Gants Hill Community Hub

"We want Gants Hill to be a thriving, welcoming, safer, more connected community where everyone has what they need to have a good quality of life, feel a sense of community, fulfil their aspirations and be proud of living here."

Supported through Redbridge Council’s Community Hubs programme, the Gants Hill Community Vision has been developed through conversations, events and activities with more than a thousand residents and over fifty local organisations across the wards of Barkingside, Clayhall, Cranbrook, Fullwell, Valentines and Aldborough.

This Vision outlines an understanding of the people, places, strengths and those parts of Gants Hill that residents want to change, as we look to the future. It more specifically focuses on the community's desire for a connected, beautiful, vibrant, youthful and safe Gants Hill.

You can read a summary of the document here, or the full report here.

Do you have questions about getting benefits payments, council tax reductions, finding a job that fits your needs, or other pressures related to the cost-of-living?

Redbridge Council is here to help on Tuesdays at Redbridge Institute from 4 July 2023.

Drop-in sessions – 10-12

No appointment needed – just turn up

• Speak with our team to explain your question or issue
• Get answers to your questions if possible or find out what to do next

Booked appointment sessions 2-5pm

Following a conversation in a drop-in session, we may arrange a time for you to get dedicated support from a specialist to:

• Talk through your questions or issues in detail
• Bring any papers or information we might need to look at
• Discuss and agree next steps

Redbridge Institute can be found at Gaysham Avenue, Gants Hill, Ilford, IG2 6TD.

This support offer has moved to Gants Hill after its popularity and success in Hainault Library. Please note Hainault residents can still access support at Redbridge Institute.

Have a look at the whole range of support available on the Redbridge website.

Budding bakers learnt new bagel and roti-making skills at a community bread-making workshop on Saturday 11 February.

13 bakers came together at the event held at Caterham High School. Local baker Michael Kostrzewski from Home Organic Bakery taught the class to make bagels from scratch and home baker Kalpna shared her honed roti-making skills with the group.

The talented class cooked up their treats and shared them for lunch while making new connection with neighbours.

Resident Andrea said: “The bread making workshop was so enjoyable. Sometimes the days drag when there’s nothing much to do, so it was lovely to have something nice to look forward to. What a joy to meet new people who were all upbeat and friendly. I would welcome any future workshops.”

See a gallery of photos below:

Thanks to Caterham High School for hosting us and to all those who attended.

Nearly 150 Gants Hill residents joined Redbridge Council and local organisations to share ideas of how to create a vision for the future of the area.

Local people led five themed workshops and spoke about why the themes they had chosen were important, including women’s safety, making the area more attractive, supporting young people, cleaning up the streets and bringing people together.

Residents came up with creative ideas on what they wanted to change and how to make them happen together with Redbridge Council and local partners. Redbridge Council’s Community Hubs team has reviewed the insights and together with local people are working up plans for next steps. Follow-up actions and activities include:

• Improving women’s safety: Running and improving access to self-defence classes, building trust with the police and Council by improving reporting and feedback, and tackling the impact of social media on attitudes and behaviour towards women
• Transforming Gants Hill: Tackling litter and antisocial behaviour, working with TfL and partners to transform the roundabout and making the area more green by planting trees and flowers
• Supporting young people: Creating a programme of opportunities with young people
• Bringing neighbours together: Creating a source of information about local activities and a programme of events to help people connect.

We are looking for local people to get involved and take forward this great work. For more information, please contact Helen Sorrell or Delwar Hussain.

Information gained from the workshops and the plans will feed into the development of the future Gants Hill Community Hub, which will provide residents access to services on their doorstep and a flexible space to run their own activities.

Local organisations that hosted the events included Redbridge Institute, Frenford Clubs and Gants Hill Library, with partners in attendance including the Metropolitan Police and Malakai Boxing.

At one of the energetic workshops at Frenford Clubs, which saw lots of young people take the platform to get their voice heard, they spoke about their concerns what support looked like for them. 15-year-old Gants Hill resident Imaan Idris said “The event was really amazing because it allowed young people to finally have a say in how we can be helped, which is not an opportunity we often get. I feel listened to and heard!”

