Mapping our borough

Neighbourhood Stewards marked out where they live and they know about in the borough. It showed us the areas we don’t know, which we’re asking other residents to tell us about.

Statistics VS Feelings

We asked the group to look at the latest data about Barking & Dagenham. Their responses ranged from surprise to frustration, despair to determination.

Thinking Big About Community Spaces

The project began with an induction in December, and the first meeting was on 16 January 2025. The team discussed how to work together and started exploring ideas for investment.

Recruitment!

Here's where it starts to get exciting! We have just recruited a group of 20 residents to help us make decisions on how we invest in community spaces for Barking & Dagenham!

Watch this space to see what's next!

Showcase!

We held an evening of nibbles and great conversations with residents. Everyone was asked to vote on which themes they thought were most important and, they chose Health & Happiness and Grow Local Enterprise! What theme do you think is most important?

What we heard...

Through these conversation, we found 6 clear themes. These are:

1. Health & Wellbeing
2. Young People
3. Grow Local Enterprise
4. Green Spaces & Outdoor Fun
5. Welcoming Spaces for Everyone
6. Nightlife & Social Spots

Conversations

Over the summer months, we spoke to over 120 residents and sector organisations to understand more about how the community used or didn't use their spaces.

Planning

We wanted to better understand community spaces in B&D so we looked into local community spaces and examples out of the borough, then we put together a set of questions to take to residents and local organisations.