Last Friday we were lucky enough to go to St Hilda’s Community Centre for a surprise afternoon of idea generation organised by thinkpublic and St. Hilda’s.
We were greeted by friendly St. Hilda staff who split us into two teams and set an Apprentice-style challenge to celebrate the centres 120th anniversary. They explained the breath of the centres work and the wide-range of people who use it, they were keen for us to think of ideas for an event that could be held in the community that would attract new people. The only thing our teams were given was a budget of £10 and our imaginations!
I was in a ‘The Hankie Hat Team’, our idea was to stage a fashion show/street party that would be held in the surrounding streets, the show would model material Hankie Hats that had been made by all users of the centre.
‘Alice and The Dreamers’ (the other team) had dressed-up and bought copious amount of ice-cream with their budget, they were proposing a dance event for everyone to attend and teach/learn dances. This led to a few residents of Tower Hamlets being filmed showing off their best dance-moves!
As we presented outside, the mixture of choclately ice-cream and an afternoon in the sunshine had caused for many giggles when trying to echo Paul’s dance steps’. The most entrepreneurial idea was awarded ‘The Hankie Hat Team’, for interviewing local businesses, although the ‘Shoreditch Come Dancing’ event was an idea that the centre wanted to recreate in the summer. It was a great chance to work with all members of our team, and engage with friendly local people.