About — Wick Award

Sustaining Wick Award’s Place-based Social Action

Wick Award was established in 2015 as part of the Big Local programme, when residents of Hackney Wick were awarded £1 million Lottery funding to make good things happen locally. From the start, Wick Award has been led by local residents, who invested in community research to identify three priorities:

Creating opportunities for young people
Improving health and wellbeing
Building community connections

Since then, Wick Award has taken an asset-based community development approach – building on the strengths of local people and investing in innovative projects that make a real difference. The impact of our Big Local work was captured in a study by Renaisi in 2023.

Wick Award CIO – The Next Chapter

In May 2025, the Wick Award Partnership became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) to sustain and extend our place-based social action beyond Hackney Wick.

Today, our work focuses on the Well Street Common Neighbourhood, which includes the wards of Hackney Wick, Victoria and Morningside.

Our aim is to continue developing an asset-based approach to community development, building on the achievements of the past decade and ensuring that residents’ voices remain at the heart of local change.

Our Vision

To build the capacity, skills and influence of the socially and economically disadvantaged communities of Well Street Common Neighbourhood, empowering residents to better identify and meet their needs and to participate more fully in society.

Our Mission

Wick Award provides an open, inclusive forum for residents to define priorities and support initiatives that meet community needs. We act as a bridge between local people and service providers, laying the foundations for a vibrant, connected and healthy community.

Our Priorities

Create opportunities for young people – supporting youth organisations, championing youth voice, and co-designing services that work for young people.
Improve health and wellbeing – through Well Street Common Neighbourhood Forums, collecting resident insights, and shaping local health and care services.
Build community connections – strengthening social infrastructure, nurturing local solutions, and bringing together residents, groups and stakeholders.
Our Objectives
Connect people and organisations so residents can voice their needs.
Support neighbourhood-based organisations to deliver grassroots projects.
Build partnerships with service providers to shape services around local priorities.
Strengthen community infrastructure by:
- Attracting investment in local services and activity
- Supporting resident participation and reducing isolation
- Developing grassroots organisations’ capacity
- Influencing statutory, health and care services