Our Entrepreneurial Story: Lord Mawson OBE

Our story starts nearly 30 years ago, when Andrew, as a young stipendiary Minister, arrived to take responsibility for a large Victorian Church in the East End of London. He had: few church members and £400 in the bank He noticed: Several dysfunctional housing estates local residents receiving 95% of their income from state sources a lot of resources being invested into management committees and reports little significant change for the people most in need. Today, the church is part of the Bromley-by-Bow Centre: internationally known, and used frequently by government, as a national exemplar for integrated health care and a template for the successful regeneration of communities. The Centre works with 2,000 people each week, and its services are tailored to the needs of the whole community: families, young people, vulnerable adults and elders. It houses the first integrated health centre, children’s nursery, art studios, business and enterprise hub, café, comm-university and a range of other integrated services. You can buy Andrew’s bestselling book The Social Entrepreneur: making communities work to read more about Andrew’s development of the Bromley-by-Bow Centre: amawsonpartnerships.com/books

The Bromley-by-Bow Centre Church, Nursery, Theatre, Sanctuary, Café, Park, Health Centre...

Over the past 30 years, Andrew has helped to create and initiate a wide range of other pathfinder projects. These include: Poplar HARCA: now a £300 million housing company bringing together, with partners, a £1 billion regeneration project on an area of land the same size as the Olympic Site and almost opposite it. The HARCA are a registered social landlord owning and managing around 8490 homes in East London. Leaside Regeneration: a large scale regeneration company operating in the Lower Lea Valley which has attracted over £100 million of investment into the area. The company encourages pride and aspiration amongst local residents and providing opportunities for them to get jobs and to start businesses. Community Action Network (CAN): CAN now provides both business support to social entrepreneurs and offers high quality office space to organisations working in the social sector. CAN has also been instrumental in helping to create key social enterprises: Unltd (a £100 million fund supporting social entrepreneurs), Primetimers (bringing business support to social enterprises and the third sector) and the Social Enterprise Magazine. The London Legacy Development Corporation: Over a decade ago, Andrew co-wrote with Richard Rogers Partnership one of the earliest papers proposing that the Olympics Games be brought to East London. Over the last 10 years, Andrew has worked tirelessly with local East End leaders to shape the Legacy narrative. He is today a Non-Executive Director of the London Legacy Development Corporation. Over the next 25 years this company will plan, develop, and manage the Olympic Park in East London, creating a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games.

The St. Paul’s Way Transformation Project New £40 million school with Faraday Science Centre New housing & New health centre

Water City, East London: a place to live, work, create “Water City is an excellent, unifying concept that will help drive the highest quality of urban design in the homes, offices and public spaces that will be built around these amazing forgotten waterways.” – Lord Richard Rogers Water City – what & where? a seven-mile network of rivers, canals and docks in East London’s Lower Lea Valley comprising parts of Newham, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich.

At Water City CIC, we believe that, instead of just hoping that capital developments will somehow deliver trickle-down benefits, corporate investments should and can deliver integrated, highly aspirational business and residential communities equal to any in the world. Water City CIC is now mobilising a group of commercial partners from areas as diverse as retail, finance, construction, professional services, bio- tech and the sciences, R&D and technology, the creative industries, and green-energy production – all companies that create. These activities, in turn, bring with them associated higher-education spin- offs such as new universities, academies of excellence, enterprise hubs and science parks – all connecting through Water City. We know that corporate enterprise and local social entrepreneurs working together will make Water City a success. We want to take this partnership to another level. We want to create something that cities everywhere will use as a template for connecting economies, environments and societies.

Water City Festival Water city is home to a diverse community of some 12,000 artists. The ambition of the Water City Festival is to create an international festival in East London with a reputation and longevity comparable to the Edinburgh Festival as one piece of the long term legacy of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The focus of the Festival is on practical activity and is driven by the theme “learning by doing” as professional musicians and artists, music college students, and school pupils learn to perform and work together.

Michael Bochmann: Musical Director Sir Yehudi Menuhin said of Michael Bochmann: “Michael’s great expertise lies not only in his chamber music but also in his long and effective experience in leading, coaching and bringing ensembles – small and large – to a high degree of perfection and expressiveness. There is no-one I could recommend for this task with greater conviction that I do Michael Bochmann”. Frank Creber: Water City Artist