The We Can Create Stage 2 projects offered meaningful, public facing opportunities for creativity, and Colours of Redbridge played a key role in bringing these ideas to life. Together, they delivered projects with real, practical outcomes that helped people build skills, confidence, and new ways of expressing themselves. It was a powerful way to involve the community and celebrate its creativity.

Projects included:

BWKI supports Black and Ethnic Minority women in Redbridge through health, wellbeing, and social‑inclusion initiatives. Their Wellbeing Hub, launched in May 2025, offers a central space for support and connection, reaching 500 women a year.

Building on Voice in Harmony, BWKI turned women’s lived experiences into creative workshops and a touring storytelling production. Over eight weeks, participants developed confidence and performance skills, culminating in shows across local venues, including a 150‑person audience at Redbridge Drama Centre.

Building on Transition Town’s plein air painting and online exhibition, they delivered two creative projects as part of Stage 2: four weeks of watercolour workshops in local parks and a community sculpture installation in the Forest Garden. Workshop artwork informed the carved imagery for the sculpture, created from repurposed tree rounds with community and partner involvement. The finished pieces were assembled and unveiled at a final Forest Garden event.

Muslimah Sports Association provides safe, culturally sensitive sports sessions for women, removing barriers that often prevent Muslim women from taking part. They run 10+ weekly sessions and support over 200 women from diverse backgrounds.

Their project encouraged women to explore local urban spaces through photography and creative writing. After learning photography basics, participants joined two photo walks and two writing workshops, shaping their reflections into poetry, concluded with a photo exhibition at SPACE, a documentary, and postcards featuring their images.

Stage 2 explored some of the most successful elements of the earlier stage, specialising in different styles of South Asian dance within the communities and personal storytelling through movement.

Participants tried six different dance styles before choosing those for the final touring performances, showcasing skills developed over 12 weeks. The project expanded its reach by running workshops in multiple north Redbridge locations, with one series on weekdays and another at weekends to attract a wider mix of participants. In Stage 2, the project scaled up from a single talent show to performances in at least three community venues across the borough, and the quality increased through collaboration with an acclaimed South Asian dance company specialising in health and wellbeing.

Farnham Green Primary School expanded their Stage 1 block‑printing project by developing an artist‑in‑partnership model. Students and community members co‑designed a new block‑printing programme, while local school art leads were trained in co‑design and community‑led methods.

Stage 2 increased scale by involving 3–5 additional schools, focusing on lower income and underrepresented communities, and by running public creative workshops. Each school worked with a dedicated artist and hosted at least three family workshops. Instead of one artwork and showcase, multiple large‑scale pieces were created across schools and communities, brought together in a touring exhibition. The project lead also collaborated with Colours of Redbridge to identify further venues for displaying the installation.

Stage 1 introduced participants to a wide range of arts and crafts, which they turned into products for a pop‑up market. In Stage 2, Create to Market refined their product range, increased participation, and prepared to launch an online shop. They worked with Submit to Love, whose studio visits and guidance helped shape the product line and brand.

Participants explored different art techniques, creating samples that became designs for a limited range of products such as cards, travel‑card holders, and T‑shirts. Pop‑up markets throughout Stage 2 allowed them to sell their work, with proceeds shared between artists and the project. A participant steering group helped guide decisions on future products. All staff, volunteers, and tutors had lived experience of disability, ensuring Disabled People were central to both design and delivery

Building on Stage 1, St Mary’s expanded their nature‑based memory café to better support people living with memory loss, dementia, and their carers. They broadened their reach by running early sessions in schools, engaging children and young people, and by hosting cafés in other faith buildings and care homes to improve accessibility.

They continued their monthly café at St Mary’s, working with Forest School practitioners and artist Alisa Ruzavina to co‑create artwork for an end‑of‑project exhibition, which later toured community venues. The project also produced resources for other Forest School practitioners to start their own nature‑based memory cafés, helping sustain and extend the programme’s impact.

After Stage 1’s mixed‑media portraits of local heroes, Stage 2 expanded the project into printmaking and a series of public exhibitions. Collaborations with local organisations increased participation, while partnerships with Rabbits Road Press and Hooksmith improved quality and introduced new print techniques. Uniting Friends invested in a printing press, enabling participants to produce a cohesive body of work.

The resulting prints were exhibited widely, including at Valentines Mansion, the Disability Festival, and a two‑week outdoor exhibition in Ilford, significantly increasing the project’s visibility and reach.