What if everybody could walk to work?
Since working in coworking spaces in 2010, I have been going to Central London.
But I was ALWAYS looking for something nearer to me so I could spend less time travelling and do the school run for #supercoolson.
But it seemed ‘normal’ to be jammed into a central line tube train from Gants Hill to Liverpool Street, so I just did that.
For years, the closest coworking spaces to me were Mainyard Studios Hackney, Mile End or Creative Works Space in E17 and Three Sixty Workrooms in Barking.
When the pandemic hit, I found it very, very hard to see a “coworkingy” like workspace nearby.
What if everyone could walk to work?
Moving close to home
When COVID hit, I found Workhive Studios on Cranbrook Road, Ilford, and loved my time there.
It is a very well-designed space with a pro podcast studio.
The only reason I left Workhive Studio is that we moved out of the area.
As I started spending more time in the London Borough of Redbridge, I transitioned from being a commuter to a local community member after fifteen years.
Redbridge is not a cute, hipster place, but people have a strong sense of community.
I got to know my local area well. I’d walk through Valentine’s Park to work and say hello to people on their daily walks.
I’d go to local independent cafés in Gants Hill and Cranbrook Road, so I kept my money in the local economy.
Before I left Ilford in 2022, I never felt more connected to it in the time I lived there.
But I’ve always had to leave Ilford to find somewhere to do my work.
I’m in that group who “self-identify” as something like:
✅ Creator
✅ Sole trader
✅ Independent economic agent
✅ Remote worker London Borough of Redbridge
✅ Start-up founder
✅ Freelancer
✅ Microbusiness
This group needs somewhere to work that is not a traditional office lease, and this is not ‘new’ news!
Right now, no places in the London Borough of Redbridge fit that ‘slashy’ mix of:
-> coworking/start-up/workspace/neighbourhood workspace/connection point.
We could work in Costa, the library or rent an office above a shop, but this is 2023, not 1998.
We want a home, a connection point and a community.
Whose question is: “What if everybody could walk to work?”
It’s the question of Mandy, Gareth and Mike, who answered it in their 2020 TownSq report.
Since then, local authorities all over London, the UK, and the world have embraced local coworking to build community and the regional economic engine.
The Town Square report was published in 2020, but the blueprint has NEVER been more accurate, relevant, and doable than in 2024.
