West Norwood locals at the press launch

Letting local businesses and residents decide how their area is used seems like an obvious idea, but it’s something that rarely happens. Not so for the South East London borough of West Norwood which, after months of planning and preparation, will be the home of West Norwood Feast – a market built and run by locals with the help of Space Makers.

The market launches on Sunday 3rd April and will sell everything from reworked furniture and gardening tools to street food and pieces of art. Locally sourced, of course.

We interviewed Dougald Hine, the founder of Space Makers, about West Norwood Feast.

How did you get involved with West Norwood Feast?

The first project we did as Space Makers was at Brixton Village indoor market, bringing people together to fill twenty empty shops with pop-ups and new businesses. While we were working on that, we were approached by Lambeth Council who wanted to talk to us about some of the other town centres around the borough. We went with them to meet some local business owners in West Norwood and that’s where the project started from.

I think the council expected us to come up with another empty shops project, but we soon realised this was a different situation. Apart from anything else, there wasn’t a single landlord with lots of empty property who you could negotiate with. So we asked ourselves how we could bring some of the spirit of what had worked in Brixton to work in a different way – and the answer was to create a new street market, using some of the under-used bits of space around Norwood Road and Knights Hill.

What will set West Norwood Feast apart from your average local market?

What’s different is that it’s been organised by local people. Space Makers has been there to support them and to work with the council, but the ideas for how the market should work – and the hard work of making it happen – have come from the dozens of local people who have come to our weekly open meetings at the local pub. There’s an amazing attitude, a feeling that people have been waiting for a long time for something to happen in their neighbourhood and their determined to make it special.

In terms of what you’ll find on the day, there are four separate marketplace hubs within five minutes walk of each other, around West Norwood station. There’s a food fair, a retro village with vintage clothes and furniture, a gardeners’ market and an artisans’ market with locally-made crafts. There will all sorts of other things to do, with street entertainers, art at the Portico Gallery, a guided tour of the historic West Norwood Cemetery, and a guerrilla gardening expedition with Richard Reynolds.

Are you involved in any other local London projects?

We just won a competition to create a project in Canning Town, together with an amazing collective of artists, architects and community organisers. It’s called the Canning Town Caravanserai and we’ll be working on it over the next three years. We’re looking forward to getting to know a very different corner of London and working with the people we meet there.

Where do you live in London and why?

I live in Brixton! I moved here a couple of months into the Brixton Village project. I’d already got to know more people there than I knew in Hackney, where I’d been living for the previous two years. But I’m originally a northerner, I didn’t move to London until I was thirty, and I’ve ended up enjoying it more than I ever thought I would.

I’ve been doing a bit of work around Brick Lane for the past week or so and come midday my freelance feet start itching for a forage. Here are a few places that have been rocking my palate on a budget (and not once have I been swayed by Balti peddling Brick Lane doormen).

• Mama Thai: Seems to be a bit of an institution this one. Not the best Thai food I’ve had in London by any stretch but copious, homey and more than good enough for the price (around a fiver) with a old school East End feel to it.

• Momo’wich: This clean and pleasant – and brand spanking new – little eatery offers a fresh take on the Southeast Asian baguette. I had a very satisfying beef rendang sandwich – and at under a fiver very good value – on my first visit and liked it so much I went back the next day to try another. Noodle soups, puffed pastries, spicy Thai chicken wings, fresh teas and juices … the menu at Momo’wich is refreshing and one I hope to explore a little more in the next few weeks. The smiling folks behind the counter are friendly and appreciative too. I hear they have laksa on Fridays as well!

• Pepe’s Piri Piri: Another newbie to the area and not much more than a bog standard fast food joint. However, if you’re in a pinch and order well (the hot wings are yum) Pepe can really come to the rescue. Way cheap, super clean and amazingly friendly.

• Beigel Bake: And then there’s ye olde Beigel Bake (and, of course, a whole slew of other nosh-centric places that I’ve failed to list – not to mention all those tasty Sunday (Up)Market vendors). In all honesty, having lived in New York and New Jersey, I must confess their “bagels” come nowhere near their Stateside cousines.  Still with most of their filled bagels coming in at one pound or under (I love the chopped herring), it’s hard to fault ‘em.

Two weeks ago, Japan was brought to its knees by a devastating earthquake and tsunami that has left us all in a state of shock.  I think it’s absolutely amazing how the whole world has rallied together to help those affected.  If you haven’t donated any money yet, here are a few charity events going on around East London that you can head down to to do your bit:

People Tree Sample Sale

People Tree is a fair trade fashion label and will be running a sample sale this weekend in Shoreditch.  All profits go to Second Harvest Japan, which distributes donated supermarket food to the victims of Japan’s tsunami and earthquake.  Check it out for some last minute bargains for a good cause.

WAH Nails Blowout Sale

WAH Nails will be hosting a huge sale all day with all proceeds going straight to the Red Cross Support Japan charity.  Items up for grabs include designer womenswear and menswear, vintage, shoes, books, records, bikes, art, cakes and more so if you are stuck for something to do tomorrow make sure you check it out!  There will also be massive discounts on manicures, nail art and hair dyeing if you get there early.

Help Japan at Hoxton Pony – Thursday 31st March

Head down to the Hoxton Pony for a star studded evening of DJs, bands, rappers and live performances with all proceeds going to the Red Cross Support Japan charity.  Acts include Metronomy, Jodie Harsh and The Subways and a dream team of DJs will be banging out the tunes for 9 whole hours.  There will be a raffle to win items owned by celebs like Noel Fielding, Eliza Doolittle, The Maccabees and The Mystery Jets and tickets will only be £10.