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24 March 2006: Local people filled Queens
Road Community Centre, Walthamstow, to celebrate
seven years of success of New Opportunities for
Walthamstow (NOW) the £56m regeneration
scheme that has brought dramatic change to the
area. The event also saw the launch of 'Investing
in People, Communities and Business' a report
that details the success of NOW.
NOW started in 1999 and closes at the end
of March 2006. Over seven years it has funded
35 community projects that have brought dramatic
benefits and provided opportunities previously
unavailable. Examples, include the Limes Children's
and Community Centre, the provision of a new
training facility Uplands House College through
to Healthy Living, helping local people recover
from, and prevent, heart attacks. Many of
these projects are continuing and local people
can find out more at www.walthamstownow.co.uk.
NOW was developed by the NOW Partnership Board,
made of elected members from the community,
local businesses and Councillors; supported
by the London Borough of Waltham Forest and
administered by the London Development Agency.
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Above:
NOW report 'Investing in People, Communities
and Business'. Avaliable from Council offices
and libraries.
Download
copy |
Key NOW successes include: [full list
in notes to editors]
1,000 jobs created
926 jobs safeguarded
125 businesses started up
76,148 square meters of new business or commercial
floor space
46,451 people benefited from community safety
initiatives
3,589 weeks of construction employment provided
2,008 residents obtained qualifications
4.433 young people benefited from development
training
7,844 pupils increased their educational attainment
450 community groups supported
278 homes of vulnerable residents provided with
upgraded security
12,552 new childcare places provided
Guy Davis, Chair of the NOW Board, opened the
celebrations, which included performances from
Estate of the Arts, an arts focused community
group and huge birthday cake to celebrate NOW's
seventh year. Local people gave testimony on how
NOW projects were benefiting their lives, describing
live before and after NOW funding.
New NOW Report: Investing In People, Communities
and Business
Investing in People, Communities and Business
was launched by Guy Davis at the celebration event.
The new report profiles the work of NOW over the
last seven years and features in detail 17 of
the 35 NOW projects that have brought change to
the area. Case studies of local people are included
as well as key statistics on what the NOW programme
has delivered. Copies of the report are available
in Council offices and libraries and can be downloaded
from www.walthamstownow.co.uk. Many of the projects
featured in the report are continuing to help
local people. Examples include:
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The Limes Community and Children's
Centre: £350,000 of NOW funding
enabled the renovation of William Morris Hall
where The Limes is located. The Limes, is
used by hundreds of children and families
every month all making use of facilities and
play areas that did not exist prior to NOW's
funding. |
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Shopmobility: £242,000
of NOW funding enabled Shopmobility to set
up in Walthamstow and provide assistance and
mobility scooters to people unable to access
the town centre. Over 1,500 local people with
physical or sensory disabilities, who were
previously unable to travel independently,
can now regularly access the town centre and
surrounds. |
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Uplands House College:
£545,000 of NOW funding totally transformed
Uplands House into a vibrant community college,
with 600 students using its facilities each
week to undertake courses as diverse as hair
and beauty to IT resource management. |
Guy Davis, chair of the NOW board, said:
"NOW set out with a vision to bring radical
change to Walthamstow and Leyton for the benefit
of local people, community organisations and businesses.
With the support of local people, we have succeeded
in delivering such change in many ways. From large
projects like the Town Centre transformation to
smaller community initiatives like The Limes centre,
NOW has supported programmes that continue to
benefit people across the community.
"NOW projects have tackled issues that are
important to local people, such as protecting
elderly residents from burglary, increasing pupils'
attainment and attracting businesses and jobs
to the area. Importantly, many of the projects
have been managed and run by local people, and
we should all be grateful for their hard work
and commitment.
"NOW may have finished, but the need for
community development continues. I encourage everyone
with the interests of Walthamstow at heart to
read the NOW report, find out more about NOW,
and get involved in the NOW projects continuing
today in their local community."
Arfaa, an 11 year old, a member of
The Limes Community and Children's Centre said:
"I love The Limes and try to go as often
as I can! My older brother, who has special needs,
and my younger brother and sister also go to the
Limes and they enjoy it too. It's a great place
for disabled and non disabled children to go,
there are always lots of exciting activities happening
and anyone can take part."
Daphne Sibson, Walthamstow resident and
Shopmobility user said: "I have a new
lease of life thanks to Shopmobility. Before I
was unable to leave my home without help. Now
I can visit the shops and my friends as often
as I like and have visited all most every pub
in Walthamstow!"
The night's celebrations closed with a raffle
draw, Uplands House College gave a £50 voucher
for beauty treatment at the College's Image Salon
and Greenwich Leisure Ltd gave a year's free gym
membership worth over £500. Separately,
Tribal SDP - the company contracted by London
Borough of Waltham Forest and the NOW Board to
run the NOW regeneration - donated £500
to Refugee Advice NOW, a NOW project helping refugees
living in the area.
NOW's dedicated website, www.walthamstownow.co.uk, was launched in August 2005. Over 5,000 people have used the site to date and 109 signed up to receive NOW news.
END
Further Information
Rachel
Johnson, NOW Press Officer, now@kallaway.co.uk,
020 7221 7883
Mandy
Shiel, NOW Programme Manager, Tribal SDP, 020
8519 7790
Rav
Singh, Regeneration Manager, LBWF, 020 8496
4125
From April 1 2006 all NOW enquires should be made
to Rav Singh, Regeneration Manager, London Borough
of Waltham Forest, 020 8496 4125.
About NOW (www.walthamstownow.co.uk)
NOW has directly provided real and lasting benefit
to Walthamstow and surrounding areas by investing
£56 million into the area for seven years
from 1999 to 2006. NOW was formed in 1999 and successfully
bid for £14m from the Single Regeneration
Budget. This money has been used to support 35 NOW
projects and lever an additional £42m of public
and private sector funding towards regeneration.
Without NOW, this match funding would have been
lost to the area. Match funding was secured from
many sources including the London Borough of Waltham
Forest, the European Union, London Buses, Waltham
Forest voluntary sector groups and private companies.
NOW funded 35 projects that sought to provide or
increase:
Access
to employment
Revitalisation
through development
Community
empowerment
NOW's funding helped enable Walthamstow's Town
Centre to be transformed, its High Street revitalised
and a new transport hub provided. These award
winning physical changes not only benefit Walthamstow
but the borough as a whole. Within the community,
local residents of all ages, business people and
service providers have benefited from a range
of NOW projects all seeking to help and empower
the local population.
Key NOW statistics include:
1,050 jobs created
926 jobs safeguarded
7,844 pupils whose educational attainment has
been improved
4,433 young people benefited from personal and/or
social development training
125 business start-ups
76,148 square meters of new business or commercial
floor space
46,451 people benefited from community safety
initiatives
4,213 people accessed new health facilities
1,131 people employed in voluntary work
12,552 new childcare places provided
73,589 weeks of construction employment provided
15,834 weeks of training provided
2,008 people obtaining qualifications as a result
of training
888 residents helped to access employment
774 disadvantaged residents helped to access employment
278 dwellings of vulnerable residents provided
with upgraded security
450 community groups supported
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Above: Guy
Davis, Chair NOW Board, and 10 year old Camara
Searon from Estate of the Arts, cut NOW's seventh
year birthday.
Above: Arfaa,
11 years old, from The Limes gives testimony on
how The Limes has benefited her. Quote in press
release. 
Above:
Shopmobilty users celebrate all that
NOW has achieved. Daphne Sibson, [red top] gave
testimony on how Shopmobility had benefited her
life. Quote in press release. 