15-year-old Rumaysa Ahmed said: “At school I’m not able to voice my opinion to the teachers, but here adults are taking me seriously. It was fun!”

Event attendees were treated to delicious hot meals provided my Gants Hill caterers Tanas Events, Saffron Street and Biryani Guys.

If you would like to be kept up to date on Gants Hill Hub activities, please register for updates on this website.

View a photo slide show of all the events.

What do you want for the future of Gants Hill?

Come and meet your neighbours, enjoy hot food and share your ideas in a series of workshops aimed at enhancing Gants Hill and creating a future vision with neighbours, local organisations and Redbridge Council.

The workshops will provide a chance to explore what people want to change, and the opportunities for how we can work together to make it happen.

The topics to get involved in are:

Click on the topics above to register your attendance for free.

Insight from the Gants Hill Community Research Project will be shared at the workshops. The research was led by local people who collected opinions and information on some of the topics above.

The events will be dynamic and action-focused, so bring your family and neighbours. Hot food will be served, provided by Tanas events and Biryani Guys.

Information gained from the workshops will feed into the development of the future Gants Hill Community Hub, which will provide residents access to services on their doorstep and a flexible space to run their own activities.

A community anti-litter campaign in Gants Hill has been launched, supported by children at Gearies Primary School and led by resident Herbert Street. The campaign has included children creating posters and banners to encourage the community to stop littering, which are being displayed in local businesses and parks.

The campaign, in partnership with residents, Redbridge Council and Vision, saw the creation of a number of posters featuring the children’s handprints to encourage local people to take power into their hands to make their community cleaner. These are showcased in businesses along Cranbrook Road, Gants Hill, as well as on banners rotating around Clayhall Park, Valentines Park, Martley Drive and Redbridge Recreation Ground.

The children discussed how litter made them feel, with many arguing it was impacting their local parks and stopping people from visiting them. Gearies Primary School pupil Asha Mellies said: “We shouldn’t litter as animals might get trapped in it.” Her classmate Darius Stefan-Socarici also warned that “litter can cause injuries”.

Look out for the posters in the shop windows and the park banners, or download a poster and display it in your home or shop window.

Gants Hill resident Herbert Street said: “I became involved in the campaign because I am genuinely embarrassed when friends and relatives visit because of the amount of litter in Gants Hill. Everybody can take personal responsibility for disposing their trash properly and responsibly whether they are at home or out and about.”

Discussing why the campaign included schoolchildren, Herbert added: “to instil a lifelong interest in caring for our parks and streets. We are hoping for a ripple effect as the children discuss the issue with parents and older siblings. The children were perceptive in that they recognised not just the impact on the local area, but how rubbish makes its way to the sea and has a wider impact on the global environment.”

The campaign was the result of a co-designed community research project between residents, Redbridge Council and University College London (UCL). Residents led on a survey to learn how people felt about litter locally. Findings showed that people's perception of litter is wide ranging, from repulsion and lack of pride in the area, to association with safety and wider anti-social behaviour. It also demonstrated that while many residents looked to the Council to solve the litter crisis, 45% of residents believed that individual behaviour is the main cause of litter, which led to the creation of the community campaign. The insights from the research project are feeding into the development of the future Gants Hill Community Hub.

If you’d like to get involved or explore other ways to take action on similar issues, register for a free place at an environment-focused workshop on 19 September.

To learn more or be kept up to date with Hub developments register here.

The Community Hubs programme aims to work with residents to co-design and deliver each Community Hub, and the appointment of architects and design professionals to develop plans for each Hub is an important part of this. Residents participated in the panel interview to appoint RCKa architects in 2020, as well as participating in the Gants Hill Hub Design Group, leading to the production of the Gants Hill Hub Scheme Stage 1 Report. (For further information, access the report here.)

We are looking for up to three residents to form part of a mixed panel process including council officers, community members and an external representative, to appoint the lead consultant and multidisciplinary team who will develop full plans for the Gants Hill Hub scheme. Residents should not have conflicting or political interests in the process.

