PLANS AND THE FUTURE
Community Fund
Since 2013 the Elephant and Castle Community Fund has been supporting local charities and community groups with small grants.
To date, over 50 community projects have benefitted from funding.
Here are just a few examples from the last eight years.
2013: English for Action London
English for Action London is a charity that provides English as a second language lessons. The charity was funded to run classes at Notre Dame school for local parents to increase their participation in their children’s education and to improve their employment opportunities.
www.efalondon.org
2013: Toucan Employment
Toucan is a charity which tackles social exclusion by helping people with learning difficulties/disabilities find and retain appropriate supported employment. Toucan received funding to set up a smoothie making enterprise with local residents.
www.toucanemployment.org
2014: Siobhan Davies Dance
Siobhan Davies Dance has been an important part of Elephant and Castle’s thriving cultural scene since 2006. The dance school received funding to engage isolated people (especially older people and those with mental health or learning difficulties) in a creative movement project.
www.siobhandavies.com
2014: Walworth Garden
Walworth Garden was founded in 1987 after a group of local activists reclaimed a derelict corner of land in Elephant and Castle, rejuvenating it into a thriving community garden. The funding was used by the charity to create a new sensory garden and helped to extend the reach of the existing Greenfingers horticultural therapy project for people with learning difficulties, mental health issues and physical disabilities.
www.walworthgarden.org.uk
2015: Hotel Elephant
Hotel Elephant is a social enterprise which has been supporting artists, creatives and makers in Southwark for more than fifteen years. They received funding to establish an after-school art club for local secondary school pupils studying GSCE Art.
www.hotelelephant.co.uk
2015: Futures Theatre
Futures Theatre is a charity that celebrates women, non-binary people and their extraordinary lives. It was to funded to support 300 local young people through a participatory drama based intervention. The project engaged young people and equipped them with skills to challenge sexual coercion, gang mentality and peer pressure.
www.futurestheatre.co.uk
2016: Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS)
LAWRS works to ensure that older women from the local Latin American community continue to receive support to assert their basic human rights and lead more independent and dignified lives. The funding supported English classes and access to activities to improve physical and emotional health.
lawrs.org.uk
2016: Paxton Green Time Bank
Time banking is a means of volunteering in which participants ‘deposit’ their time in the bank by giving practical help and support to others and are able to ‘withdraw’ their time when they need something done themselves. Paxton Green was funded to extend their work in Southwark, running drop-ins, skills exchange sessions and a launch event.
www.pgtimebank.org
2017: Silver Fit
Silver Fit is a charity dedicated to promoting happier, healthier ageing through affordable physical activity and tackling social isolation. The funding supported fitness and socialising sessions for the over 65s in the Elephant and Castle area.
www.silverfit.org.uk
2017: Latin American Disabled People’s Project (LADPP)
LADPP is the only organisation in London devoted to serving disabled people from Latin America, Europe and Africa, whose first language is Spanish or Portuguese, as well as their carers, families, and communities. The charity was funded to deliver a mental health and wellbeing support programme to the Latin American community in Southwark.
www.ladpp.org.uk
2018: The Walworth Society
The Walworth Society was established in 2011 to be a voice for Walworth and to help protect local heritage and green spaces. The society was given funding for a local history and heritage festival which enable 15 volunteers to gain new skills and was enjoyed by hundreds more who attended or participated.
www.walworthsociety.co.uk
2018: Draper Together
Draper Together runs a packed programme of events and activities on the Draper estate from drama through to IT classes. The funding supported a project that enabled the estate’s residents to creatively share their stories about living in Elephant and Castle. It culminated in a series of workshops and an archive and benefitted 400 people.
Draper Together
2019: Afro-Brazilian Arts & Cultural Exchange Institute (ABACEI)
ABACEI is a charity based in Manor Place which uses martial arts capoeira and performing arts as a vehicle to educate and inspire children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families. It was funded to deliver a series of projects over nine months for young people aged 4-18.
ABACEI
2019: Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST)
BOST is an environmental and volunteering charity working to protect, preserve and enhance parks and gardens in and around SE1. The funding was for a series of gardening projects over 12 months at the Diversity Garden in King James Street.
www.bost.org.uk
2020: The Blue Elephant Theatre
Founded in 1999, the Blue Elephant Theatre is a community theatre based just off Walworth Road. The funding supported a series of free interactive storytelling workshops focussed on what children may have missed from not being in school/nursery during the pandemic.
www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk
2020: Blackfriars Settlement
Born out of the Victorian settlement movement, Blackfriars Settlement has been supporting people in Southwark for more than a century. The charity was given funding to provide a social club for older people and to provide remote support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.blackfriars-settlement.org.uk
2021: Citizens UK – Espacio Mama
Espacio Mama is a social support group led by and for Spanish-speaking mothers in Southwark. It was funded to provide twice weekly group sessions to Latin American parents which included peer support, signposting and workshops.
Espacio Mama
2021: Pembroke House
Pembroke House is a charity that has operated in Walworth for more than 130 years. Today its mission is to bridge divides and unite people to build a better Walworth. The charity was funded to deliver a weekly dance and drama programme for children aged 9-13 at its HQ just off East Street.
www.pembrokehouse.org.uk