Coronavirus support

A new Library of Things, where people will be able to borrow household items for less than they would elsewhere, has opened at Dalston CLR James Library. The Council-funded project helps people save money and reduce waste by affordably renting out useful items like drills, carpet cleaners and sewing machines. It also helps people share practical skills like DIY and repair with others in the community.Opened as a partnership between Hackney Council, Library of Things and Sustainable Hackney, Dalston’s Library of Things will also support people to borrow rather than buy, reducing their impact on the planet. People will be able to borrow a power drill for as little as £7 per day, which is less than half than the average high street rental, sewing machines for £7, a steam cleaner for £8 and a sound system and microphone for £10 per day. A 25% discount is also available for those receiving a pension or government support or people who are not in work, have children to feed or others to care for. Items are reserved online on the Library of Things website, before being collected from a kiosk on the ground floor of Dalston CLR James Library. Library of Things is now open in six locations across London. Over 5,000 people have now borrowed items over 10,000 times, saving approximately 40 tonnes of waste from landfill and 88 tonnes of CO2 emissions.A survey by Library of Things found that 58% of their members said their motivation for borrowing was to help the environment, while 60% say they're more likely to reuse, repair and recycle having borrowed.But motivations for borrowing are not purely environmental – renting is also more cost-effective than buying, helps reduce clutter and is a low-barrier way to learn practical skills like repair and DIY.Residents can now sign-up to be one of the first to give borrowing a try in Dalston by visiting libraryofthings.co.uk/dalston.

Supporting Hackney Central businesses in recovering from the coronavirus pandemic is at the heart of a £360,000 grant announced by Hackney Council today (Tuesday, 18 January). The Hackney Central Impact and Ideas Fund has now opened, with businesses encouraged to apply for innovative small or large-scale projects which will enable them to build their economic and environmental resilience, as well as making a positive contribution to the town centre. The fund has been developed to support the Council's work with local residents and businesses in Hackney Central to develop the Hackney Central plan - a blueprint which formed in 2019 when more than 2,000 people took part in the Hackney Central Conversation. This funding is being delivered with PRD, a small socio-economic consultancy firm that specialises in town centre regeneration, who have been working with Hackney Council over the course of 2021 on the development of a town centre strategy for Hackney Central. The Town Centre Strategy will set out a 10 year vision for Hackney Central including how the Council intends to work with the local community and partners to deliver on the priorities identified by Hackney Central’s residents, community groups and businesses. The strategy aims to ensure that local people are the first to benefit from the physical, social and cultural changes in Hackney Central over the next decade, and that economic development is inclusive.Businesses can apply to either the ‘ideas grant’ for projects up to £5,000 or the ‘impact grant’ for projects up to £50,000. The ‘ideas grant’ is for smaller-scale projects such as running one-off events, becoming more eco-friendly or making shop front improvements. While the ‘impact grant’ is for larger-scale projects such as creating a programme of events or launching a training scheme for disadvantaged groups. Applications open on Tuesday, 18 January 2022 and must be made before the closing date of 9am on 14 February 2022 (with applicants notified of the outcome by early March 2022). Projects must start on or after 1 April 2022 and be completed no later than 31 December  2022.The full details and application criteria for the fund can be found on our website. Further information: Using the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), funding that the Council received from the Government, £360,000 has been made available to support the development of the Hackney Central Plan.On 21 December 2021 the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced new business grant funding available in the coming weeks to support businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors as the UK tackles rising cases of the Omicron variant. In addition the Government announced a funding boost to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund to support other businesses impacted by Omicron, such as businesses who supply the hospitality, leisure or accommodation sectors. Local Authorities will have discretion to allocate the ARG funding to businesses most in need in their local areas. More information is available here and the Council will be opening these grant funds as soon as possible. Further business support funding will also be made available, including borough-wide support for small or micro businesses in Hackney making changes or adaptations to their business to enable them to develop and thrive. This will be called the Adapt Your Business Programme. In December 2021 Hackney Council launched the High Streets and Town Centres fund. This £500,000 fund has been made available for eligible businesses to deliver projects that increase engagement, encourage spending and bolster recovery in our high streets and town centres. More information is available here. Earlier this year the Council launched Hello again, Hackney - a £400,000 fund to help the borough’s cultural institutions welcome back customers safely with special offers, discounted tickets and pop-up events. Further information on grants issued by Hackney Council during the coronavirus pandemic can be found on our website.

