Community-led space in action - and the councils backing it (People and Place: Camden visits Leytonstone)
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Tucked away on a residential road in East London, just off Leytonstone High Road, there’s a vibrant hub of coworking, community and culture. Good Shepherd Studios has been lovingly brought back to life by a local group of residents after the threat of demolition. It sits within a cherished century-old community site called Pastures.
This is where the community innovators on our People and Place: Camden programme met in March for their Spring Peer Gathering. These nine groups of innovators are transforming Camden’s neighbourhoods by bringing buildings and spaces to life, and were joined by six council officers from Camden Council, which is supporting the programme.
The day was a chance for programme peers to take a breath, deepen connections and share and engage with one another’s journeys so far, while experiencing a community asset transformation in another Borough. And together, we explored how council officers can support community-led projects like these to thrive.
Learning from a space shaped by community, with the council as ‘enabler’
The morning centred around a walk through the studios, the outdoor growing spaces and gardens.
We were beautifully hosted by Danie Gilbert (cofounder of Good Shepherd Studios and new Footwork trustee), who is one of the local residents behind the ‘Save our Pastures’ campaign back in 2020.
Danie shared the story of how the community rallied together to prevent the council-owned Pastures site from being turned into flats, and instead preserve it for community use for generations to come. The campaign was a success, opening positive dialogue with Waltham Forest Council and leading to the redevelopment proposal being withdrawn.
The ‘Our Pastures’ group then began working with local charities, sports groups, arts collectives and other organisations to revive the site for Leytonstone’s community, creative sector and economy.
We heard how, in less than a year, Danie and her small team transformed the Good Shepherd building from an empty shell into a bubbling community space packed with events for people of all ages to enjoy – facilitated by not-for-profit We Flock CIC.
It now fills a long-standing gap for accessible local facilities and activities, while celebrating and nurturing local talent, and creating space to combat social isolation (a need identified in the Borough’s research on Covid-19 impacts).
Danie talked about the importance of developing that crucial relationship with a “gem” inside the council — in this case, Town Centre Lead Jenny Leighton. This was a reminder that neighbourhood transformation so often depends on trust, persistence and finding allies within systems.
Danie Gilbert (cofounder, We Flock CIC and Good Shepherd Studios) and Jenny Leighton (Waltham Forest Council) in conversation, and Jake Green (cofounder, We Flock CIC and Good Shepherd Studios) sharing insights and experiences with the group.
Fresh eyes on shared challenges
The afternoon opened up space for programme peers to share their project updates and challenges with another, alongside invited friends and council partners.
One peer reflected:
“It was so nice seeing the level of mental energy that people were putting into each other’s projects.”
Another spoke to the value of stepping outside your own frame of reference and exchanging perspectives on one another’s work:
“It’s a really good exercise in cognitive flexibility… when you’ve been working on a project for a while, you do get stuck on the same problems again and again. This unblocked it.”
There’s energy that comes from not shouldering difficult challenges alone. A powerful thread that ran through was peers moving beyond neighbourhood silos and recognising how seemingly separate pieces of work (rewilding community gardens, reviving laundry rooms, reimagining football pitches) are often deeply connected.
One participant reflected on the importance of:
“...finding allies and kind of building those bridges between communities who don’t otherwise really talk.”
The gathering closed with birthday cake, laughter and plans for the People and Place: Camden peers' summer residential.
Carrying Leytonstone's momentum into Camden
Good Shepherd Studios shows the power of community-led partnerships and of councils enabling community leaders to take on and transform buildings and land.
At Footwork, we were fortunate to journey alongside Danie, Jake and Zak as part of People and Place: 2023. Now, we’re excited for what's seeding and taking root through People and Place: Camden, in response to community needs across the Borough.
People and Place: Camden builds on three years of Footwork’s national People and Place programme and forms a key part of Camden Council’s Estates and Neighbourhoods Mission.
As part of the Mayor of London's work to support more mission-driven property management across the city's high streets, the programme has also received part-funding from the Mayor of London and UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
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