Our Story
Well Space began as a conversation between two strangers in a local pub garden. Recognising the need for communal spaces and creativity amidst the never ending gentrification of the area a team of volunteers united and set to work transforming the building.
​
Our premesis has undergone many iterations and has always been a part of this community. We wanted to keep all the best aspects of previous projects and imporve on what didn't work. At the heart of this space is community and self determination.
​
We are located on Well Street in Homerton, Hackney. It is a historic market street, home to the worlds first Tesco as well as many independent and long standing businesses. It is also home to some newer businesses which reflect the changing demographic of East London. We recognise that whilst we live side by side we do not really mix as communities and Well Space exists in part to bridge this gap as well as to challenge the negative impacts of gentrification & lack of community investment.
​
This project has been made possible through a huge amount of volunteer labour plus fundraising and donations. We are critical of the charity sector and barriers to funding which do not support communities directly, therefore we are a social enterprise which means we can generate income but are legally bound to reinvest all profits into community purposes.
​
We have hosted art exhibtions, pop up shops, support groups, spoken word events, yoga classes, free studio portraits and began a weekly free food hub. The pandemic made it difficult for us to function as our purpose is communal gathering but we used this time to do more building work and planning as well as running a weekly food hub to support our community with free groceries.
​
We are open to anyone who'd like to use the space as long as it is creative and supports the community. If you would like to volunteer, run a workshop, host an exhibition, event or class, all ideas and activities welcome! If you have experience and or skills that may be useful on an organisational level please contact us if you have time to give to the project.
​