World class sport:🏀big in the neighbourhood

There are masses of different sports disciplines kicking off new seasons and tournaments on our doorstep in the coming days and weeks.

First up, with a revamped format, London Lions are set to take on the new Super League Basketball (SLB) and compete to be the top basketball team in the country from their home at the Copper Box Arena.

Both the Men and Women teams have won their respective league competitions for the last two seasons, so expectations are high as the Bristol Flyers are opponents for the next big game on Thurs 17th October. Grab tickets for that and other upcoming fixtures now.

🎾 Padel is claimed to be the fastest growing sport in the world, and you can watch the pros this weekend at a free-to-enter event at Stratford Padel Club. International Padel Federation RISE sees 32 pairs in both the men's and women's doubles categories will compete across the weekend with the winners being crowned on Sunday 13th October.

🥊Go see a high-voltage night of boxing up close and personal on Sat 19th Oct as Adam Azim takes on Ohara Davies in a super lightweight clash at The Copper Box. The rising star Azim, undefeated at 11-0 with eight knockouts, faces the seasoned veteran Davies, who boasts a 25-3 record with 18 knockouts.

🚲 The London 3 Day promises to be a showcase of speed, strategy, and stamina as emerging talents and seasoned professionals go head-to-head on one of the world’s most iconic cycle tracks at The Lee Valley Velodrome, 25th-27th October. From Katie Archibald to Ben Wiggins (son of Bradley), there's a host of GB riders hoping to win big in front of the home crowds.

The CIG meets again this Friday morning. All welcome…

Blending fashion, art, and social commentary, Collective Care is a new free exhibition on the Front Gallery and Foyer at London College of Fashion. It invites visitors to rethink the relationship between fashion and community wellbeing through contributions from emerging and established voices in fashion, art, and social sustainability. They challenge us to see care in all its forms; from intimate gestures of love to our shared responsibility for the world around us. Runs until 14th December.

♻️ The next ReRooted Artist in Residence at Trowbridge Gardens has been announced as Anita Agarwal, a multidisciplinary visual artist from India currently based in London, working across moving images, art performance, installation, text, sculpture, mark- making, and social practice. Her project, Let’s be Eco-Logical! will include socially engaged workshops around skill-based creative processes, with sustainable and eco-friendly techniques and materials such as, eco-dyeing, eco-printing, tie-and dye, mono printing and drawing. The exhibition will follow early next year.

🎨 Inspired by their scenes of the old East End, In the Footsteps of the East London Group brings together the work of 22 contemporary artists to show their new paintings alongside their historic counterparts. The show explores the city across time – remembering long-demolished buildings, revealing hidden streets, and celebrating communities from the 1920s to the present day. All are welcome to the private view tomorrow night at Bow Art’s Nunnery Gallery. Runs until 22nd December

🖼️ Angus Vasili fuses screen-printing, photography, and hand-finished textures, inspired by urban decay and its unexpected beauty. An exhibition of his colourful work can currently be seen on the walls of plant shop Repot until November, where all original artworks and unframed prints are available for purchase along with your next house plants.

🍔 Free food meets top tunes over at The Lord Napier Star, who are throwing a big launch bash to celebrate the arrival of their new Texan BBQ kitchen residents Red Dog. There’ll be 100 free cheeseburgers up for grabs from 7pm on Thurs 24th October, plus a DJ keeping things jumping through until late. You need a (free) ticket for a chance to claim your free burger, so make sure to book one now. Mmmm!

🔊 Things are about to fly off the hook at Colour Factory this Friday 11th Oct as jump up bangin’ edit don Badger drops in to play his debut London headline show. Alongside his own quick-fire mix of UK Garage, bass, house and more, he’s invited some friends and family to play the party, too.

❤️‍🩹 Local mentoring, sport and education powerhouse BADU are running Proud 2 Be: Health & Heritage Evening as part of their annual Black History Month celebrations. It will include panel discussions, workshops, stalls and therapy drop-ins on the theme of the incredible contributions Black individuals have made to healthcare and medicine throughout history, including a particular focus on the health conditions commonly held by the community. It all happen at Plexel on Friday 25th Oct, and tickets are free.

😤 Learn about the transformative power of conscious breathing at a special one-off event at Akasa on 20th October, Become a Magnet for Miracles: HypnoBreathwork Experience with breath practitioner Suzy Perry. She’ll take you on a profound HypnoBreathwork journey to access your highest frequency state and, she says, to ‘start attracting miracles’.

☕Monday 14th October sees the next of Trowbridge Gardens monthly parents and carers coffee mornings, a casual and friendly event with lots of toys and ample buggy parking, where you can meet other local parents and get free support from experts. Your hosts are Dina of Vitamin Dina Nutrition and Esther of Hackney Nappy Network.

💥 Cultural organisers BAP! are running a special event aimed at those working within small to mid-scale cultural organisations and involved in generating income (usually organisational leaders or senior positions). The next edition of Solidarity Spaces is for London-based organisations and is taking place on Monday 14th October from 9am.

💻 If you’re an 18-30-year old local creative and have ever wondered about sending or being sent a contract, you should join the free Protecting your Ideas: Intellectual Property & Understanding Contracts Masterclass, led by legal company Orrick - an informative session on safeguarding your work as a creative freelancer. Learn about how to protect your creative ideas and empower yourself and your freelance business in this session at The Good Growth Hub on Thursday 17th October.

🍰 Brand new cake shop Japonica specialises in fluffy Japanese-style chiffon cakes in a variety of flavours, all of which are gluten-free. From marbled coffee to pink strawberry, or more combinations such as matcha and mascarpone whipped cream (pictured). They also promise brownies, cheesecake and banana cake soon, plus savoury items like onigiri rice balls. Drop by to see them at The Roasting Shed at Hackney Bridge.

👚 Join textile reuse champions Yodomo for a free giveaway of samples and offcuts especially for the local community and makers, taking place at circular economy hub The Loop this afternoon (Wed 9th Oct) from 2pm-5pm. Great smaller textile pieces for craft projects and mending across 40 boxes of textile samples of all kinds.

🍻 Howling Hops Brewery are hosting their first Hackney Creatives Meet-Up at their Queen’s Yard Tank Bar from 5pm on Tuesday 22nd October. You get 15% off beers and a chance to network with other locals, plus there’s La Cumbia tacos and more when you get peckish.

Public art trail The Line is seeking three socially-engaged artist-facilitators who are interested in Newham’s past, present and future to work closely with teachers and students on shaping a two-year project titled Spaces to Explore: Prioritising Process in Creative Learning. Deadline has been extended to Monday 14th October.

The same programme is also seeking an experienced and dedicated evaluator to play a crucial role in measuring the impact of the work, from conception to completion. The Project Evaluator will be responsible for creating a theory of change with teachers and The Line’s team during the planning stage in the first term before evaluation at key stages across the project.