Building Strong Communities
Stage: Programme designBy 2025 all Londoners will have access to a community hub ensuring they can volunteer, get support and build strong networks.
Open
1080 Londoners have responded
![Londoners together at an event at City Hall](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/scale_for_card/public/2021-02/Resilient%20communities.png?itok=Ox2KfbLi)
Idea generation
When it comes to your neighbourhood, you are the experts.
Since March 2021, we’ve been asking Londoners for their best ideas to improve their local area and make it even better for everyone.
Your suggestions are providing a way for communities, councils and partner organisations to see what people want to happen in their local areas– and to incorporate those into their plans for recovery.
We’ve now mapped out your ideas as well as the initiatives that local organisations have successfully submitted for funding. Use the filters on the left-hand side and click on the icons to see more details for your local area. We’ll keep you posted on how you can get involved again.
Zoom in on the map and click through to see the ideas and read more about the exemplar projects.
Closed
Open for ideas between 15 March 2021 and 17 September 2021
169 ideas generated by Talk London members
Netherwood Street Green corridor
![Staghorn coral](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/staghorn-coral-36px.png?itok=zzM8b1vZ)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Derelict strip of housing land adjacent to railway embankment. Dilapidated fencing, used by fly tippers, rough sleepers & as a toilet. The estate opposite is effected by lack of care. Let’s have seating, an open space with assorted play features.
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Greening Queenstown Road corridor
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Greening of Queenstown Road Battersea, creating a tree lined corridor to reduce pollution, to soften the landscape and make the environment more pleasant for residents and active travellers. Also soften the impact of the concrete mixer activity in the area. This zone is very much neglected and is a conservation area.
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LTN
![Sumatran elephant](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/sumatran-elephant-36px.png?itok=rzNY2oUw)
2 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Have properly run, democratic neighbourhood referendums on whether to have an LTN. They need to be conducted by independent bodies, with the true facts and surveys placed before people, using non-pandemic figures. The referendums to be binding on Local Authorities.
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Motorhomes in London
![Leatherback sea turtle](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/leatherback-sea-turtle-36px.png?itok=LaIbT3pf)
6 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
I always see big open spaces in London not being used. Just an area with rubbish and weeds growing out of control. Old warehouses, disused car parks, failed planning permission. Just big empty spaces. Why don't we use these spaces and make safe motorhome parks. Permanent living space for people working and living in the city. Somewhere that is affordable, safe, and creates a positive community spirit. These days rent in London is quite expensive and to even think about ever buying a home is out of the question and I wondered about living in a motorhome/van/bus. A home I can own.
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Carleton Road - STOP WAZE and moped trying to cut short their noisy journeys - Use A roads instead
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Carleton Road was a normal, quiet road, indirectly linking Parkhurst Road / Camden Road with Holloway Road. The latter are both TfL managed A Roads (A503 and A1). Since the mayor has allowed private cabs and "Waze" as well as that 'gig' economy of mopeds, Carleton Road has been inundated with lorries, a huge myriad of mopeds (often 100 in an hour) and non-residential traffic. This is destroying the local conservation area with noise and pollution. The majority of the traffic tries to avoid the A503 turn into the A1 (and vice versa). This is unacceptable, polluting and must stop.
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Shutters clean-up
![Colombian spotted frog](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/colombian-spotted-frog-36px.png?itok=n3tA1u85)
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
So many businesses use shutters (which were not that widespread a generation ago) but fail to clean them when they’re inevitably vandalised. They shut up shop, go home and leave residents and visitors with the eyesore. Use some money to clean them, regularly, or to pay for artists to paint them and apply an anti-vandal varnish. Or, swap them for the ones that are grilles. Some areas of Southwark seem to have been cleaned up, like Walworth Road, whilst Rye Lane looks dreadful. Why it’s allowed to fester and attract more tagging is beyond me.
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Virtual highstreet
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
2 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Create Virtual Tour including the inside of shops of our highstreets allowing visitors to "shop" discover enquire & purchase within the tour.
