Five local charities and community groups are to be offered funding in the second round of grant-making by the Wood Street First panel. The initiatives  include a community café, a youth project, a community craft programme and toy library sessions, and also funding for a new set of events from the educational puppet project that also received funding in round 1.

The panel, which met last week, is pleased to announce funding for the following five projects:

Community Café, Havant Road (funding offer £1,100)
This project plans to run a community café in the coffee bar area at St Gabriel’s Church. This is due to take place on Saturdays twice a month from 5 to 9 pm, to provide a safe space for all generations to meet. Young people identified the need for having a safe space for them to meet up with friends as a top priority.

E17 Puppet Project (funding offer £2,130)
The project’s initiative SHADOWS on MY WINDOW will bring ‘City Read 2013’ themed shadow puppetry performances to familiar surroundings in Wood Street ward for children and young people to enjoy. It will perform six shadow puppet shows projecting from a window in Wood Street Library and other accessible venues in the ward. The aim is to provide a theatrical experience for children, young people and their parents/carers who live in the ward and who would not normally go to the theatre due to poverty or other barriers.

Significant Seams (funding offer £2,000)
The funding will help to run activities at the new community space at 131 Wood Street, as part of the relocation of the community centric activities of Significant Seams. The project has already secured support for the building costs that will transform the space, and this funding will allow it to run a number of community building and community engaging programmes for young children and the older members of our community.

T.S.P. Youth Club (funding offer £2,138)
The T.S.P Youth Club at the Soul Project plans to engage young people in positive activities and give them encouragement and motivation to get involved in the Club activities and stay off the streets. The many activities at this club will be free for local young people.

Walthamstow Toy Library (funding offer £866)
The Toy Library – based at Comely Bank Community Clinic in Ravenswood Road – will run ‘Giggles and Gurgles’, an additional play session for parents and carers with children aged under 18 months.  This will be a rotating programme of weekly activities with physical play, messy play, heuristic play, and also a classic coffee afternoon.  Each session will incorporate an hour of free play, a healthy snack time and a circle time for babies, parents and carers.

The panel looks forward to working with the successful projects to take forward their initiatives in the coming months. Commiserations to the unsuccessful applicants – and remember, at least one further round of funding is planned.

If you want to keep in touch with funding news, and other community initiatives taking place in the Wood Street area, the best way is to sign up for updates on this website. It’s easy: just click the ‘Follow’ button on the right of the screen, and enter your email address.