03 Sep 2024
Havering Changing awarded £250,000 of Creative People and Places National Portfolio Funding by Arts Council England
Havering Changing is delighted to have been awarded £250,000 by Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places National Portfolio Funding (April 2025 – March 2026) for the people living in our community to continue to lead their own inspiring creative programmes. This means that Havering Changing is funded by the Arts Council England until at least March 2026. Havering Changing would like to thank all of the Change Makers, participants, volunteers, community partners, venues and funders, who include the London Borough of Havering, Clarion Futures and Romford BID, who have all played such an important part in the success of the project so far.
James Jackson, Project Director for Havering Changing said:
‘We are thrilled by the support shown by Arts Council England in continuing to fund this amazing project. Since November 2019, local people have come together to create and celebrate on their doorsteps, at bustling markets, in our beautiful green spaces, in busy high streets, and much loved community, youth and faith spaces.
By our community coming together we have made all this happen, and in doing so, have staged over 500 free events and activities, opened 4 creativity hubs, engaged more than 50,000 people in hyper local arts and culture, and invested over £1.5 million into the local creative economy’.
About Havering Changing
Havering Changing is a consortium of eight organisations, led by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, working with Clarion Futures (the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group), New City College, Havering Asian Social & Welfare Association (HASWA) Havering Volunteer Centre, London Borough of Havering Youth Services and myplace, Rainham Association for Village Events (R.A.V.E.), and The Mercury Shopping Centre.
We support local people in Collier Row Harold Hill, Orchard Village, Rainham & Rush Green to choose, create and take part in their own programme of arts and culture. In each place, groups of Change Makers have taken ownership of the creative and cultural offer available on their doorstep and how that offer is tailored to local needs and identity. This way of programming new and different creative activities is designed to make a real difference to the community and to individuals’ lives.
About Creative People and Places
Havering Changing is part of the Creative People and Places programme, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Creative People and Places is about more people taking the lead in choosing, creating and taking part in creative and cultural experiences in the places where they live.
Since 2012, there have been over 15 million engagements with the CPP programme and 90% of people who participate in CPP weren’t previously engaging regularly with creativity and culture.
Arts Council England is investing an additional £11.64 million in the year 2025 – 26, in 38 Creative People and Places programmes. This brings the total investment in Creative People and Places projects since 2012 to £119.6 Million.
38 Creative People and Places projects cover 55 local authority areas where involvement with creativity and culture is significantly below the national average – helping unlock the social and economic benefits of creativity and culture for more people in more places.
