A new electric minibus for St Marylebone CE Bridge School, artist installations on Temple Underground Station rooftop and refurbishments to St Marylebone Parish Church to support low-cost therapy and mental health treatment at their wellbeing centre are just a few of the improvements which are being made to support local communities through Westminster City Council’s Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) funding.
£ 1,752,661 has been awarded to ten projects through the NCIL funding. The council collects CIL from most developments to fund local infrastructure and a portion is earmarked to support the community in the area where building is taking place. The council accepts applications for Neighbourhood CIL funding from organisations and individuals through quarterly application rounds. In the last application round, funding was awarded to ten local projects related to social infrastructure services including education and health, public realm and open spaces, and public art.
Annual art installations on the roof of Temple underground station offering exhibitions, resident space to artists and workshops to visitors will be able to continue for three years, as CoLab, the organisation managing the site, have been awarded £512,000 NCIL funding. The site was previously neglected and hidden from view and has been transformed by artist Lakwena Maciver built a multicoloured floor installation which brought the site to life in 2021, bringing visitors back into the city after the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will allow similar installations annually for the next three years, as well as showcasing local artists and offering workshops to visitors. The site has been open as an outdoor artistic space since 2021 with support from the council.
St Marylebone Parish Church will improve access to the health services located in the crypt with the £101,180 the church has received. The church hosts an NHS GP and a health centre which offers private psychotherapy sessions on a ‘pay what you can afford’ basis. NCIL will be used to make much needed improvements to this Grade 1 Listed Building, enabling the centre to support their existing 11,000 patients and their growing patient list with mental health care, regardless of their financial means.
Funding of this kind ensures organisations can continue to help local people to thrive. Students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at St Marylebone CE Bridge School have been awarded £72,861 for the purchase of an electric minibus which will transport the growing body of pupils attending the school.
Fitzrovia Community Centre will put £22,583 of funding to use by laying a new floor which is more suited to the health and safety needs for the site. The centre is seeing an increase in demand for its services, such as providing a safe indoor space for those who need it.
Cllr Geoff Barraclough, Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development says,
It is fantastic to see the positive changes that CIL funding is supporting in our Westminster communities. These are the projects that really matter to people’s daily lives. I urge organisations to continue to apply for CIL funding to deliver initiatives which help our residents get the most out of living in our City.
Kate Miller, Head of School at St Marylebone CE Bridge School says,
With enormous thanks to Neighbourhood CIL funding provided by Westminster City Council this year, The St Marylebone CE Bridge School (The Bridge School) was able to place an order for a new electric minibus to replace its old diesel vehicle. The Bridge School is a special school that offers innovative education for 11-16 year olds with speech, language and communication needs. The larger capacity minibus will enable our students to participate in enrichment activities, therapies, sports outings and residential trips which are incredibly important and rewarding experiences for all young people.
Claire Mander, Director of the CoLAB says,
the CoLAB is delighted to have been granted NCIL funding by Westminster City Council for the Artist's Garden on the roof of Temple tube. Our close working partnership with Westminster City Council since 2021 has enabled the opening up of an extraordinary and vast half-acre space for the contemplation and enjoyment of great public sculpture by women and underrepresented artists. This grant, which will allow us to nurture the Artist's Garden for a further three years, shows a real commitment to building cultural infrastructure to put back into use overlooked public spaces for the benefit of its many communities; to create places that people cherish and return to, and to satisfy the public's appetite for this thought-provoking contemporary art destination.
Ashley Nixon, Development Manager at St Marylebone Parish Church says,
We were lucky enough to receive funding from WCC Neighbourhood CIL towards an extensive renovation programme which included improving access to the church by installing a new access ramp and replacing several steps on our Portico and main entrance to the church. Funding from Neighbourhood CIL also helped us create a new stairway and install a new lift for visitors accessing the services in the crypt and provided a new reception area and toilet facilities for the GP surgery.
As a parish church which has always led the way in innovative well-being projects, and we are extremely grateful to WCC & The Marylebone Forum who administered the application process for their support. The funding enabled us to make repairs and upgrade our building and improve facilities so that we can continue to serve our community for generations to come.
Visit our Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy page to find out more and apply for funding.
Published: 27 June 2023