As 2022 draws to a close we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the highlights of Footwork’s enterprising first year as a charity, the leaps and bounds of which have only really become coherent with the benefit of hindsight.
What’s exciting is that in this short time we’ve managed to carve out a clear role for ourselves, which is deliberately distinct from - and complimentary to - other organisations making headway in socially-driven funding and sustainable placemaking. We’ve made strides in distilling five years of experience as ‘ftwork’ - as a ‘disruptor’ and innovator - into an effective springboard to greater things.
In January, we ...
moved into Footwork’s new ‘home’ - the Factory in Clerkenwell - as a wonderful space to bring people together for conversations and to exchange ideas
Through the Spring, we ...
deliberated over our ‘why’ and our ‘what’ to find a clearer sense of purpose
defined a new focus - to identify and support local social innovators ‘to turn their bold ideas into positive change for people and places’
launched our handmade website to the world
In the heat of Summer, we ...
hosted our first event at the Factory “What does it take to bring about change in a place?”
opened the People and Place Fund
recruited 14 local young people for the pilot in Finsbury Park of our initiative My Place, in collaboration with London Development Trust.
In the Autumn, we ...
travelled the UK meeting and learning from local social innovators in their place - from Bradford to Cardiff, Wolverton to Tower Hamlets
committed £85k in flexible funding across ten place-strengthening initiatives via Idea-into-Action to Action-into-Impact grants
As Winter closed in, we ...
welcomed the People & Place Cohort
readied for the Footholds Programme to launch in the New Year with the help of our collaborators Take Note, More Diverse Voices & Shared Assets. More on this exciting strategic support programme to come!
We have also worked alongside others on a range of research and advocacy, all of which are working towards ensuring that local knowledge and wishes are valued and drive decision-making : with Take Note, including their Collaboration Guidebook; with Collective Collaborative Action (CCA), in the writing of London Plan guidance; with Creative Wick, in support of their innovative Living Lab; with Urban Design London on the report of their Urban Challenge; with Shelter From the Storm on their Impact Report.
As the year draws to a close we wanted to say a huge thank you to all our curious collaborators, critical friends, visionary partners & inspirational social innovators. We take so much energy, insight and hope from you as we look ahead to continuing to empower people to create resilient places.
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