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Help business recovery by being found online
0 comments
Last activity 1 year ago
Things To Do In. We are a local online business advertising directory called “Things To Do In” which happens to be the largest search term worldwide for people and families visiting a new town city or country. But we are so much more than just travel, tourism, and attractions based. We have thousands of page one organic search terms for businesses that list on our directories, ie please type in Muslim hairdresser London on Google, or vehicle transportation London, maybe test drive a Lexus Cardiff, drone hire Peterborough, telephone answering services Essex, etc all of our towns link together for maximum exposure, and we also link to their social media and advertise their business on ours. All businesses get a one-page website (microsite) as their ad and there is no contract. The price is equivalent to a coffee per day. We have just launched in Chelsea, www.thingstodoinchelsea.co.uk. www.thingstodoinlondon.co.uk has been active for a while. There are also international portals to promote and reach more clients globally, especially when they travel to London. We are the most cost-effective advertising any business can do with what we offer. Cost is just £49.00 per month and no contract, We look forward to helping Londoners get back on their feet, TTDIChelsea
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Increase provision of public toilets
5 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Make provision of public toilets in every park, every high street and every station a priority. The closure of cafes, coffee shops and pubs during lockdown meant that Londoners were left with next to no toilets, or, at least very, very poor provision. This lack of public toilets disproportionately affects women and older people. It is as much an equality issue as access for people with disabilities. London is especially poor in this respect. Outside London most places are well provided with public toilets, and outside London most councils kept the toilets open and spotlessly clean throughout lockdown.
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Community Kitchen for Food Education, Social Expansion and Health
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
Many People come together over food but the opportunity to do this in a public environment is difficult. A Community Kitchen would enable people of all ages, skills and culinary backgrounds to come together and share. The Community Kitchen could be located in a high street location giving maximum awareness, the best public transport access for all and in some cases take up space left vacant and unattractive. Example uses would be - Sharing cultural recipes from different groups and backgrounds bringing people together over food, - simple cookery skills classes for people who want to cook but don't have the confidence, - healthy cookery for those who want to understand how to eat to lower weight and cholesterol, - basic cookery and baking for people with learning difficulties adding to their skills and self confidence. Funding - because of Food Hygiene and Health and safety regulations at least one member of staff would be needed to supervise the use of the location. A deposit should be needed to book the location and only returned if the premises were returned clean and tidy in the same way it was found reducing cleaning and maintenance costs. Sponsorship from local food producers and supermarkets could help with funding and availability of basic ingredients. Utilising the Community Kitchen for commercial training and events would also help towards funding costs. This model could be repeated across multiple boroughs with the obvious flexibility to be used by all cultures and communities.
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TrueHeartsUnite
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
True Hearts Unite is a campaign to stop social decline by creating a positive mentality with an educational system to replace unemployment and naturally leaving many social problems behind. It will have a massive impact on stopping knife crime and improving youth mental health. Your approach to early intervention and prevention is the only way forward. If you and Stormzy would like to join us we can make this happen today. We would like you to present our ideas to the APPG all-party group. True Heart s Unite will solve the source of knife crime by investing time in educating and mentoring our youth in new positive ways. We create community hubs that are key to improving society. The key is given kids options to stop them hanging about on street corners, giving them positive role models and something to do. • Change unemployment to education. • Change stop and search and redirect funds back into education. • Change current government approach. • All parties to unite with this campaign and have common goal to improve our society and invest in the next generation. The Labour Party can make this happen now by uniting and connecting this country in this focus by gaining public support. The action needed • Taking this proposal to the press • Taking this proposal to government • To gain public support to manifest positive change. You can make a real difference now Sarah and Jess. We ask you for your help with your contacts and influence. Now is the time to make it better, harness the power of our young for good and allow them to be our future. Founder Louca Kousoulou www.trueheartsunite.co.uk
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Language opportunities for communities
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Having lived in a London borough for several years, having moved here from Scotland with my now six year old daughter, I found language could create a barrier within local communities. Whilst my daughter attended nursery, I noticed immediately the difficulty faced by families where English was not their first language. This in turn made matters complicated when addressing form filling for example or fully being able to participate. For some this can create exclusion. I currently have my daughter enrolled in a language school learning a secondary language (Spanish) as I feel it’s important to learn cultures other than our own. These classes come at a cost as she is taught privately. A cost I’m aware is not affordable to all. I would like to see language schools affordable or free to all in community hubs.
