Nearly £200,000 awarded by Mayor of London’s OPDC to local creatives in Acton and Park Royal

Following an open call for ideas for the Acton and Park Royal Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ), Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and Ealing Council has revealed the ten projects who will recieve a share of £199,275 being made available.

In a statement, OPDC said: “the  funding has been awarded to support projects that will focus on delivering affordable community and creative spaces, developing creative talent and a digital network platform. The successful projects represent the diversity of Acton and Park Royal, with 82% of the projects being run by minority ethnic, female, LGBTQIA, and disabled led organisations.”

The ten awardees are:

Excelsior Studios (£90,000): creating a new affordable space that will be home to the CEZ Hub, accessible by local creatives and businesses

MAMA Youth Project (£19,000): joining forces with reputable film studio, Garden Studios to deliver a digital media production training course for young people from underrepresented and challenging backgrounds

Bollo Brook Youth Centre (£10,000): working with young people to produce a film about the area’s tea houses and creativity

A LOOK INTO (£15,525): delivering 10-month workshop programme on accessing the film industry and gaining tangible skills to secure work experience and employment

Form and Beyond (£5,000): curating the first-of-its-kind market event that will develop connections in the local area, promoting goods, services and materials to the local community.

W3 Hive (£10,750): using Re’Store and EX2 Studio to host pop-ups, events, talks and workshops to promote the circular economy and makers in Acton and Park Royal

ARTification and Pati Starzykowski (£9,000): engaging the community in the creation of two public art installations within the local area

Hikayetna (meaning Our Story) (£5,000): hosting Park Royal Nights events giving opportunities for storytelling, poetry, music and inspiration within the community

Loom Projects (£5,000); creating of the first Park Royal Womens’ Group providing a safe space for women to gather, share, collaborate and support women who live and work in the area

Park Royal Design District (£30,000): developing a central website to grow and build a directory of creative businesses, local events calendar, interactive map and creative research into a procurement platform

Bob Clarke, CEO & Founder MAMA Youth Project welcomed their award: “As a Media Inclusion charity committed to giving opportunities to underrepresented groups, we transform the lives of young people who have limited educational and work opportunities by getting them trained and employed in the TV and digital media industry. We give them the opportunity to have a meaningful career that allows them to become self-sustainable, often taking them out of the benefit system and turning them into positive role models for their peers. Myself and all the team at MAMA Youth Project are extremely grateful for this opportunity and excited by the prospective potential of collaborating with CEZ.”

David Lunts, OPDC CEO said: “Acton and Park Royal is home to some of the capital’s most interesting and creative artists, makers and producers. As the Mayor’s development corporation for regenerating the area, we’re investing in and supporting local people and businesses. The ten recipients of the Open Call for Ideas represent the innovative and inspiring spirit of Acton and Park Royal and we look forward to working with them to deliver these fantastic initiatives.”

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes added: “There is such a wealth of talent in the borough and it’s so encouraging to see it coming to life within our Creative Enterprise Zone. This is a brilliant scheme to be part of, it encourages these businesses to grow, share ideas and develop new talents. Congratulations to all the successful applicants and it is fantastic to see such a rich diversity of business leaders driving forward these exciting and invigorating projects.”

The Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, Justine Simons OBE commented: “It’s more vital than ever that we get behind our city’s world leading creative industries and I am really proud of the difference the Mayor’s Creative Enterprise Zones are making to London’s creative community. These projects don’t just give young people an opportunity to experience the creative industries but uplift and benefit the wider local community and help us build a more vibrant London for everyone.”

Rachel Pepper, director of ARTification gave thanks for the support they are getting. “We are delighted to be contributing to the Creative Enterprise Zone and are pleased that we have been successful in our proposal to work on the ‘ARTification and Pati Starzykowski Community art installation’. Our approach to placemaking aims to democratise the processes and include local voices in public art making. The project, delivered in partnership with local artist Pati, involves explorations through pop-up events & forming ideas about what we wish to create. We will work with local communities and public artists, to deliver tasters, training sessions, create public art, and hold celebratory events and exhibitions.”