Website: www.participatorycity.org
Twitter: @ParticipatoryC
Location: London

Participatory City Foundation has partnered with Barking and Dagenham Council to launch Every One Every Day, an ambitious new venture to create more than 250 neighbourhood projects and 100 businesses in the next five years.

CEO Tessy Britton and her team want to remove the barriers facing citizens who want to improve their communities. Whereas community activities are often fragmented, Every One Every Day is making it simple for residents to start or take part in projects. Think industrial kitchen spaces where residents can cook together or develop food businesses; workshop spaces for making and repairing things; urban farming, and more - all accessible via a single platform.

So far, Every One Every Day has secured £3.95m from the Big Lottery Fund, Esmeė Fairbairn Foundation, City Bridge Trust, and Barking and Dagenham Council, along with £850,000 from the Mayor’s Good Growth Fund to build ‘the Warehouse’, a 1,000-square-metre, open access makerspace for new businesses (with plans for CNC machines, childcare and more) due to open in 2019.

More than 1,200 people have already taken part in events such as community cooks, ‘trade schools’ and singing sessions, and the team has been overwhelmed with demand from people wanting to start their own projects. Participatory City Foundation is now working with other cities to share what they’ve learned, and hopes to make Barking and Dagenham (one of London’s poorest borough’s in 2017) a model for sustainable living.