Find out about 2026 funding for youth-led creative projects in Waltham Forest.
Last updated: 2 June 2026
Next review: 8 May 2027
We are investing in supporting new creative and cultural projects led by young people aged 18 to 25 in Waltham Forest through the Make it Happen 2026 grants programme. The 8 grant recipients will be delivering programmes across the borough between May 2026 and February 2027.
The selection of the successful applicants was made by 5 paid Grant Makers aged 17 to 25, who helped shape and redesign the Make it Happen programme for 2026. You can read more about the projects below.
R.I.O.T is a four-part creative programme for SEN and low-income young people in Waltham Forest, using theatre, music, media and textiles to build confidence, skills and self-expression. Ending in youth-led showcases and exhibitions.
A four month programme aimed at getting young people and elders in Waltham Forest talking and learning from each other. It will involve a skills exchange of digital transition workshops for older residents, and traditional skills like gardening and DIY for young people at Higham Hill Hub.
A youth led, street level music and creative skills programme based in Chingford. It will be centred around two pop up live music sessions in public spaces, supported by a structured, paid planning process with local young people to help shape the creative direction, format and delivery.
Threads of the Forest is a youth led intergenerational creative programme bringing together young people aged 16 to 25 with elders from African and Caribbean communities in Waltham Forest. Through structured storytelling and textile workshops, participants will co-create a large scale collective textile tapestry rooted in shared histories, migration narratives, identity and belonging.
An initiative that will teach young Black people how to swim, it will culminate in a short documentary exploring the stigmas and stereotypes around swimming for the Black community in Waltham Forest.
Just a Girl is a 12 week programme which combines sport and digital arts to create a culturally responsive space for Muslim girls in Waltham Forest. The project brings together weekly football sessions and bi-weekly podcast sessions, enabling participants to express themselves both physically and creatively.
LET’S BALL 3x3 2026, Hoops and Youth Culture is a one day, youth led basketball and culture festival event, which blends 3x3 basketball, music, dance and fashion with creative production and live performances.
Signs & Supper is a deaf led, youth led pop up food project which brings deaf and hearing young people together to value food and British Sign Language (BSL) as equally important forms of culture and expression.
Since 2013 Waltham Forest Council has been offering grants for local arts and culture projects. £850K has been invested into over 80 local arts and culture projects through the Make It Happen creative grants programme since 2019. Many recipients of the grant have gone on to become key organisations that now deliver great work across the borough and beyond, including Everyone on Boards, Stories and Supper, Walthamstow Trades Hall, Mbilla Arts, GB Carnival, Women Over 50 Film Festival, Music Halls and Revel Puck Circus.
In 2025 Make it Happen focused on funding projects that pioneered creative approaches and activities which have benefits for our health and wellbeing. Find out more about projects we funded in 2025.