Spotlight
Stella
The saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” couldn’t be more true than in the case of Stella Toddington who is the first tenant to move back to Wornington Green. Stella wanted to return to the area simply because she loves the people. She visits her local park to walk her dog, Blue, several times a day and gets the chance to catch up with her neighbours. “I’m happy here because I’m surrounded by people I know and can speak to them regularly” she says. But Stella hasn’t met many of her immediate neighbours yet as she didn’t know they’d moved in! The insulation in her new flat is so good that once the doors and windows are shut all the outside noise is shut out too. Stella says: “It’s ever so quiet in my flat – you can’t hear a thing. One lady said to me in the street ‘Why didn’t you answer when I was calling you from the balcony?’ [...]
Gemma
Step inside the Venture Centre on Wornington Road and the first thing that strikes you is just how much it is a hive of activity. School-age children are led by a teacher out of the adventure playground and back to the classroom, while people are turning up for the regular over-50s yoga class. Workmen bustle back and forth, bringing in materials and tools for essential repairs being undertaken before half-term starts. Overseeing this organised chaos is centre manager Gemma, responsible for arranging events, engaging with the community and developing new ideas and services to help local residents. “One of the schemes we’re working on at the moment is an employment workshop in partnership with The ClementJames Centre,” she says. “We work with local residents to create their CVs, improve their interview techniques and develop their maths, english and computer skills to help them find employment.” It’s just one of the [...]
James
“It’s easier to travel further and faster on an e-bike – who can argue with that?” says James FitzGerald, and it’s hard to disagree with him. Since founding Justebikes in Suffolk six years ago, a business specialising in the sale of high quality Dutch electrically-assisted bikes, James has seen interest in this 21st Century form of personal transport soar and has recently opened the first of three central London stores at 318 Portobello Road. Electric bikes are just like manual bikes – you have to pedal – but as you cycle they sense the amount of pressure you put on the pedals and provide electrical assistance accordingly. It’s just like riding a manual bike but instead of huffing and puffing up hills and into headwinds you whiz along feeling like you’ve got bionic legs! Although very popular in Europe – about 360,000 were sold last year in Germany alone and there [...]
The Ardmore Apprentices
Since September, five apprentices have been working for Ardmore on the Wornington Green site as part of a joint initiative between the contractor and Catalyst Gateway. Let’s meet the apprentices and find out a bit more about what the scheme means to them. “I’m learning new things every day, which is great,” says Adnan, who is clearly enjoying the life of an apprentice electrician. Adnan has lived in Ladbroke Grove all his life, and part of the appeal of the new role is being able to see the new homes at Wornington Green and knowing that he had done something towards them. “I definitely want to work at Wornington Green until all the phases are built,” he says, “and then who knows? Maybe become a supervisor, or further down the line start my own business.” Born in Eritrea before moving to the UK six years ago, Million has had a more complicated journey to the apprenticeship scheme than most. Keen to work hard and make his way in the world, Million [...]
Hortensia
“You’ve got to get there early though,” advises Hortensia about Café Nova, the charity-run venture where she has just started working. “We always sell out all the food we make and by two o’clock there’s often not much left to choose from.” Having lived in Ladbroke Grove since 1991, and at Wornington Green for the past 14 years, it is only recently that Hortensia made the decision to return to work. With her two children now grown up, it seemed a great way to meet new people and become more involved in the community. So she spoke with an employment outreach officer from Catalyst Gateway, the charity arm of Catalyst Housing Group, to see how they could help. It was when the outreach officer came round to visit that it became obvious what job she was best-suited to. “I’d been baking that morning,” says Hortensia, “and as soon as she tried some of my cooking she said that was what I should [...]