London Green Wood (LGW) is a cooperatively run workshop. We teach green woodwork using traditional techniques, hand tools and locally grown wood straight from the log. We have been creating opportunities to learn heritage and ‘rural’ crafts in Hackney since 2011. We are currently based at Hackney City Farm and Abney Cemetery Park. By creating spaces for people to work creatively alongside others, we foster friendships and community connections. By teaching people new skills, we create resilience. By working outdoors in nature, we provide spaces for reflection and therapeutic activity. Our aims: Create a welcoming and accessible green wood workshop for a diverse community of woodworkers. Promote green woodwork. Provide opportunities for people living in the city to learn traditional rural crafts. Create opportunities for people to learn new skills and earn money from their skills. Projects: five guest tutors visited our coop to share their excellent craft. Members and non-members were able to participate in these courses in turning, axe hafting and spoon carving. This is the first full year of our workshop at Abney Park Cemetery where we have invested in tools and equipment. Over 50 people attended our new basket weaving course. We hosted architecture students from Oxford Brookes University for a two day course. Waste wood: we are donating our offcuts to Hackney based Community Sauna CIC. Courses: in 2024, 655 people joined 174 courses in Hackney City Farm and 14 courses in Abney Park Cemetery. Added to our other activity above, we taught green woodwork to around 1200 people. People attending our courses at 69% female, 17% from ethnic minorities, 13% low-incomerates. 15% had been on a LGW course before. 95% of course reviews were 5*!

Our members: at the end of 2024 we had 84 members (22% growth on 2023). Currently, 35% of our membership pay unwaged or low-income rates, 45% of these are female. This year there was a focus on workshop community days, hosting events - monthly that provided an intentional space for new and returning members to refamiliarise themselves with the workshop and meet new people. All this activity was led and organised by members on a voluntary basis. One of our member was selected as a new maker at the Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery (CAA) and exhibited work. Summer spoon club: we opened on one day a week evenings over the summer for members to make the most of the longer days. This was a very good additional offering for our members. Spoon Club was incredibly successful in getting new members and female members in particular back to use the workshop regularly. Skill shares: we had a few skill shares days, these were all led by members for members. These sessions have not only increased the skills of our members, but they have also been a tool to get members who hardly ever use the workshop back into the space. Coop workdays and socials: there have been numerous informal volunteer days in the workshops where coop members have built and fixed equipment and made other improvements to the workshops. We also had evening celebrations and BBQs in the summer to get out membership together. Our biggest one was in end December with coop members coming in for a carving/turning/weaving day, followed by a feast, a fire and music (and even more people joining in the evening). Furthermore, everyone who participates in a course with us is invited to give feedback in the form of an online review.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration