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By WEPT (Women Empowerment Project & Training)
Help us to establish a space of belonging for the community, by the community. It will be an intergenerational creative hub welcoming to all, based in Church Street.
We’re crowdfunding to establish a sustainable, permanent, place to deliver our intergenerational creative education and skills training, media and art programmes for disadvantaged young people/adults in Church Street. Our projects foster collaborative, cultural exchange between creative practitioners and disadvantaged youth/adults. By doing so, we build self-confidence, tackle trauma, feelings of isolation and loneliness, provide pathways to further education and increase employability. Situated in the heart of Church Street, STEPS ideally located in the community we work with and provide opportunities to run a range of community driven projects as well as our core programmes. STEPS will consist of fully equipped fashion design studio including classrooms, multi-purpose art/craft room as well as an office/cafe and project/exhibition space. By pledging to our campaign, you’ll also become part of our vision and we invite all donors to visit our space to see the impact of our project.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
WEPT identifies and manages environmental risks by purchasing locally produced fabrics and where possible sustainable materials and donating fabric cut-offs/remnants to charities for patchwork stitching training in the community. Directly from Church Street, we recycle the small vegetable crates which we use for storage and shelving as they are stackable. WEPT also has an idea to establish a community compost scheme to recycle all the fruit and veg left by market traders. Church Street Market is the heart of the community has been a world-renowned vibrant eclectic fashion, art and craft and food market. Unfortunately, Church Street is still one of the most deprived areas in Westminster. Youth unemployment and crime rates and anti-social behaviour are high and civic pride remains negatively affected, confirmed in the tri-borough Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Report 2015.
Steps to get it done:
Our mission is to bring these two worlds together through creative skills training/education. Working in partnership with schools, youth centres, universities, colleges fashion companies and local creatives to deliver high quality creative programmes for young/old people who experience hardship or cannot access education or employment to become the Creative of West London It is a great idea because it: • Provides creative education and training for disadvantaged youth/adults • Brings together all groups in our community • Brings an empty building in to community use-fosters a culture of collaboration between artists and young people/adults Provide more cafe and creative spaces where people can meet culturally and socially. We'll be supporting existing jobs as well as creating new micro-business through our programme offering our graduates, pathways into further education/training, employment and 3 months business support into self-employment in the community.
Gallery
Location St John's Wood
About the space
382-386 Edgware Road, W2 1EB, which is in the heart of Church Street Market and the Antiques and Decorative Art sector in Salisbury Street
Council
City of Westminster
Journey
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Free-to-Access ABC Level 1 Fashion and Textiles vocational qualification designed for people interested in a career in fashion and textiles industry. The content has been designed in response to the sectors need for specific programmes of learning within textiles manufacture and will prepare learners for progression to apprenticeships, employment or further education and training. Working with these priority groups, aged 19-24 and 25+ include: long term unemployed and economically inactive learners; learners aged 50+; learners from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities (BAME); learners without basic skills; female learners; and learners who live in single adult households with dependent children in the Church Street and surrounding areas. • Aspects covered range from pattern and garment construction, using industrial sewing equipment & industrial machining • Learners can gain insight into core manufacture activities related to the making of sewn products such as garments and soft furnishings. • Portfolio of work/updated CV to show potential employers/clients • Increased skills & confidence • Receive up to three months progression support from WEPT to help you find further work, training or get help with starting your micro-business As part of the project, we’re working with Westminster Council Markets Development Team to run a pop-up Market Stall Event 14th March 2023, at the Westminster Cathedral Piazza in Victoria, where our learners will be taking part in this to produce items they could sell as part of the self-employment package for beneficiaries.
Delighted to inform you that the project has been progressing through these months, undergoing behind-the-scenes preparations. We have recently delivered our first project, a 4-week pilot project with an introduction to industrial machinery course, free to access for 8 unemployed women beneficiaries from the community as part of the creative hub programme. This is with the view to running fully accredited ABC quality qualifications that’s industry specific fashion design and garment construction programme including industrial manufacturing production from September 2022. By doing so, we build self-confidence, tackle trauma, feelings of isolation and loneliness and offers pathways to further education, apprenticeship and increase employability. If you are interested in the next programmes, visit us at Church Street Studios, 382-386 Edgware Road, London W2 1EB (Entrance on Church Street Market) or sign up on www.weptproject.co.uk Please be aware that places are limited. To find out more about our training programmes and courses, subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed, and how we help the community.
It's fantastic news that we've now hit our target. Thank you all for believing in us and backing our community project - help us to establish a space of belonging for the community, by the community. It will be an intergenerational creative hub welcoming to all, based in Church Street. The project's only going to get even bigger and better with everything we can raise, so if you haven't done so already why not make a pledge now
Whoop, 60 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Brilliant news, thanks everyone!
The WEPT community project is right in the heart of it all – City of Westminster; the location of the world-renowned Oxford Street and the surrounding shopping areas – fashion and lifestyle destination that’s attracting local shoppers as well as millions of visitors, and cultural tourist destination. At WEPT we feel quite strongly that this is an ideal opportunity to showcase not just the diversity of the Church Street community but also the wealth of traditional artistic skills. We will use the existing skills of participants to enhance the learning of others in the community as well as introducing them all to new skills and pastimes. By gathering the different communities, we can showcase their arts through the adornment of clothing. Traditional dress for both women, men, and children. We will introduce and help people gain experience in using the Internet, email programmes and online social media programmes. We will encourage the younger participants to help older people to use technology thereby breaking down age barriers. We will encourage the older participants to pass on their life experiences and traditional craft skills to the younger generation. By doing this we hope to enhance and improve the knowledge and appreciation of the historic, cultural, and traditional life of those living within the London Borough of Westminster. We have currently reached 88% with 53 backers, WE THANK YOU ALL and just 8 days to go to hit our crowdfunding target. We are offering to honour our top 5 backers getting us across the finishing line, by creating embroidery work with their names that will be permanently displayed in the building. As we’ll only receive the funds raised if we hit our crowdfunding target of £36,435 by 19 April 2022
How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees) £36,326
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Target (inc. fees) £36,326
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