Grants of up to £100,000 will be available to local groups and organisations in Hackney as part of a new fund using planning levies on developers to help strengthen Hackney’s communities and celebrate the borough’s extraordinary diversity.The new Hackney Community Fund will make an initial £500,000 available for projects that celebrate the borough’s rich culture and strong sense of community, paid for through the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) –  a charge placed by the Council on developers who receive planning permission for new developments.This builds on the success of the Shoreditch and Hoxton Arts Fund – a separate initiative which has used Section 106 charges placed on developers in the Shoreditch and Hoxton areas to fund £300,000 of local arts and culture-led community participation projects – including festivals, orchestras, poetry, community murals and a live soap opera.Grants of between £5,000 and £100,000 will be made available to  formally constituted groups, organisations and charities in the borough for projects that benefit Hackney residents, support the cultural development of a neighbourhood, ward, street or estate. Projects can be physical, cultural or social, and must help nurture and invest in Hackney’s community spirit – bringing people together in a changing borough and ensuring Hackney remains a place for everyone.The Hackney Community Fund will make an initial £500,000 available for projects that enhance and strengthen the borough’s rich cultural diversity, foster a sense of community and support the Council’s efforts to ensure a fair recovery from the pandemic in Hackney. Applications are open from 12 January 2022 to 20 March 2022. Find out more online.

As Hackney Black History Season draws to a close, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Young People and Children’s Social Care, looks back at how the Council is teaching its young residents about Black British History and celebrating Black culture.As another Black History Season comes to an end, this is the perfect time to reflect on the work the Council have been doing over the last year to reach out to our younger generation, and support Hackney’s commitment to being an anti-racist borough. I was delighted to celebrate the end of our Black History Season by attending an exhibition of the S.M.I.L.E-ing Boy portraits at Hackney Bridge and meeting artist Kay Rufai and some of the boys who took part in the project. The pictures of local Black boys smiling warmly at the camera, which have been on display on billboards across the borough, are part of a wider campaign which aims to challenge the sometimes negative portrayal of young Black boys through positive representation. Kay’s project also addresses the concerning lack of mental health provisions available for young Black people. It is vital we continue this conversation around mental health and wellbeing for young Black boys in Hackney, and offer new ways for them to express themselves, explore a sense of identity, and manage their own happiness. This project is particularly significant to me, as it backs the work Hackney Council and I have been doing with young people and parents to help improve the life chances for future generations of young black men; through harnessing their potential, increasing their visibility, promoting their successes and tackling the barriers to inequalities where they exist. I would like to thank Kay for his brilliant work in highlighting the importance of challenging stereotypes and showing young Black boys in Hackney in such a positive light. I also want to thank the boys themselves who took part in the project, and who represent the future of our borough for their bravery; in standing up, in being seen, in smiling big, and revealing a side to you that represents hope and potential. Hackney Council is thrilled to be part of this inspiring London-wide project. Covid-19 restrictions permitting, if you are in or around Hackney Wick over the next few weeks, I encourage you to check out the exhibition at Hackney Bridge which runs until the end of January. Of course this was just one of the many events from last year’s Black History Season calendar of which we are extremely proud. In November I was honoured to attend and speak at a special fundraising film screening for The Liberation Movement, at the Rio Cinema in Dalston, which marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of its predecessor, the Anti-Racist Alliance. The event was a great opportunity to consider the significant changes to how racism is understood, how it has been tackled in the UK over the last 30 years, and how we must continue to fight it in all its forms. As Hackney’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Education, I was pleased to have a chance to speak with residents in the audience about the work my colleagues and I at Hackney Council have have been doing to include and inspire young people in these important conversations, while doing what we can to protect young Black people from systemic and institutional racism. With restrictions put in place and interruptions to the academic year due to Covid-19, it has been an incredibly challenging time for Hackney’s schools. However, one achievement of which I am particularly proud is Hackney’s Diverse Curriculum, which we launched in schools last October. The curriculum complements the Council’s Black Lives Matter Motion and the Council’s Anti-Racism Plan. It not only ensures that Black History is taught as part of British History, but also looks at culture and identity for Black communities and is an education for everyone. I am very pleased to see that many educators within the borough, as well as other parts of the UK and across the globe, are already adapting and using the Diverse Curriculum for their own classes. At the last count there have been over 2000 sign ups, including 162 in Hackney, as well as in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Egypt, Brunei, Australia, Malaysia and Nigeria. As always, I applaud the diligence, passion and commitment of our teachers for helping to curate this rich and insightful curriculum which provides balance to how we teach history in our schools, and I hope it will continue to inspire a more tolerant and inclusive-minded community. To all our staff, students, parents and carers, I thank you all for your hard work. Together you continue to make the borough proud and I look forward to working with you this year to do even more to educate young minds about the importance of equality, diversity and combating systemic racism. Best wishes,Cllr Anntoinette Bramble Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Young People and Children’s Social Care