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Make use of empty/underused buildings to create more opportunities for Londoner's to engage in physical activity.
![Adelie penguin](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/adelie-penguin-36px.png?itok=zptfWpHt)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Given the number of un-occupied or underutilised buildings/spaces that currently exist throughout London, there is an opportunity to make better use of these buildings whilst increasing opportunities for Londoners to be active. In collaboration with local community groups, it will be possible to identify local spaces where residents, especially those who are less active, feel more confident to engage in physical activity and can conveniently build physical activity into daily routines. The opening of such spaces will also help to reduce pressures that exist at traditional leisure facilities and help to ensure the activity needs of different members of the community are met. London Sport have already supported several community organisations and attracted funding to make use unoccupied/underused assets, that traditionally would not be used for Sport and Physical activity, to create additional capacity for physical activity. Examples of the spaces used to date include a retail unit in Croydon, a cultural space in Waterloo and meanwhile spaces in East London. Each space has seen sessions delivered to vulnerable children, participants with disabilities and participants with long term health conditions. Such spaces have been seen as key for these user groups, especially during the winter months when access to safe and welcoming spaces reduces because of the harsher winter conditions. As restrictions are lifted, there is an opportunity to work with additional partners across London to better use spaces for sport and physical activity. We are keen to continue to work in partnership with local community groups who have better understanding of the local landscape and the residents within, so that the spaces created continue to meet the needs of the local community. Programmes can be tailored to support a number of different local outcomes, with sport and physical activity acting as the hook to help overcome challenges around health and anti social behaviour etc.
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Healthy Minds
0 comments
Last activity 1 year ago
I will try to resume my vision as it is a connection of differents ideas altogether. 1- Think in a rectangle of 50m x 100m, with gross san on it and with 20cm high of clean running water. The water could start in one side with a nice fountain, running over the san through this channel and finally continuing its own way somewhere. So now, the people could come and refresh their feets in the water, it could be walking or just seating aside of the channel. 2- Nearby of this channel, We could create areas for relaxing and healthy sport activities as for example: Tennis tables, Chess tables, French boules or any other with some relaxing aspect on it 3- And continuing with these sports activities, volunteers could organise training workshops to teach the people how to play. And they could organise competitions later on, to get people more engaged on it Ideally these ideas could be surrounded by green areas, trees and without noise pollution Creating this relaxing environment could add some beauty and healthy values for Londoners or any tourist who wants to see something unique. Thank you for reading and for give us the opportunity to share with all of you our ideas and points of view.
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Litter nowt.
![Staghorn coral](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/staghorn-coral-36px.png?itok=zzM8b1vZ)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Bins And Parks! Every park in London seems to have an extreme rubbish problem at the moment. On the grass, on paths, at the base of trees, in ponds and in playgrounds. Councils are not keeping up with the amount of outdoor socialising and waste and it makes parks less nice to use and spend time in, in turn. This area is ripe for behaviour change, just as happened with picking up dog waste 20 years ago. A publicity campaign, and signs on fences into / out of parks, drawn by local children, would be a good start.
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Stop destroying the high street. Stop stealing money from us.
6 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Get that so called mayor out of city hall. Businesss are going bust. Customers cannot park. All the free bays on side streets have basically become monetised. Either car clubs or there’s cameras watching them ready to drop a ticket on unwitting shoppers. Tell him to try carrying a 20kh bag of rice on his push bike. All the no entries and no right /left turns are pointless and cause harm to the likes of me and my parents. Namely due to incontinence to name but one issue. Getting home is longer and frustrating. Btw I’m talking about Tooting here. His old constituency and place of birth. The place he must’ve hated all his life in order to destroy it the way he has. All this will no doubt will fall on deaf ears. These consultations are just for show. You lot do what you want anyway. That’s what is so frustrating about all of this rubbish. You kick us in the nuts and try telling us it’s good for us. You lot wouldn’t know good if you saw it. TFLs secret motto- if it isn’t broken, BREAK IT!! Tell old Khan sahib that I despise him for everything thing he’s done and all that he has achieved as far as I’m concerned is that I will NEVER vote Labour ever again and neither will my family. Tell him to keep doing what he’s doing and soon no one will.
