It was 15 years ago this month that a gathering of locals was first convened for the purpose of working together towards a permanent, sustainable creative economy in this part of East London.

The Hackney Wick and Fish Island Cultural Interest Group (CIG) has been meeting on the second Friday morning of the month ever since.

It’s a free open-access creative business innovation network, for anyone interested in ensuring that this unique community isn’t displaced by post-Olympics regeneration, as has been the story in so many other artistic urban clusters elsewhere.

Many hundreds of people have been to the meetings over the years, sometimes as regulars and sometimes for a one-off visit, but they have all contributed to the conversation, resulting in an ongoing series of genuinely innovative, incremental achievements.

By the end of 2010 the group were discussing the idea of setting up a local development trust. It ultimately took seven years, but the HWFI Community Development Trust (CDT) was finally incorporated in 2017 and is now trailblazing in its success, working in partnership with the development sector to ensure community ownership and affordable access to buildings in the area for generations to come.

The Wick - both as the print publication and this weekly newsletter - also emerged from connections and dialogue fostered at the CIG, as have countless other collaborations, projects and partnerships over a decade and a half.

Next month, CIG founder William Chamberlain has been invited to present what has become known as the ‘Hackney Wick Model’ of innovative creative placemaking and community-led regeneration at the Global Placemaking Summit in Toronto.

Join us this at this month’s meeting on Friday 9th May (details below - suitably being held at The Loop, the CDT’s acclaimed circular economy hub), to participate in the ongoing collaborative innovation.

Join us this Friday morning - all welcome

👗 Victoria Park Market is expanding beyond its established weekly selection of food and drink traders to include some of East London’s finest vintage and preloved designer clothing, streetwear, accessories and other fashion stalls, too. The first Food & Fashion Market is this Sun 11th May and then every week from now on.

🔴 Yokimono Japanese Market this Sun 11th May gives you the chance to browse stalls offering delicious Japanese food, sweets, artisan goods made in Japan, as well as handcrafted items by Japanese artists and makers based in London with free entry. Also live music, creative workshops in Wagashi sweets, Bonsai, and Furoshiki wrapping, DJs and short film screenings, all at Riverside East in the Olympic Park.

🥻 Fashioning Frequencies explores fashion as a transmission of identity, agency, and history, and a force that reverberates through time, carrying memory, enacting resistance, and shaping possibility. The exhibition can currently be seen in the front gallery and foyer at UAL London College of Fashion.

🌳Board the Mildmay line to Kew to check out Of the Oak, the stunning new artwork by locally-based experiential art pioneers Marshmallow Laser Feast, their latest inquiry into the hidden life of trees. Commissioned by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and created in collaboration with ecologists, biologists, and researchers, the artwork reveals the oak not merely as a tree, but as a living nexus of connection and reciprocity. Until 28th Sept.

🍺 Drop by The Lord Napier Star tonight for their latest £5 Beer of the Month, which for May is Verdant Brewing Co. Light Bulb Extra Pale Ale - available every Wednesday. Or head over tomorrow, Thurs 8th May for the return of the Musicals Quiz to win a £50 bar tab with your knowledge of West End hits and Hollywood singalongs.

🎷 Tomorrow night, Thurs 8th May the monthly Jazz and fusion jam session, MOOD Jam is back at Fish Island bar LVLS, offering space for the audience and jammers alike to share a carefully curated sonic sensory experience.

💘 Fabwick hosts a night of mingling singles on Thurs 8th May as Thursday and Kwenched offer IRL dating and low cal cocktails in one dashingly attractive dating night bundle.

🔊 It’s a multi-genre night spanning UKG, Bass, Breaks and loads more from DJs including Mixtress and Scruz this Fri 9th May at Colour Factory as Primitive UK take over the space all night.

🚣🏾‍♀️ Join the Bad Intentions crew for a free all dayer at Crate Brewery this Sat 10th May with DJ action on the canalside terrace from 1pm-9pm and then inside the taproom until close at 1am.

🌞 Daytime party-starters Ketoloco are on the open air terrace at Riverside East on Sat 10th May, installing a fat Martin Audio sound system and welcoming back Jaded resident afterparty icon Raymundo Rodriguez and Patterns Brighton resident Jack Osman for a free party limited to 300 tickets.

🏊🏾 The World School Swim Championships sees over 450 swimmers from schools in 16 different countries across four continents descend on the London Aquatics Centre this weekend Sat 10th & Sun 11th May, with countries including Singapore and The Bahamas repre4sented for the very first time.

⛹🏾‍♂️ It’s getting tense as the Super League Basketball season reaches boiling point with London Lions v Newcastle Eagles in the first leg of the playoff semi finals is at The Copper Box this Fri 9th May.

🌍 Apply now for the QEOP-based British Council’s Connections Through Culture (CTC) Grants 2025, which support artistic collaboration between the UK and select countries in Asia, Europe and Australasia’. Grants of up to £5k or £10k depending on region will be awarded across a wide range of creative disciplines from architecture to theatre. Deadline 23rd June.

🗣️ Register for free to join the first in a new series of inspirational lunchtime conversations. Social Founders Talk brings together two founders to discuss their experiences and personal journeys honestly, followed by a Q&A session with the online audience. First up, on Wed 21st May, Sarah Wren OBE, CEO of HILS - Health and Independent Living Support, will be sharing her story of taking HILS from its early years to a 10-million-pound charity. She’ll be chatting with Ali Kakande, CEO of Carib Eats, the grassroots London-based CIC set up during the pandemic.

👗 V&A East Museum, the exciting new East Bank cultural destination opening in 2026 is looking for a Senior Operations Manager to help deliver and lead a world-class visitor experience, with a particular focus on engaging a new audience of local 16-24-year-olds. Apply by 11th May.

🎨 Bow Arts is looking for a Client Facilities & Studio Coordinator to manage the commercial facilities and tenants at Royal Albert Wharf. You will manage both the commercial and creative facilities at one of the Trust’s key sites, situated in Newham’s docklands. Apply by 15th May.