The Wanstead Fringe has been given a £3,000 award by the London City Airport Community Fund to help with the development of the Wanstead Kinema. The grant is part of £40,000 the fund is distributing to good causes in East London.
Over the summer the Fringe team crafted the Wanstead Curtain – a cinema, theatre and performance space – in the disused hall at the Wanstead Methodist Church on Hermon Hill, and the grant helps fund the equipment needed for the showing of films.
Giles Wilson, chair of the Wanstead Fringe, said: “We’re really grateful to the London City Airport Community Fund for their grant. It means a lot to us because the Fringe is entirely volunteer-run, and receives no funding from anyone except our sponsors and members. The grant means our hopes for developing the Wanstead Curtain as a home for our Kinema activities have been given a real boost.”
This year the Fringe was sponsored by Petty Son & Prestwich, Edwards Duthie Shamash, Two Toms, North London Loft Rooms, the Duke, Compassionate Funerals, East London Brewery, the Wanstead Society, Wanstead Bookshop and City Place Coffee.
Its membership scheme, which was launched this year, gives individuals a chance to support the development of cultural activities in Wanstead – at the time of writing there are 63 Wanstead Fringe members. New members can join here.