Page 18 - HARCA Life Spring 2018

20th ANNIVERSARY
n 23rd March 1998, 2,100 properties were
otransferred to us from the London Borough
of Tower Hamlets and Poplar HARCA was born.
20 years later, we now own and manage over
9,000 homes and, with partners, are leading a
£2.5bn physical regeneration of Poplar including
new homes, education, healthcare, faith
buildings, business and workspace and
community spaces.
We create opportunities for our community by
providing jobs & skills training, enterprise support l We support a range of community-run clubs
and youth provision. Our HARCA police team
helps keeps the streets safer and we work with
local and national organisations to provide green
& sustainable initiatives, art & culture, clubs and
networks.
Here are just some of the things we do in the one
square mile of Poplar that we call home:
l We take care of 210 communal grass areas
and 12 pocket parks
l We’ve helped 5,000 local people into jobs –
with a social impact of £70m.
l 10,000 visitors each year come to mix,
celebrate our heritage and have fun at our
festivals
l Over 6000 people have volunteered with us
l We’re home to Europe’s first fully electric car
club
l We’re proud to have won some prestigious
Awards, including The Guardian Public Service
Award twice (2009 and 2016), UKHA Landlord
of the Year (2015) and Social Landlord of the
Year (2017)
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l We support hundreds of local businesses
through mentoring, microloans, affordable co-
working space, publicity and events
l We’ve fitted over 2,500 solar panels: saving
money, and the planet!
l Angela Lansbury came home to Poplar for a
film festival in her honour
l We launched the world’s smallest V&A
museum to celebrate our heritage
from Poplar Peddlers to Film Club, Poplar
Singers to open mic nights
l We have delivered over £80m social impact
value across our 12 community centres
None of this would have been possible without an
incredible group of residents, passionate staff, and
partners that share our vision. To say thank you,
we’ve launched stories on our website to give a
snapshot of all that we’ve achieved together, from
the people who made it all happen (including our
cover star, Joshan!). Check them out at
www.poplarharca.co.uk/20years
Huge thanks to everyone that helps us
create opportunities in Poplar.
We can’t wait for the next 20 years!