our impact so far

St James Street is quite a different area in 2022 to how it was just a few years ago.

A car park that felt unsafe for many residents to walk through at night has been replaced by CRATE, a thriving hub for small businesses, community activities, and social entrepreneurs. There is more greenery and colourful murals on many of our walls. An area of business units and a car park between the railway line and South Grove has been transformed into a residential and retail space, creating hundreds of new homes in the Essex Brewery, Chain, and Jazz Yard developments. St James Street has also benefited from Waltham Forest becoming the first London Borough of Culture in 2019. It is now regarded as a vibrant destination attracting visitors from outside the area.

The role that St James Street Big local has played in this - whether delivering projects, funding them, or brokering relationships between local stakeholders - has been appreciated.

Yet while much of the development of the area has been positive, some feedback from more established residents has been that they feel “left behind”, citing high costs of some of the new local businesses.