Your new look weekly local newsletter

We’ve been sending out weekly emails from Creative Wick offering a curated guide of local things to do, plus regular updates on the ever-growing Cultural Interest Group (CIG) network too, for well over a decade 😲

Meanwhile, since 2020, we’ve also been publishing the neighbourhood’s very own quarterly cultural newspaper and website, The Wick and thisisthewick.com.

As these various projects have grown, alongside the physical transformation of the area, you’d be forgiven for feeling things might have got a touch confusing. Which is why from today, and every Thursday lunchtime from now on, everything we usually email you will simply come under one newsletter banner: The Wick.

You’ll still find - and be able to submit - details of events, offers, new openings and everything else that keeps HW&FI and the wider Olympic Park area so dynamic, plus there’s a dedicated CIG section at the bottom of each email offering the latest updates from the network, including details of the hybrid monthly meetings - we do hope to see you there in person or online tomorrow.

Let us know what you think of the new format, which will continue to develop over the weeks and months ahead, as part of an exciting expansion of our digital services. More news on all that in the upcoming Spring print edition of The Wick, which comes out in a couple of weeks…

📍 Trowbridge Gardens Gallery has two events to check this week. Firstly Friday 12th April 5pm-8pm, the Charlie Burns Foundation will be hosting an evening coinciding with their exhibition: The Wake-Up Room: Breaking The Silence, which aims to highlight the local impact of serious youth violence on the community. Then next Thursday 18th April, 6pm-7.30pm, as part of the ReRooted Programme, Ray Attfield will host Inside Outside - a discussion about civilisation and nature.

🔊 Tomorrow night (12th April) Cody Dock’s Lighting Up the Lea pres. CONFLUENCE is an immersive sonic experience produced by artist Tom Fisher that explores the River Lea and reveals some of the secrets of this often overlooked part of the waterway and its hidden ecology. Grab one of the remaining free tickets as it also gives you the chance to explore Cody Dock’s Growing Space and bar.

👗 Sprawling throughout the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Multi-Storey Car Park (next to HERE EAST) The Great London Flea will be London's largest indoor flea market, hosting over 100 top traders of vintage home decor and peddlers of preloved bargains on Sun 28th April. Expect a wide selection of unique finds, furniture, unexpected oddities and much more.

👕 Loanhood is hosting another free Hackney Clothes Swap day at Hackney Bridge on Sun 28th April, giving you the chance to revamp your wardrobe sustainably by swapping your pre-love garments

🥻 There's a Fashion Media & Communication workshop being put on by Coal Studios tonight 11th April 6pm-7.30pm at The Cave, the new creative hub and workspace on Fish Island. £30, no fashion experience needed.

😤 Tonight (and for the next two Thursdays too) TONE: Moving energy with voice and body explores breath, voice and body through a sequence of vowel sounds and movements with Hackney Wick local Hannah at Sound Temple Studio.

🥶 Wim Hof Fundamentals - learn how you can utilize oxygen and cold exposure to optimise body and mind, and discover the underlying physiology with certified instructor Nicholas Corliss. One day sessions on 12th, 13th & 14th April, The LightHouse and Gardens.

🪴Another Provision host a free talk entitled Food Growing Cultures in and around the Olympic Park, including speakers ranging from local community activists to UCL food experts, local growing groups and allotment gardeners. It’s at UCL East - Mashgate on Sun 28th April 2-5pm, followed by a free community meal made from surplus food.

🎤 American singer-songwriter talent Mitski has just been announced as making her festival headline debut in London this summer in Victoria Park at Uber One presents All Points East. She’ll be there on Sun 18th August alongside Beabadoobee, TV Girl, Ethel Cain, Arlo Parks, Sir Chloe plus loads more still to be announced. General sale for tickets starts at 10am tomorrow morning, Friday 12 April right here.

🪩 Head down to Nico's Bar at Hackney Bridge to get the weekend off to a good start with soul infused jazz courtesy of German/Somali heritage singer SAHRA and a DJ set by Tea. The night is part of the bar’s Bacardi partnership Around The World with Nico, which celebrates live music from all corners of the globe, with the DJ line-up curated by Voices Radio. Fri 12th 7.30pm.

🎧 Saturday afternoon-into-evening (13th) at All My Friends sees a DJ takeover to mark the launch of exciting new street fashion label Mamma’s Boy. They have Sean Reddy getting the party started, with the dynamic disco duo of Ricky Chong and MARINI taking proceedings into the early hours. Check their Insta @mamasboylondon for the chance to win a £100 bar tab at the event, plus a stylish new Mama’s Boy Sweater and t-shirt.

🎓 Are you a researcher, creative, practitioner or entrepreneur from Europe’s cultural and creative economies and keen to embark on a pioneering pilot project to tackle the pressing challenges of our time? Thinktank Creative Impact Research Centre Europe’s CIRCE Fellowship 2024 could be the perfect opportunity. Pre-registration runs until Tuesday (16th).

📈 Last chance if you want to take advantage of Goldsmiths' new inclusive growth programme for creative and cultural sector founders and team members. SYNAPSE Fair Growth is a fully funded 2-day course starting next week.

🪟 Lockside Studios is the latest in Eat Work Art’s portfolio of creative spaces, opening next month in the heart of Hackney Wick. It offers a collection of 23 canalside studios boasting vast windows and soaring ceilings, flooding the spaces with natural light. Situated next to the Old Ford Lock and the picturesque canal, Lockside Studios offers views over Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with Stratford just a stone’s throw away. This prime location aims to provide residents with both tranquility and creative energy. Studio prices start at £850 a month, but to help kickstart the journey of new clients, they are offering free rent until 1st July.

👩‍🌾 The Our Parklife Mobile Garden has upped sticks from its original Chobham Manor site to open a new home on the canalside at Hackney Bridge, and they are keen for more locals to come along and get involved. They are specifically looking for garden reps to open the site for the community, allotment users to share some of the beds and local organisations of all sorts who’d benefit from using the space to run their activities. Apply now.

🌞 AEG hosted their seventh annual Local Business Fair in Mile End Park last month, giving businesses, community groups and suppliers an opportunity to chat with them about various ways to get involved with In The Neighbourhood community festival and Uber One presents All Points East this summer. Those who were unable to attend but would still like more information, please get in touch at [email protected]

• Copper Street Cafe are reopening soon with the return of Caliendos Gelato and are currently looking for staff. (London Living Wage)

• Our Parklife are seeking a dynamic Duty Lead for Customer Service & Volunteers (£27,279) to work on their team welcoming guests to the QEOP.