Co-Lab was a six month pop-up in an empty shop that provided affordable space for the local community to use.
The space was also the editorial offices of Social Streets’ flagship title, Roman Road LDN. The aim was to put community at the heart of local journalism by opening up its editorial offices to the local community to create a hyper-local creative hub for people who value local community or wish to collaborate on local community projects.
This coworking space supported freelancers, community groups and social enterprises, particularly those from the local area, who might not be able to afford conventional co-working space and might otherwise end up working in isolation.
By day the space offered affordable membership-based co-working space. By night and at the weekend, the space was used as a meeting room for community meetings, consultations, workshops, exhibitions and fundraising events.
As well as affordable space, the scheme provided members with connections, opportunities and support to feed their own creative talent and to collaborate on projects that benefit community.
Additionally, by bringing the local community into the heart of its editorial operations, Social Streets was able to progress its model of local journalism that is genuinely community-centred.
Dates: January 2019 – June 2019
Branding: Social Streets C.I.C
Impact 1: Provided meeting space provided for grassroots groups including Roman Road Trust, Plastic-Free Roman Road, Borrow-A-Bag Scheme.
Impact 2: Provided training space for DIY for Women and Social Streets’ Social Media for Small Businesses programme.
Impact 3: Provided affordable co-working space for over 10 freelancers.
Impact 4: Provided affordable editorial spaces for Roman Road LDN.
