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1 nomination from readers

• The project should win the award because it directly reflects the emphasis of this year’s Upstart Award’s on innovative and sustainable solutions that sustain regeneration and community renewal. The Market was initiated as a community and economic regeneration project. It responds to the aspirations of Acton’s diverse communities and brings local people together in a common shared interest and activity. Open air markets are part of every culture and all members of Acton’s diverse communities feel part of the project –whether as traders, shoppers or just browsers. Acton Market is an innovative social enterprise which uses the strength of communities to effectively address the problem of declining Town Centres/High Streets and social isolation. The Project brings individuals and groups together to address these social problems on a community level. The Market is not an anonymous, commercial presence—it is an exciting example of community regeneration in a setting which was previously barren, unattractive and unsafe. The Project transcends boundaries and improves appreciation of diversity through direct contact across groups. Stall holders are African, Afro Caribbean, European, Australian, Asian and white British and include young, old and disabled. Ethnic foods, different goods, and the process of buying and selling encourages interaction between communities. The Police use a stall to talk to young people and individuals from different cultures and faiths. Individuals give or take away goods at the monthly Freecycling stall. The project has a major impact on individuals. Many traders were unemployed, socially excluded and had no training until the Market Traders Training course. The Market empowers individuals to regain respect, earn money, and feel valued. Individual traders influence project development. Stallholders state the positive impact on their lives ‘The Market has given me the best opportunity of my life’. A number of local people who started as stallholders at the Acton market have progressed to running shops in the local area. The Market provides badly needed opportunities for local unemployed people to set up in self employment, earn income and involve family members and friends in positive activity. This provides valuable role models to residents, including refugees. A Market Traders training course provides skills opportunities for individuals with little or no previous education. The Market has also increased individuals’ sense of ‘safety’ in a previously unsafe public area, increased socialising and brought a sense of ‘community’. Individuals from all communities directly benefit from health, welfare, social security, training and employment advice from charity and community stalls

  The project is simple, innovative, entrepreneurial and sustainable, actively engages individuals and communities, and is capable of replication by social enterprises in any community or Town centre.

  30 September 2009