The many spaces available on Peabody housing estates all over London, made available with the closure of estate offices, now left abandoned and unused, served as inspiration for the project. The acknowledgement that these places could gain great social value by turning them into places where communities could come together is the basis of Small Works. The office on Vauxhall Bridge Road was our first option and after a long process of negotiation and discussions with the residents on the estate, we finally began preparing the space in late summer 2012. Initially an administration office, used by Peabody to manage the estate, collect rent and deal with residents’ grievances, the place had not been used for 3 years and remained unused and solitary, remnant of a different style of administration, no longer viable in a world of electronic banking and direct debit bills payment. However residents still maintain a certain amount of nostalgia for a time when there was an immediate contact they could have access to for any sort of trouble they had with their housing.
Peabody have acknowledged the need to create living environments that sustain not only homes that meet basic living needs, but places that have strong communities, that cater for all sort of needs. Here is where Small Works comes into play. Since our opening on December 17, 2012 our main goal has been to listen to residents, discover their needs and also encourage them to take action. A weekly themed coffee afternoon, where residents get to meet up, share lunch, or join a workshop created the right setting to start exploring ideas about projects in the community. We are also looking forward to starting a CV and Employability Skills course and computer classes.
We have teamed up with social entrepreneurs to help us deliver our classes, including Student Funder, Acknowledging Youths, UnLtd, Community Developers, People Who Share and many others to come. They get free office space to run their activities and in exchange they help create a sustainable centre and provide services to the people in the community.