Young people and children, Involving the community

Grove Roots Film Project

Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Octavia Foundation has given 8 young west Londoners the opportunity to document the history of their local area in a film that traces the evolution of Ladbroke Grove from the 1958 race riots to the present day.

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Young people and children, Involving the community

Hidden Herstories Film Project

Hidden Herstories is a celebration of the heritage of 4 local women from diverse backgrounds who have had a profound impact on community welfare and builds on the enthusiam, creativity & success of Grove Roots.

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Young people and children, Involving the community

Wembley Football Project

The Wembley Football Project provided young people in Brent with the opportunity to get involved with sport, as well as having an overall focus on their health.

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Helping with jobs and training

Westminster Works

Westminster Works is an employment and training program designed to help Westminster residents into jobs and training 

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About our work

Our work is intended to increase the strength and effectiveness of community life. This means improving local conditions, especially for people in disadvantaged situations. We want to enable people to take part in public decision-making and help them achieve greater long-term control over their circumstances.

We have identified five key themes to our work. Click on a theme to find out more.

Young people and children

We work with young people and children to deliver projects that will help improve their quality of life.

Caring for the elderly and vulnerable

- 32% of Octavia tenants are older people, and a high proportion are single
- 92% of Octavia tenants think that it is important to provide specific help for older people
- 43% of households have at least one member who has a long-term illness, health problem or disability

Helping with jobs and training

A recent survey of Octavia's tenants indicated:
• 63% live in the worst quartile of wards in their borough.
• 70% are on state benefits.
• 75% think it important for us to help people find work.
• 71% think it important that the Foundation provides employment & training projects.

Advising on money and debt

Recent surveys suggest that, in general:

• 3 million people do not have access to a bank account
• 1.5 million people do not use any financial services
• 4.4 million people are on the margins of financial services
• 60-70% of these are housing association tenants

Involving the community

Creating better, more cohesive communities is at the heart of our work. Each year we run a number of events where the local community can get involved.