Awards grants to eighteen local organisations
Awards grants to eighteen local organisations

The Earls Court Development Company launches third year of annual community fund grants worth £180,000

  • The Earls Court Development Company has launched its third year of Community Fund grants worth £180,000
  • The annual fund aims to support the local community in and around the Earls Court site and surrounding boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea
  • This year’s Community Fund will also grant funds for operational costs for projects to reflect the current cost-of-living crisis
  • Since the Fund was launched in 2021, it has provided financial support worth up to £360,000 to 26 charities and community groups operating in the local area

The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) has today launched the third year of its annual Earls Court Community Fund to support charities and community organisations operating in the neighbourhoods surrounding the Earls Court site.

The Earls Court Community Fund, valued at £180,000 per year, offers grants to ensure local groups can continue to provide longer term much-needed support, projects, services, and activities for the community. From the grants distributed in the first round of the Community Fund in 2021, the selected charities and organisations were able to generate £3.8million worth of social value activity across Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea. This year, to reflect the current cost-of-living crisis, the Fund will also accept applications to support the operational costs of projects, including staff salaries, utilities and rents.

Organisations can apply for a grant of up to £15,000 for projects taking place for up to one year in duration. To be eligible to apply for a grant, organisations must meet at least one of the three priority areas:

1. Communities and people: Projects that build a strong sense of community and provide opportunities to learn new things, meet new people and feel connected with their neighbours.

2. Health and wellbeing: Initiatives that support mental and physical wellbeing, enabling local people to build resilience and flourish, personally and professionally.

3. Young people and training: Projects that support young people through the integration of education, skills development and employability, making them better placed to access new, exciting opportunities.

Commenting on the impact of the Earls Court Community Fund, Rebekah Paczek, Director of Public Affairs & Community Relations at ECDC, said:

“Since we launched the Earls Court Community Fund in 2021, we have seen the enormous impact it’s had in our communities, through the charities and organisations we support.

Over the past two years, the fund has provided much needed assistance to a variety of different groups - from tackling loneliness in the elderly to giving displaced women support, including delivering activities in Ukrainian and Russian languages to support refugees.

We’re delighted to continue to provide this support and make a real difference in the community, and we look forward to receiving this year’s round of applications.”

David Buxton, CEO of Action on Disability, a recipient of the 2022 Community Fund, said:

“Funding from the Earls Court Community Fund has helped our Peer Support Groups to significantly develop over the past year. These groups are led by local residents with disabilities and have empowered them to become involved in local activities, such as the garden project and creative writing and independent living forums.

The funding has supported our move into a new, fully accessible, inclusive ground floor Centre for Independent Living. It has also helped us prepare to launch the new ‘Our Place’ project, creating new opportunities to set up more Peer Support Groups; for example, for the Deaf BSL Community. We are so grateful to The Earls Court Development Company and thank them for their support - we are very excited to welcome more disabled residents in our new Centre and reach out to the wider community.”

To be eligible for the Fund, a group will need to be a formally constituted not-for-profit organisation either based in the Earl’s Court opportunity area, or directly benefit the lives of those who live, work or study there. For a full list of eligibility criteria, and a map of the opportunity area, please click here.

Applications to the Earls Court Community Fund are now open and will close on Tuesday 30 May 2023. To submit an application, please click here.

The Earls Court Community Fund is part of the wider community and culture programme that ECDC is delivering, which aims to engage local people in the plans for the site from an early stage.

 

For all media enquiries please contact London Communications Agency:

 

Joseph Booth
jb@londoncommunications.co.uk
07769 325766

Hannah Sebastian
hms@londoncommunications.co.uk
07737 892126

 

About The Earls Court Development Company

The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) is an Earls Court-based business, responsible for driving the development of the Earls Court masterplan forward on behalf of Earls Court Partnership Limited. Earls Court Partnership Limited is the joint venture between Delancey (on behalf of its client funds and the Dutch pension fund manager, APG) and Transport for London (TfL).

In February 2023, after over two years of discussion and engagement with local communities, ECDC presented the emerging designs for the masterplan of the derelict 40-acre site. The masterplan will evolve over the course of 2023, with a planning application due to be submitted by the end of the year. The draft masterplan proposes:

  • A new park at the heart of the site, larger in size than Trafalgar Square.
  • Other public spaces including a new entrance square opposite Earl’s Court station that will retain and celebrate the steps to the Exhibition Centres, set to become a new but familiar West London public space and a key connection point through to Earl’s Court Road
  • A variety of new performance and community venues and cultural programmes that attract and nurture talent.
  • 15,000 new jobs in a new economic centre for West London, and 2,000 construction jobs during the build period
  • 4,500 new homes to cater for all needs, targeting 35% affordable across all tenures.
  • A plan that delivers for London and the UK, projecting £1.2billion per year GVA to the economy and £100million of annual spend into the local economy.

The site is 40 acres, with the total scheme set to deliver around 680,000 sq m (7.35m st feet) of development. The plans propose building on just 40% of the site, leaving as much space as possible for public open space. ECDC’s proposals are for a truly mixed-use scheme of around 60% residential and 40% commercial, culture, community, and retail space.

The economic projections of the proposals for Earls Court show significant public benefits for London and the wider UK. The scheme will contribute £1.2bn per year Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy with £37.2m per year spending by workers to the local economy.

What’s happening at Earls Court?
Earls Court is London’s biggest redevelopment opportunity, and there is an opportunity to create something extraordinary on this 40-acre site. ECDC has already made progress in the early delivery of community and cultural programmes on site and across the local area. This activity includes:

  • The BBC Earth Experience opened on site on 30 March this year with their attraction Seven Worlds, One Planet. State-of-the-art projection technology takes visitors on a 360-degree journey, guided by the narration of Sir David Attenborough. Tickets for the attraction are now on sale.
  • In November 2022, ECDC opened the award-winning production of ‘The Great Christmas Feast’ by The Lost Estate at the former Mannequin Factory. The current production – ‘The Jazz Show’ – opened on 9 March 2023.
  • A vibrant pop-up high street on Lillie Road also offers food, drink, and shopping. One unit, called The Pop Up, is a free-to-use retail space, providing a pressure-free environment for new traders.
  • Launched a portrait focus Artist in Residence programme in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery offering artists £3,000 a month for a three-month residency.
  • Underbelly Festival has had two successful summers at Earls Court, transforming the site into a free public beach and open-air cinema alongside street food traders, pop-up bars and games for all ages, with over 160,000 people visiting the festival site over two years.
  • The Earls Court community fund of £180,000 is distributed amongst local charities annually since 2021.
  • In June 2022, we opened a new Community Hub in West Kensington, a flexible space run by and for residents – hosting a range of mostly free activities and classes every week for local people.
  • In summer 2022, we launched Empress Studios – a creative workspace initiative that transformed six Victorian townhouses into 46 affordable studios for local creatives and innovators.
  • Brought the space in front of Earl’s Court Station (Warwick Road entrance) back to life with art installations, first hosting the Pleasure Garden in summer 2021 and more recently the Stars of Earl’s Court takeover by Azarra Amoy.
  • A partnership with London Design Festival (the first time LDF has ever come to Earl’s Court) in 2022.