City sheds cash to turn old tram shed into Hackney Wick people’s hub

This old tram shed in Hackney Wick that’s been used as a storage depot for the past 60 years is about to be turned into a vibrant community hub.

An east London mental health charity has landed a £150,000 windfall from the City for a new facility for voluntary organisations to run workshops and courses such as gardening, cooking, digital and media skills, creative writing, painting and sports.

Core Arts charity received the funding to create the Eastway Community Hub project.

"We want to transform the old depot from just a 'storage' place to a thriving social enterprise," Core Arts director Paul Monks enthused. "It will be for services that reduce poverty, raise aspirations and increase wellbeing in the most deprived communities."

Core Arts is commissioning 'shipping container' offices in the depot grounds to let them out as performance and rehearsal space for social enterprises, charities and neighbourhood groups.

The money comes from the City Bridge Trust, whose chairman Dhruv Patel said: "This brings services together in one place that could be replicated elsewhere, if it is successful."

The trust gives £20 million a year from investments to help tackle deprivation. It has paid out 8,000 grants worth £400m since 1995, helping to change the lives of Londoners.