Residents’ viewpoint: background to the project
Taking a moment on the holiday weekend to celebrate a community and project dear to my heart: the Whitechapel Stories Mural for Sidney Street, funded by the The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as we launch the project website at www.whitechapelstories.org.
As I've shared with some of you, I only fully discovered my community and neighbours during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020/21. Strangely, working from home was the first period where I got to properly know our neighbours through the shared challenges. As we saw each other clapping for the NHS from our balconies, it was a clear sign we needed a residents’ association. Our small estate had never had one since being built in the early 1970s, which meant we lacked a voice and way to engage constructively with the local council authorities.
Our neighbours agreed, so we set-one up as soon as the removal of lockdown restrictions allowed. We got to work on addressing a multitude of small issues, which added together made a big difference. We finally got better waste management collections in place, marked out the parking bays for disabled residents, helped get repairs prioritised and completed, worked out some mysteries of the communal service charge, and really got to know the great team of people that work so hard for our estate and for estates across Tower Hamlets.
When we first set-up our new residents’ association, we decided we wanted to deliver a project to make a positive difference. Earlier this year we were successful in securing funding from the National Lottery Heritage fund to undertake historical research workshops with the Tower Hamlets Archives, working with our expert and excellent local historian Graham Barker of Walk East. Progress is going well and next year is the goals to turn a drab graffiti-stained flank wall into an artistic expression of our community's shared heritage, history and culture.
Today we launch a website - which you can visit at www.whitechapelstories.org. If you have a passion for local projects, history and community initiatives which make a difference then do get in touch, would love to swap notes!