Great Place Scheme - May 2018 community event

On 9 May 2018, lots of new and familiar faces made up of local residents, businesses and artists once again gathered for an evening of activities and discussions, centred around the Great Place Scheme and the initiatives for Old Oak and Park Royal.

The 50-strong group of attendees showed their passion for the area, and the project, as many stayed later than advertised to carry on their conversations. We’re keen to keep this momentum going, so watch this space for details of the next event and future initiatives.

The Great Place Scheme is currently in its ‘pilot phase’, trialling out a number of activities to gather feedback and ensure the overall project reflects the community need and reaches as many people in the area as possible. The project will deliver opportunities for local people, businesses, artists and students to volunteer, receive training and be actively involved in promoting this vibrant but often not well-known area of London.

An integral part of the initiative is the fusion and embedding of art, heritage and culture, with local residents and businesses, from launching an Annual Artist Commission to appointing Artists in Residence to work with local businesses and communities. Our community events are key parts of this as they provide a platform to build relationships, hear your ideas and ensure that it is a community led three-year project.

Attendees were divided up into four groups all focusing on different information seeking exercises with the purpose to uncover the history, the places, the ideas, the emotions and areas that mean something to you and why, in and around Old Oak and Park Royal.

• Hidden Treasures

An architecture student joined us to create an illustrated map from listening to and basing it on peoples’ stories and knowledge of the area, both past and present. With the canal a key part of the map, discussions uncovered many of the local treasures, memories and associations with and of the area.

• Old Oak and Park Royal Rhymes

Local poet, Chris Beschi (aka Poetcurious) who, after chatting with and speaking to local people and businesses on the evening, created this poem:

The Old Oak

The oak’s old roots
run deep beneath
the factories,
Where north and west
London workers gravitate.

A Criss-cross lattice
of paths to the past,
At times, hard to navigate.

Cobbles and cottages
canal barge connections
Annexed from metropolis.

They understand loneliness here.

The hole in London’s doughnut,
more space than place.
But, there’s so much more to it.

On the doorstep, a community
of elders who remember
how it used to be.

Long gone the theatre,
but long live the spirit;
the ones that know the faces
of the people in the street.

The school, the church
the pubs where they would meet;
a plate of sweet memories,
but none left to eat.

Bring it back together they say;
the open spaces, meeting places.
Build and create with us.

Engage the youth they say,
invest in our empowerment;
include us; champion us.
Listen to our proud history,
our hopes for our community.

Build up our platform
and protect our home
with dignity.

• Put ‘it’ on the map

The two new Community Artists in Residence, Rebecca Davies and Eva Sajovic, while asking attendees to plot areas of interest on a map, took the opportunity to speak with members of the community about some of the ideas they have and generally just absorbed all the information people shared about Old Oak and Park Royal’s history and present-day activities and needs. As they’ve only just started their residency, we’ll be hearing from and featuring these two artists more as they begin their exciting projects with the community over the next few months.

• Early Activation insight and ideas

Following the announcement that the Mayor of London had awarded OPDC £750,004 from the Good Growth Fund to enable local communities to play a role in the regeneration taking place in Old Oak and Park Royal. This group looked through and discussed the early ideas and illustrations relating to Early Activation Projects and ideas for improving Willesden Junction, Mary Seacole Gardens and one of the entrances to Wormwood Scrubs, all with the ambition to improve the public realm, wayfinding and legibility, increase bio-diversity and amplify local heritage with the local community.

If you weren't able to attend on the evening, you can review the presentation here, which also included a segment from The Collective’s Impact Team who want to hear and do more with the local community.

We have a number of activities coming up including a Canal Open Day in August (details to be announced shortly) and Open House Weekend on Saturday 22 and 23 September. If you’d like to find out more about Open House please visit their website.

Thank you to our caterers on the evening, the Trinidad Roti Shop, based just up the road in Harlesden, who provided a fabulous meal that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

We’d also like to thank McVitie’s and Kolak Snack Foods Ltd. who kindly donated the accompanying snacks.

The Great Place Scheme has been supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.