Angel Edmonton, LB Enfield
A community-led cultural programme has been working to change the narrative in Angel Edmonton, Enfield. Fore Street for All Community Interest Company (CIC) sought to foster a safe and welcoming night-time economy along the high street by bringing communities together through culture.
Struck by the disparity between Angel Edmonton – which has higher levels of deprivation and lower life expectancy – and wealthier parts of borough, Fore St for All CIC was formed by a collaboration of the neighbourhood forum, Residents of Edmonton Angel Community Together (REACT), local architects Fisher Cheng and arts organisation Hive Curates. The CIC – which was formed in direct response to the HSfA programme – seeks to bring positive change to an area which faces significant socio-economic challenges and to help steward the community through proposed large-scale future development.
“Those local relationships were really critical to the early success of the programme, because it was a brand new thing and nobody had seen culture on the high street like this before.” – Yuting Cheng, Fore St for All CIC
The CIC worked with local businesses, creatives and residents to deliver monthly events and workshops that celebrated Upper Edmonton and its diverse communities, from its base in the GLA-funded Fore Street Living Room Library. To date, they have brought together over 6,000 members of the community through 13 evening events and three festivals. Whilst the library was their hub, they have collaborated with and supported 16 other high street venues and as well as 128 creatives, individuals and businesses to host and deliver the programme. Activities have included live music, theatre, silent discos, spoken word and workshops with schools, to name a few.
Supporting the local economy has been a core principle of the programme, and the CIC employed a cultural programme curator and three local young people as programme assistants. Offering paid roles to local creatives for involvement in the programme delivered local returns and meant that local networks and contacts were invited into the process.
Their most recent event connected further along one of London’s longest high streets. Spanning borough boundaries, ‘North London Lates’ was delivered in partnership with Haringey’s ‘Made by Tottenham’. The summer festival offered a trail of events and activities, connecting the communities of Edmonton and Tottenham through music, art, circus performances and food.
Looking to the future, the CIC has recently supported the activation of (Good Growth Funded) Angel Yard, and is now partnering with Angel Yard operator, Launch It, and local, young businesses to deliver Makers Markets – continuing their legacy of changing the perceptions of under-used spaces in the area.
