COVID changed a lot for us…

It changed the way we work, organise, and interact with our local community. It also demonstrated the strength of our North Camden community, the power of community organising, and the willingness for all of us to help each other.

Here’s what we did as a result of the pandemic.

The Winch Community Hub

In March 2020 we pivoted to provide an emergency response to meet the needs of the local people affected by Covid 19 and the lockdown. The Winch Community Hub was set up with Winch and NCZ staff, as well as Community Organisers. Between March-September 2020, we:

  • Recruited and trained 50 volunteers in the local community, and provided a platform to match those that needed help with those that wanted to provide it

  • We supported 320 households

  • We distributed over 1,600 food parcels

  • We conducted over 1,200 1-1 sessions

Community Conversations

Since March, we’ve also brought together people working or living in North Camden to participate in ‘Community Conversations’. Each session has a different theme, such as:

  • Food poverty 

  • The mental health of young people

  • Working in a COVID safe way

  • Safely exiting lockdown

These conversations host an average of 50 participants from across the area, including: the council, local politicians, health, residents, voluntary organisations, and schools. These sessions have created a space to better understand the needs of the community, share the work being delivered in the area, and explore how we can collaborate to better meet the needs of the community.

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England’s Lane Residence

Back in 2018, we worked with residents on the England’s Lane hostel, a temporary accommodation hostel for homeless families in Camden. 

As of March 2018, it had 136 children living there. Residents of the hostel faced many difficulties, including: bringing up children in cramped temporary accommodation, not having a say in how services are run, and difficulty in providing healthy meals to children. 

Here’s the work we did with England’s Lane residents.

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England’s Lane Community Manifesto

The North Camden Zone worked with England’s Lane residents to produce recommendations for change called “If we work together, we can change this place”.  

This outlined a resident-led vision for the accommodation in 10 years time, and practical steps to achieve that vision. 

You can read the England’s Lane Community Manifesto here.

England’s Lane Hack

We then organised the England’s Lane Hack, where residents and professionals came together to come up with ideas to tackle the challenges residents faced. 

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Voice of England’s Lane

In June 2018, the Voice of England’s Lane was set up. This is a group of 10 residents who represented the voices of residents living in England’s Lane to the local authority. The group was awarded funding by Camden Giving, and organised: an Eid party, a picnic trip to Primrose Hill, and a beach trip to Margate attended by over 100 England’s Lane residents.

Wash and Connect

Wash and Connect matched residents with local community volunteers who would do one load of washing per week for them. This tackled the big challenge for residents of the cost of laundry, as well as how time-consuming it was.

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