East of England

In June 1948, the SS Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury bringing the very first migrants from the Caribbean to settle in Britain. There are many in the Watford community who arrived then, or in the ten years that followed, in what has subsequently become known as the “Windrush Decade”.

Bedford High Street is in a designated conservation area, but before our grant for the restoration of some of its historic buildings, it was looking shabby and unloved.

A community-based project in Castle Point worked with people with mental health problems, dementia and learning disabilities to create a garden.

Funding was used by volunteers of Thurrock Local History Society to collate material for displays about the little-known achievements of Alfred Russell Wallace who was resident at The Dell in Grays Thurrock in the 19th century.

This project generated interest from the Canvey Island community and artists alike by creating a mural of the 1953 flood that affected the area.

Volunteers explored and shared nine decades of history through Hadleigh and Thundersley Community Archive’s All Our Stories project.

An HLF Skills for the Future grant enabled the CBA to offer year-long workplace learning bursaries.

A hidden gem in the centre of an urban environment, Houghton Hall Park is a 17 hectare public park in the town of Houghton Regis.

The Water Gardens in Hemel Hempstead have been restored to their former glory as one of the country’s most important post-war landscapes.

The stories of four Bedford women were celebrated with workshops and an exhibition.

Badwell Ash Parochial Church led this project to restore the historic turret clock at St Mary’s Church.

Local people investigated how the conflict in Europe affected the community of Basildon in 1916.