Hackney,
13
December
2017
|
15:09
Europe/London

‘It’s the people that make it so special’ – Woodberry Down comes together for Winterfest 2017

More than 300 Woodberry Down residents old and new came together to mark the beginning of the festive season and celebrate the end of another exciting year for the estate at the fourth Woodberry Down Winterfest.

Crowds of people braved the cold weather as the festivities were kicked off with Christmas songs from the talented singers at the Woodberry Down Community Primary School choir, who then helped Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville lead the countdown to switch on the Christmas lights.

The action then moved inside to the Redmond Centre – the state of the art community centre which opened in 2011 as part of the regeneration – where residents enjoyed face painting, entertainment from Woodberry Down regular Mr Mojo and more singing with Creative Carols led by the Manor House Development Trust.

And of course there was the annual Christmas feast with free, locally produced Caribbean food, topped off with the Woodberry Down Bake-Off where youth hub The Edge narrowly beat local secondary school Skinner’s Academy to the prize.

Woodberry Down Winterfest is organised by the partners of the Woodberry Down regeneration - Hackney Council, Woodberry Down Community Organisation (WDCO), Manor House Development Trust, Genesis Housing Association and Berkeley Holmes.

Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney
It’s been another incredibly exciting year for Woodberry Down with some of the changes we’ve been making on the estate really coming alive – from events like the biggest ever Hidden River festival bringing different people together to transformed spaces like the Woodberry Wetlands becoming well used and much-loved by the local community.

 

It’s the people of Woodberry Down that make it so special, so I’d like to wish everyone here a merry Christmas and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the community here in 2018.
Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney

Woodberry Down is one of Europe’s biggest regeneration schemes, with more than 5,500 new modern, high-quality homes being built by a partnership between the Council, Berkeley Homes, Genesis Housing Association and residents.

When completed, the landmark project is set to create three new public parks, two schools and a children’s centre, as well as a new library and community centre.

Hundreds of new homes have already been completed, while Sir David Attenborough opened the stunning Woodberry Wetlands wildlife haven in May – revealing 17 hectares of open water and green space to the public for the first time in nearly 200 years.

Highlights from the last year have included the Woodberry Down Community Organisation (WDCO) being awarded £10,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an oral history project on ‘How We Saved the Reservoirs’, and the regeneration winning the Sunday Times British Homes Awards 'Outstanding Placemaking' award 2017.