Barking Riverside Limited has formed a partnership with Participatory City Foundation to help activate The Wilds at Barking Riverside, a new ecology centre and community space on Northgate Road, IG11.
The Wilds will host a programme of events led by Every One Every Day, Participatory City’s initiative across the borough of Barking and Dagenham, kicking off with a launch event on Saturday 24th July. The eight-week programme of events, exhibitions and workshops will run from July, inviting visitors into the new building for the first time.
The busy programme will offer activities for all ages, from playing with clay to coffee roasting; from wading on the Thames foreshore to building habitats for local wildlife. Local people will also be able to book co-working areas at The Wilds at Barking Riverside, plus hire the space for making, growing and learning.
The new building will also be the location for GROUNDED, a unique café business, run by a co-operative of local residents. The new co-operative business is incubated by Coffee:Works, a co-operative business development programme delivered as part of the partnership between Every One Every Day and BRL. Coffee:Works will help local people to learn everything there is to set up and run a café co-operative. GROUNDED is set to open on 24th July 2021.
Owned and managed by Barking Riverside Limited, The Wilds at Barking Riverside is a new events space that will offer programmed events, a new café and co-working spaces. Placing an emphasis on incubation, enterprise and sustainability, Barking Riverside Limited’s objective for The Wilds is to provide core amenities for local people, mixed with important social impact programming.
Sarah McCready, Head of Placemaking and Communications at Barking Riverside Limited, comments: “The Wilds is a very different type of community space, which sets a benchmark in innovation, collaboration and quality for the whole of Barking Riverside. The partnership with Participatory City is special not just because it provides innovative programming within the building, but also because it creates a co-operative business, GROUNDED, and a business training programme. This unique model demonstrates how locally rooted enterprises can deliver both social impact and needed amenities in growing communities such as Barking Riverside.”
Tessy Britton, Founding Chief Executive of Participatory City Foundation, comments: “The Wilds is a stunning building and a fantastic resource. The aim through this partnership is to work with residents to have the spaces come to life from the very first day it opens in a way that benefits as many people as possible. We will be doing this through actively connecting with the talents and ideas of the thousands of residents in the Every One Every Day network.”
“Barking Riverside and Participatory City working closely together in this ground-breaking partnership will be ensuring that residents from across the borough have free access and use of the spaces on dedicated days each week, with the intention of rapidly growing The Wilds into a lively and creative hub for community, enterprise and environmental activity.”
The Wilds at Barking Riverside launch event will take place on 24th July 2021. From 24th July 2021, the GROUNDED Café will be open Wednesday – Saturday* from 8:00 am – 3.00pm. Workshops through Every One Every Day will run from 19th July to 12th September and must be pre-booked.
Visit https://thewildsbarkingriverside.london/
The Wilds at Barking Riverside, Northgate Road