for 30 young people aged 11-18 in Stratford
• Community Links Trust - ShareEast Sessions for local residents to share skills, learn new things and build community cohesion and wellbeing
• Eastside Community Heritage - A mobile museum of Newham history which will deliver 20 activity sessions for the communities in Stratford, West Ham and Forest Gate
• Elevated Aspiration – A workshop based sessions in Forest Gate schools to engage young people who lack educational motivation
• Salmagundi Films - A participatory creative Ipad project to bring together the E15 and E20 communities and encourage integration through the learning of new skills together
• St Paul's Church Stratford - Bee-keeping equipment to teach the local community about beekeeping
• Stratford Arts Trust - Three programmes to support families with hearing and visually impaired children, children with profound and multiple learning disabilities and hard to reach families
• The Work, Skills and Independence Group CIC - Support for residents to gain a Level 2 qualification in Customer Service, access work experience opportunities and support with employability skills

Jason Vincent, Community Development Manager, Lendlease says:

‘Our aim for the Community Fund is to assist local residents and community groups to create or sustain activities which provide meaningful benefits for local people. We look forward to working with these groups and seeing how their projects grow’

Lendlease and LCR are delivering The International Quarter, a new world class workplace in Stratford, and The International Quarter Community Fund forms part of their ongoing commitment to supporting the growth of art, culture, education and wellbeing in the borough of Newham.

The next deadline for applications is 5pm on 12th October 2015. The programme guidelines can be found on www.eastendcf.org or contact the EECF Grants Team on 020 7345 4444 or grants@eastendcf.org for more information.