The Wilds at Barking Riverside Opens to the Public

Elected Councillors joined representatives from Barking Riverside Limited, Every One Every Day and over 400 visitors, at a public festival to mark the opening of The Wilds at Barking Riverside, a new multi-purpose community, ecology and events space.

 At the launch event in July, visitors could take part in a variety of workshops and talks, sample tasty treats from a new coffee collaborative and food truck, watch breakdancing performances by social enterprise EPIC (Every Person is Capable), and view Growing Riversiders, a pop-up art installation at The Wilds. There were talks from community groups such as the Barking Food Forest and Healthy Mind Healthy Grind, and workshops focussed on activities like plant propagation and bird house building. 

 Councillors Saima Ashraf and Fatuma Nalule were the first customers at GROUNDED, a new and unique coffee shop that will be run by community members on the ground floor of The Wilds. This new co-operative business has been incubated by Coffee:Works, a business development programme delivered as part of the partnership between Every One Every Day and BRL. Coffee:Works has enabled the community members involved to learn everything needed to set up and run a coffee shop in just two months.

 Sarah McCready, Head of Placemaking and Communications at Barking Riverside Limited, comments: “We’re thrilled to open The Wilds to visitors and the community, and to see the enthusiasm for the offer. The Wilds is a very different type of facility. It is different not only in its design, but more importantly in its curation and programming. By creating a partnership with Every One Every Day to both activate The Wilds with a free programme of locally-led workshops, and also to invest in a social business like GROUNDED, we are setting up The Wilds to have a tangible social impact, whilst providing the amenities that people need to live well.” 

 Nat Defriend, Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Chief Operating Officer at Participatory City, comments, “We are very pleased to be helping to activate The Wilds, bringing a programme of events from Every One Every Day to the space this summer, as well as partnering with BRL and residents to deliver a new coffee shop built on co-operative principles. This building is a fantastic new amenity and an example of true partnership with local people. The volume of people who attended the opening event, and who have joined our workshops since then, demonstrates the huge appetite for a facility like this in the area.”  

 Created by Barking Riverside Limited, The Wilds is a multi-purpose community, ecology and events space. Proudly locally-led, The Wilds delivers both neighbourhood amenities, including co-working spaces and a coffee-shop, whilst providing a platform for visitors and the community to connect with the natural environment at Barking Riverside. Also home to the innovative Envac vacuum waste collection system, The Wilds is a place for creativity and big thinking in relation to sustainability, recycling and re-use. The launch festival marked the start of ‘Wild About…’, an 8 week programme of activities and events by Every One Every Day. Throughout the Summer, the programme will offer a range of activities for all ages – from clay making and coffee roasting to plastic recycling and creating habitats for wildlife.

GROUNDED Café will be open Wednesday – Saturday* from 8:00am – 3:00pm.

 Workshops by Every One Every Day will run until 9^th September. Booking is not required.

 The Every One Every Day Team are at The Wilds Tuesday and Thursday 10 – 6pm throughout August.

 Co-working and room hire are available at The Wilds.

 Visit  https://thewildsbarkingriverside.london/ for more information.