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#whoseheritage A Heart of Hackney Park

Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.

#whoseheritage  A Heart of Hackney Park

#whoseheritage A Heart of Hackney Park

Cordwainers Grow CIC By Cordwainers Grow CIC

Help us revitalise our beautiful park in the heart of Hackney to create a space for the whole community to enjoy. We want to bring the people of Hackney together through a host of pop up events!

Hackney Delivery stage

£3,527
pledged of £31,079

Sorry this project was unsuccessful, we did not reach our fundraising goal.

With a series of six events and several areas of improvement we will turn the appearance & usage of this small but wonderful park around. We need the crowd to help us nurture the park back to its former glory by funding the new dye bed, a series of space based events, establish a 'Friends Of' group, and revamp bins, benches & small building that will provide a wonderful covered space for future park based activities. Events will enable local residents to reconnect with this underused space and come to understand its local heritage & importance to the area. Celebrate the bio-diversity of the space, learn new skills through natural dyes, embroidery and heritage. Find out about the hidden heritage of plants and how that relates to modern immigration. Reclaim plants for communities with an exciting artist developed game set to blow up the world of botany. With new bins to increase recycling rates, smart benches to relax on St Thomas's Rec will become the newest Hackney destination.

What we'll deliver:

  • 2 x Natural Dyeing pop up events
  • 2 x #HackneyBanner Pop up embroidery events
  • 1 x #whosheritage game launch event
  • 1 x #whosheritage discover the Rec event
  • Revamp bins, benches, pathways, and small building
  • Develop a 'Friends of group for long term support of the park
  • Create a natural dye bed as per professional design

Why it's a great idea:

Currently this park is supported by Hackney Parks maintenance team who are doing the best job they can in the face of severe cuts to services. On the surface St Thomas Rec suffers from anti-social behaviour and many local residents feel it is an unsafe space. However there is huge hidden value in this park. Tucked away behind an ivy covered imposing white archway is an area of significant historic and horticultural heritage. The design that remains very much unchanged since the mid-Victorian period when London's first female landscape gardener, Fanny Wilkinson, turned her hand to it. With links to Thomas Braidwood who pioneered schools for the deaf, and the hotbed of C17 non-conformity this space has many stories. A snippet of what has been uncovered about this park to be shared with the wider community. Add to this the surrounding horticultural history that goes back 100's of years, and how that relates to the current diverse culture of Hackney equals a fascinating project.

Steps to get it done:

  • sourcing and planting dye plants needed to complete the garden design
  • Creating clear pathways around planting of dye beds as per design
  • installing plant descriptions, design plaque and information into dye bed space
  • Revamp current park benches and replace if needed
  • Revamp and replace current park bins as needed
  • Paint and repair current building in park
  • Hold six pop up community engagement events

It is important that this project has a dedicated project manager to organise the activities in a timely and safe way. Liaising with Hackney Parks and Council to make sure the all events are suitably arranged and stewarded. They will also be tasked with developing the 'Friends of' group over the course of a twelve month period, arranging monthly meetings, keeping up with feedback and being the link between the public and the council. The project manager will look at ways to support the development of the project, create a SWOT analysis and plan for project management withdrawal - leaving the community in a position of strength to continue. Working with the council the PM will increase the volunteering opportunities within the park space, develop a community owned narrative of the heritage, and importance of the space and produce a sustainable support system to ensure the space is used for the good of the local community.

Location Hackney

About the space

St Thomas's Recreation Ground

Council

London Borough of Hackney

How will the money be spent?Total £31,078

Project Manager for 1.5 days per week over 12 months - £12,480 (40%)
Artist Development of #whosheritage game - £3,000 (10%)
Hackney Herbal refreshment stall at 6 events - £1,800 (6%)
Replacement benches x 4 inc installation - £1,592 (5%)
Replacement recycling bins x 4 inc installation cost - £1,560 (5%)
Display items for the dye bed - £1,338 (4%)
Friends of Meeting support x 12 - £948 (3%)
Event Support - £700 (2%)
Hand tools for volunteer gardening sessions - £697 (2%)
Advertising & promotional materials for project - £585 (2%)
Other - £6,378 (21%)

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.

40%
Project Manager for 1.5 days per week over 12 months
£12,480
10%
Artist Development of #whosheritage game
£3,000
6%
Hackney Herbal refreshment stall at 6 events
£1,800
5%
Replacement benches x 4 inc installation
£1,592
5%
Replacement recycling bins x 4 inc installation cost
£1,560
4%
Display items for the dye bed
£1,338
3%
Friends of Meeting support x 12
£948
2%
Event Support
£700
2%
Hand tools for volunteer gardening sessions
£697
2%
Advertising & promotional materials for project
£585
21%
Other Read More
£6,378
  • Spacehive fees
    £1,285
  • Transaction Fees
    £1,213
  • Revamp of Building to inc paint and supplies
    £580
  • Dye bed design & horticultural advice
    £500
  • Dye event supplies inc fabric and consumables
    £454
  • Gazebo's x 2 and weights
    £420
  • Volunteer expenses
    £420
  • #HackneyBanner supplies x 2 events
    £376
  • #whosheritage events x 2
    £340
  • VAT
    £257
  • Purchase of extra dye plants
    £252
  • 2 x folding tables
    £166
  • Embroidery Floss
    £115

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:

  • Engage a specialist worker to link with homeless residents and encourage volunteering in the park
  • Develop, promote, and support volunteering days on a twice monthly basis for 12 months
  • Self publish the Colour Wheel natural dyeing book currently being developed with volunteers
  • Develop training tools for natural dyeing

Total £31,078

Our Volunteer List

We're currently looking for people to offer skills and time to develop our project! Check out the list of what we need below and then use the 'Volunteer' button to the right to get involved.
  • Social Media - some help to manage a social media drive for the project
  • Photography - skills in taking some wonderful images to help publicise the work but also as a beautiful record
  • Hand Tools - We would particularly like to have some hand tools that less physically able people could use
  • Strong travelling tool box - as we do not have an on site storage for hand tools, gloves etc that we will need to volunteering sessions a sturdy and lockable travelling tool box would be amazing
  • Printer/Scanner - our one is over five years old and we would love one that works on wifi - it doesn't need to be new just a good workhorse with a wireless capability
  • Fabric - that is going to waste, undyed to be used for sample swatches at dye events and also for practice embroidery

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