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Parklets and mini green spaces
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
All over London there are tiny pockets of green space, or places that could be green spaces. Many residents don’t have much, or any green space of their own, allotments are over subscribed. Research has show that being in green space is good for mental health, but actively being involved in creating, or looking after a green space is even better. It would be great if existing community groups, schools, residents associations etc could be offered the chance to manage and improve the small green spaces near their building / homes. Creating community engagement, a way to meet neighbours, pride in the area, an understanding of nature and more food for pollinators. I could see it be similar to the “adopt a roundabout” scheme seen in small towns. The community group / organisation / building gets a sign for the space and the freedom (within reason) to plant what they want. Small pots of money could be provided by the landowner in recognition that they won’t have to pay a contractor to manage the space as often if at all. Local business may want to also contribute to improve the look of an area. Last year my building residents took over the management of our courtyard garden from the contractors our Housing Association were paying to do this. We weren’t happy with how they were doing it. It has been wonderful for people getting to know each other, a sense of community, and the bees are currently having a daily party with all the flowers!
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Curb CEO pay - Force larger companies to pay their workers a fair rate
![Rhino](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/rhino-36px.png?itok=di1F5x8E)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
In a 2020 study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a typical FTSE 100 CEO still gets £119 every time the average UK full-time worker earns £1. (compared to £123 in 2018) At the same time, renting a room in London averages around £780 per month, coming in at 58% of a minimum wage workers paycheck and 49% of a living wage worker (even with London costing). Renting in other parts of the country comes in at nearly half these amounts. For perspective, affordable housing should cost no more than 35% of your post-tax income, as reported by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. (IFS) You want to help the community? Force wealthy CEOs to redistribute the profits of their workers efforts.
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World Carnival Championship
![Sumatran elephant](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/sumatran-elephant-36px.png?itok=rzNY2oUw)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
I have developed the WCC to be held in London where participants from all over the world will attend , it’s similar to what the Olympics is for sports . The WCC is to carnival and Creativity.
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My area has been ruined
![Tiger](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/tiger-36px.png?itok=aA7kY7A6)
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
Our narrow local roads suffer from boy racers, aggressive and dangerous drivers, street crime and thefts, people and building works, we can’t get to see a doctor, long hospital waits, traffic clogs up our roads and still you add more high rise buildings and people with inadequate parking facilities. The infrastructure is never improved. Stop this; a build new towns with appropriate infrastructure and space. No aspects of my neighbourhood has been useful during lockdown and as an older person, I am 76, there has been no support I am aware of or if there was it was not well advertised. We are now grossly overcrowded in the suburbs, we chose to live here because it was not overcrowded . If the roads are not to be improved and parking places not adequately supplied perhaps it is time to limit the amount of cars per household in London? London can’t support sometimes 4 or 5 cars per house. Bring back day and evening classes so we have something to occupy ourselves with and to improve our minds and learn new skills, all these have stopped. We used to have social clubs, now long gone. We have been locked in for over a year and there is nothing for us as older single people out there now. We need a sports facilities for the older person, lots for younger people but our nearest sports centre with a sports court is 6 miles away and an hours travelling time which seems ridiculous in London. There won’t even be anywhere to park if we want to get the tube into central London as you now want to build over all the carparks. We aren’t all able to walk to bus stops and stand and wait. Perhaps when we can hardly move and we are in our 80s we can go to the lunch clubs and seated exercise classes at local churches. that’s about all there is left.
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Timeline
London’s recovery from COVID-19 – what you told us so far
HappenedHow your feedback has started to shape London’s road to recovery
HappenedNovember 2020: Building Strong Communities workshop with 200 Londoners
HappenedJanuary 2021: Volunteering summit with Londoners to discuss the opportunities and challenges around volunteering
HappenedApril 2021 - 2 workshops with 30-40 stakeholders on the Civic Strength Index
HappenedApril 2021 - 2 workshops with 30-40 Londoners on the Civic Strength Index
HappenedShare your ideas to reimagine London
HappenedYou and other Londoners have shared 169 ideas
Have a look