Euston Town Project Updates
A lowdown of all of our projects and where we’re at with them now…
Green Interventions
We’ve completed planting schemes, signage, hoardings and a pocket park along the Euston Green Link! Our pocket park outside Westminster Kingsway College and our planters on North Gower Street are in full bloom and looking beautiful thanks to Cityscapes.
We’ve used our funding to make vital improvements to the aesthetics and functionality of the pocket park space, opening it up to all stakeholders. Not only does this provide a much-needed park space, it will help bridge the gap between various sectors of the local community, encouraging residents, workers and visitors to explore greenery along a clean air walking route between Euston station and Regent’s Park!
Public art sculpture
We will soon be installing Jasmine Pradissitto’s NOx-absorbent sculpture called ‘Breathe,’ along the Euston Green Link. Her sculpture is made out of a geopolymer which absorbs NOx from the air…This will hopefully create a talking point when it’s installed, raising awareness of the air quality crisis in London. Read more about Jasmine’s sculpture here.
We are also finalising a cultural strategy with MTArt which outlines our aim of creating a sense of place and local ownership, engagement and social cohesion. More details to follow!
BLEF Application
Following a series of public consultations on Drummond Street and the surrounding neighbourhood, Euston Town are through to the second round of HS2’s Business and Local Economy Fund. The £1 million project would revitalise Drummond Street and the surrounding neighbourhood, using greenery, improved building facades and public spaces to boost the local economy, and establish a place for these independent traders in the future of Euston’s development.
They’re currently in the process of writing a funding application which includes a ‘vision document’ with Jan Kattein Architects. This will package up the objectives and ambitions of local stakeholders and provide a set of cohesive design proposals based on consultation events.
Youth Employment Programme
We are concerned about the safety of vulnerable young people in our community, and we know that employment is a key factor in making young people safe. That’s why we’ve partnered with local charity, Camden Giving, to fund and trial a Young People’s Employment Programme. Find out more about the programme here.
Alternative Camden
Alternative Camden is our new take on an innovation district, and explores ways we can identify and respond to challenges and opportunities of the changing economy.
As part of this, we hosted an Ideas Lab to brainstorm ideas for building an alternative future for Camden. After this, we held our first Citizens Lab to discuss these ideas and find out what we can do about them. We were joined by a fantastic group of people who live, work and call Camden their home. Here’s what we found out.
We’re now in the process of running experiments on four different themes identified during these events: noise pollution, rooftop planning, improving streets, and smart covenants. Keep an eye on the alt.cmd website for updates.
Camden Collective
We’re approaching our 10 year anniversary of Camden Collective! From pop-up shops to exhibitions, design studios to co-working spaces, we’ve injected life into a whole range of otherwise vacant spaces, supporting hundreds of startups, artists and organisations. Over the next couple of months we’ll be sharing the highlights of our Collective journey so far. Watch this space!
Camden Highline
The Camden Highline team have been busy working with students at two STEAM Hub schools (that’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths), Torriano School and Regent High School to deliver our learning, education and engagement programme. So far, they’ve completed a series of workshops and over 50 junior and secondary students have taken part so far. Hold tight for information about the summer exhibition, workshops, and a bigger and better Education programme.
The Highline has also been awarded funding to make improvements to Camden Gardens park, which is located beneath the western end of the Highline route. Volunteering sessions began this week! If you want to volunteer at a future date, please join the waiting list by emailing info@camdenhighline.com
Euston Town Security team
Our temporary intervention to provide additional security presence in Euston with our Community Wardens has been a major success.
Businesses and residents alike have called for its extension and we will be extending the project another 12 months, monitoring its benefits as it progresses. Please get in touch if you have any questions.
Humans of Camden
We’ve been posting our collection of quotes and photographs from our Humans of Camden collection, aimed at celebrating Camden’s diversity, identity, vibrancy and history. We’ve got an exciting collaboration with Camden People’s Theatre coming up, where we’ll be expanding the project to cover some of Euston’s diverse characters as part of their 25th anniversary. Keep your eyes peeled!
Future Changemakers Fund
We’ve allocated funding towards Camden Giving’s fantastic Future Changemakers programme and the deadline for youth services to apply to the fund has just ended.
Over the next few weeks, they will start deciding which community organisations and charities will receive funding by the summer holidays, in order to make Camden safer for 16–25 year olds.
Find out more about the programme here.
C4WS’ ‘Home from Home’
We’ve allocated funding towards ‘Home from Home,’ a hosting project managed by homeless charity C4WS and monitored by Camden Giving, where people with spare rooms offer these to guests of C4WS. Find out more by reading our blog.
