Change is in the air in Tottenham, with £41 million of the Mayor’s Regeneration Fund (MRF) [1], including match funding being invested in regeneration projects to reinvigorate a riot damaged community.
The London Assembly Regeneration Committee visited the 639 Enterprise Centre [2] to hear from Haringey Councillor Alan Strickland about the program of work that plans to improve green spaces, safety, transport infrastructure and encourage economic growth in Tottenham.
Tottenham was awarded £28 million from the MRF and Haringey has committed an additional £13 million in match funding. The Committee was told how public investment has helped unlocked one of the more deprived wards in the area with regeneration plans underway for sites around the High Road and White Hart Lane.
MRF projects, the Committee was told have also triggered investment for the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and regeneration in surrounding areas.
During the visit the Committee heard how the MRF was used to purchase and refurbish the 639 High Road building into an Enterprise Centre following the 2011 riots, which now provides a workspace for more than 30 local businesses.
Several entrepreneurs, including EcoLuxe London, All Thingz Nice and SOS Security who rent a space at the 639 Enterprise Centre, told Assembly Members how the centre’s operators, London Youth Support Trust [3] have provided the space and support they needed to launch their businesses. Many of the business owners now employ local people and continue to invest in the community.
Gareth Bacon, Chairman of the Regeneration Committee said,
“We are impressed by the range of work and business being nurtured as a result of project funded by the Mayor’s Regeneration Fund and encouraged by the optimism about additional projects in the pipeline.
“We look forward to visiting Tottenham again to see further development of the physical works and meet more local people engaged with the 639 Centre.
“It was good to see how public funding has contributed to unlocking further opportunities for regeneration by commercial investors”.
Notes to editors
- The Mayor's Regeneration Fund (MRF) aims to support sustainable economic growth in those areas worst affected by the 2011 civil disturbances. Boroughs bid to receive some of the £70 million allocated to the fund. London Boroughs of Haringey and Croydon received the highest proportion of the funding, £28 million and £23 million respectively.
- 639 is an Enterprise Centre run by local charity the London Youth Support Trust (LYST) to help Tottenham locals get started in business, gain employment skills or volunteer within the community. In 2011 part of the building was burnt during the Tottenham riots. Following the civil disturbances the Greater London Authority purchased the building and through the MRF renovated the building to become an enterprise centre for Tottenham.
- The London Youth Support Trust (LYST) is a charity that provides young people with the space and support they need to get started in business. With a three year programme of affordable space and business mentoring, LYST has helped hundreds of young people across London overcome the business barriers to start their own enterprise. LYST currently has enterprise centres housing early start-ups in Hackney, Deptford and Southwark, and two centres in Tottenham.
- Gareth Bacon AM, Chair of the Regeneration Committee, is available for interview. See contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For more details, please contact Alice Andrewartha in the Assembly Media Office on 020 7983 4603. For out-of-hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit, Greater London Authority, on 020 7983 4100.