What we need from you

If you are selected to participate in the process, you will need to:

• Have approximately 30 hours of time to give to the process between June to August 2022
• Commit to the online training, moderation and presentation sessions detailed below
• Commit to reading, understanding and analysing detailed, and often technical, documents, including:
  • Evaluation guidance (which explains the regulations the scoring must be carried out in accordance with)
  • Procurement documents (specification, method statement questions and presentation questions)
  • Submissions received from consultants
• Treat all materials, processes, scoring and discussions on a confidential basis, and will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement
• Have access to technology which will allow you to participate in online meetings/sessions
• You don't need to have any pre-existing expertise around design and development, as we'll provide support and training

Key dates

What you'll get out of it

If you are selected to participate, you will:

• Play a vital role in appointing the team who will work with residents, partners and Redbridge Council to design a state of the art Hub and wider scheme in Gants Hill;
• Develop new skills and knowledge, learning about procurement and the design process
• Be compensated for your time through select vouchers to the value of £250 per person

Next steps

If you're interested in putting yourself forward for one of the resident panel member roles, please click here to complete a simple application by midnight on Sunday 26th June. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email hubs@redbridge.gov.uk.

Let’s Keep Our Streets Clean

Join our campaign to keep Gants Hill litter-free. We believe it is all of our responsibility to keep Gants Hill tidy and to ensure our children grow up in the safe and clean environment that we all deserve.

Our first step is creating a poster campaign with children from Gearies Primary School, which you will see in windows of businesses in Gants Hill roundabout. You can print your own poster out below.

The campaign is being led by a Working Group of residents, Redbridge Council, Vision and Redbridge Village. If you would like to be part of the solution, we would love you to join our Working Group. If you are interested email local resident Herbert who is leading the campaign herbert.sfl@gmail.com or hubs@redbridge.gov.uk.

What can you do?

• Join our Working Group to connect with others and create solutions by contacting herbert.sfl@gmail.com or hubs@redbridge.gov.uk.
• Download a poster to put in your window. Tag @RedbridgeLive on Twitter or @Redbridgecouncil on Instagram or TikTok using the hashtag #LitterFreeGantsHill and we will repost your support for the campaign. You can download a poster here and here.
• Click here to report litter on your street
• Click here to find out about work the council is already doing to tackle litter
• Read more about our findings of the research here

Background

In 2021, residents took part in a co-designed Community Research Project in partnership with Redbridge Council, University College London (UCL) and Mutual Gain. Residents led a survey reaching 120 people to learn about how people felt about litter locally.

What did people tell us?

• litter is ‘disgusting’, ‘dirty’ and ‘unnecessary’;
• some residents avoid areas of Gants Hill because of the amount of litter and are embarrassed to invite people to their homes.
• 45% of residents believe that individual behaviour is the main cause of litter, but 60% of residents looked to the council to solve the litter crisis.

We believe it is everyone has a part to play to keep Gants Hill litter-free.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Gants Hill Community Research Hackathon Weekend on the 27^th and 28^th November. 25 residents joined us over the two days to analyse the data and propose next steps. They were invigorating days and we covered a lot of ground.

On Saturday, we took a deep dive into the data to understand the research and creating priority statements.

On Sunday, we used the priority statements to identify what actions we could take from this.

You can find the research results, including surveys, interviews, observations, photographs and maps that we were analysing.

We are now conducting a survey to decide which priorities and actions we want to focus on. Everyone is welcome to take part. Closing date is Thursday 23rd December.

For enquiries about getting involved in the Gants Hill Community Research Project, please email imran.mir@redbridge.gov.uk.

Following the past three months of research carried out by Community Research Project volunteers, we are holding two in-person, Covid-secure, weekend session to invite residents to analyse the findings from the project, and plan our next steps.

If you're interested in the Gants Hill area or passionate about your local community, it would be brilliant to have you with us on one or both of these days. They're designed so you can join for the whole time, or just drop in for an hour or two.

We'll be looking at the data, photographs, maps and more which have been collated, kicking off at 12pm on Saturday 27th November at Gants Hill Library. There will be a follow-up session on Sunday 28th November at the same times .

If you'd like to come along, please register here so we can ensure that everyone is catered for, and we will send out further details in due course: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gants-hill-community-research-project-data-hack-weekend-tickets-209997447017