On 3rd December 2016, the Mayor relaunched London’s most innovative street market in the heart of Hackney where the focus is all about community. Sadiq chatted to young entrepreneurs, residents and traders, delighting the local community by posing for selfies with practically the whole street. Kay Richardson, the project manager, explains more...
Well Street Market returns following a successful crowdfunding campaign through the Mayor's Civic Crowdfunding Programme, which supports civic projects.
Well Street Traders and Residents Association (WESTRA) have been trying to bring back the market for years and found this the perfect vehicle to engage and empower our local community.
In June 2016 I pitched against the clock at City Hall, explaining how we wanted to use Well Street Market as a creative vehicle to unite diverse communities, create opportunities for young people and revitalise the high street. The Mayor awarded us £20,000, the highest amount pledged to any project. This stamp of approval helped us raise the rest of the £83,000 start-up costs to bring back the market in a unique and innovative way.
We were honoured that Sadiq Khan came to speak at our opening ceremony about the importance of markets to local economies, bringing people together and supporting local makers and producers.
He spoke alongside Nathaniel and Ollie from our Teenage Market who described how it inspired them to develop business ideas, get off the sofa, stay out of trouble and instead focus on real entrepreneurial opportunities for their future. They have a stall with local charity Hackney Quest and have developed the branding and business Deep Within selling warm apple juice, which so popular it sold out.
The student makers also met Wayne Hemingway MBE who spoke at our opening ceremony about his label Red or Dead. He and his wife began the company as market traders, and he stressed how great markets are to trial ideas and see if they work before developing a global business. Chatting to Wayne left our student makers feeling very inspired about their own future potential.
Norman Jay MBE launched our live music stage, bringing good times to Well Street. He even stopped his set so he didn’t disturb the local mosque at prayer time. Our community is all about respect! Norman also played alongside local school choirs, local bands, church choirs, and up and coming electronic artists Wyles and Simpson.
We are so lucky that we have got such a supportive network around us. It was brilliant to see so many local market stalls have a successful first day of trading on the new market. Priority is given to local residents and the historic market returned, selling everything from street food, sustainably grown produce from urban farms, artists prints and upcycled clothing.
To top it all off, our new Christmas Lights, which we crowdfunded, lit up our street for the first time. The entire day was magical from start to finish and Well Street Market really did unite the community.
Look out for Well Street Market, E9 in 2017 on the first Saturday of every month. We are already planning a line up of exciting events. The first of the year will be on Saturday January 7th, all day.