<div>Our beloved local community centre is at-risk.
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<div>But we are fighting back!
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<div><strong>Here are four ways you can support us:</strong>
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<li>Volunteer with us
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<li>Donate to our campaign fund
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<li>Write to Tower Hamlets Chief Exec Steve Halsey using our email template (download from our website)
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<li>Share our story across your communities and networks
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<div><strong>What’s going on?</strong>
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<div>In July, Tower Hamlets Council issued an eviction notice to kids education charity Setpoint London East to empty and vacate the Soanes Centre, their home for the last thirty years, within seven days.
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<div>In just two days, with the support of grassroots cultural organisation Kin Structures and dozens of people across our communities, we mobilised all possible channels to stop the eviction.
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<div>Five days after they issued the eviction, the Council withdrew the notice.
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<div>Now, we need your support to hold the Council accountable and help us secure a long, renewed lease for the Soanes Centre.
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<div><strong>Who are Setpoint London East, Soanes Centre and Kin Structures?</strong>
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<div>Since 1997, Soanes Centre has been the base of Setpoint London East. Setpoint London East is a small charity on a mission to support local school children to discover the world around them through practical, hands-on science workshops, using the natural resources of the Soanes Centre and its surrounding 33-acre woodland park. The charity’s work has been vital in providing local, largely black and brown school-children and their families, access to green space in a borough where the amount of publicly accessible open space remains some of the lowest in the capital and nationally.
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<div>Since 2023, grassroots cultural organisation Kin Structures have been working and supporting Setpoint London East in delivering free, community-led programmes of art, learning and play and protecting the at-risk space. Founded by artists Arman Nouri and Kwame Lowe, Kin Structures protects at-risk community spaces through a unique blend of community-led artmaking and business support.
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<div>Together, we are building a vision for Soanes Centre that will secure its place as a home for community-led education and grassroots creativity for generations to come.
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<div><strong>Why did the Council try to evict us?</strong>
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<div>For over ten years, Setpoint London East have been attempting to negotiate a renewed lease with Tower Hamlets Council.
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<div>Setpoint London East recently wrote to the Council to discuss significant concerns about our current arrangements and crucial unresolved issues regarding our occupation at the Soanes Centre that were impacting our ability to deliver our work.
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<div>Despite suggesting a meeting to discuss further the Council did not engage and we were instead issued with an eviction notice.
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<div>We believe we can come to an agreement whereby Soanes Centre remains a base for Setpoint London East and its partner Kin Structures to continue to deliver the ecological and creative cultural projects we are committed to for the benefit of the local community.
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<div><strong>How can I find out more and keep informed? </strong>
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<div>We have launched our campaign across Instagram and Twitter. Follow @savesoanes for regular updates.
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<div>You can also visit our campaign website for more information, including email templates and resources to share
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