A Year Ago, The CoHub Existed Only in Reels, Spreadsheets and My Head

This week Facebook Memories decided to stop me in my tracks.

Up popped one of the weekly reels I made this time last year, documenting the journey towards opening The CoHub. Every week I'd jump online and share an update about where we were at.

Funding applications submitted. Governance taking shape. Partnerships developing.

Business plans being written. Policies being created. Spreadsheets multiplying at an alarming rate.

At the time, I was mid-redundancy, legally bound not to work on my new work and spending every spare moment outside working hours planning something that didn't actually exist yet. There was no hub. No timetable. No Community Shapers. No resident governance board. No events. No grants secured. No guarantee any of it would happen. Just an idea, a vision and a ridiculous amount of determination really.

Watching those reels back now feels surreal. Not because they're particularly polished (they aren't lol), but because I can see someone trying to build something she thought (but also desperately hoped) the community would need, whilst having absolutely no idea what the next twelve months would bring. And honestly? I don't think that version of me would quite believe where we are today.

Building Something From Nothing

When people visit The CoHub now, they see a busy community space. Residents popping in for advice. Volunteers sorting donations. Community lunches and events. Training sessions. Tai Chi. Zumba. Coffee mornings. Food Pantry Fridays. Men's Groups. Digital support. Partnership meetings. Activities. Laughter. Tears. Conversations. Life.

What they don't see is everything that happened before the doors ever opened. The planning. The strategy. The governance. The funding applications. The safeguarding policies. The risk assessments. The budgets. The endless admin. The spreadsheets.

Launching a community organisation is a bit like building a plane whilst flying it.

You know where you're heading, but there are moments where you're attaching bits together and hoping everyone remains airborne. Thankfully, we did - and what a first year it has been.

The Numbers Tell One Story. The People Tell Another.

Over the past year we've supported hundreds of local residents through CoCreate Hackney and The Community Closet. We've distributed hundreds of clothing bundles and essential items. We've helped hundreds of people access benefits, housing support, debt advice, digital inclusion support, food support and community activities. We've built a fantastic team of Community Shapers who have contributed hundreds upon hundreds of volunteer hours back into Hackney. We've launched new services. New projects. New partnerships. New groups. New ideas.

And somehow we also found time to become Hackney's first Community Resilience Hub whilst designing and helping establish the Hackney Community Response Network alongside some brilliant partners.

On paper, those are achievements. In reality, they're people.

People like Phil, who arrived without ID, without a bank account and without the confidence to navigate systems many of us take for granted. A few appointments later and Phil had his ID sorted, a bank account open and was proudly tapping his card to buy his mate a pint for the first time.

The statistics matter. Funders certainly like them. But it's the people I'll always remember.

Three Events. One Goal.

One of the things I'm most proud of this year is the growth of our flagship events.

The Cost of Living Fair. The Hackney Opportunity Fair. And this September, the launch of our newest addition, the Hackney Inclusion Fair.

Three very different events. One very simple goal. Helping local people access support, services, opportunities and connections.

The Hackney Opportunity Fair alone welcomed more than 400 residents through the doors and brought together employers, colleges, training providers, charities and support organisations from across London. Watching residents leave with interviews booked, training opportunities secured, volunteering roles explored and new confidence was one of those moments where you quietly step back and think: "Okay. This is working."

The Part Social Media Doesn't Show

Now for the less glamorous bit, because social media is wonderful but it rarely tells the whole story. You see the funding announcements, smiling photos, the busy events and wonderful success stories. What you don't always see is the reality behind them.

The reality is that demand has increased almost every single week since we opened.

People arrive needing clothing. Food. Advice. Support. Wi-Fi. A charging point. A hot drink. A listening ear. A place to sit. A place to feel safe. A place where somebody knows their name.

The truth is simple.

People are struggling. People are hungry. People are isolated. People are overwhelmed.

And community spaces like ours are increasingly becoming the places where those realities show up.

Not once a month. Not occasionally. Every single day.

Every morning we unlock the doors knowing there may already be people waiting outside. Waiting for support. Waiting for help. Waiting because they don't know where else to go. And whilst I'm incredibly proud that we've become a place people trust, the growing demand is also a reminder of how much need still exists across our communities.

The Juggling Act Nobody Warns You About

It has to be said that running a community organisation and busy centre is a strange job. No two days are ever the same. One minute you're helping somebody complete a benefits form. The next you're writing a funding application. Then you're meeting a partner organisation. Then you're managing volunteers. Then you're sorting a safeguarding concern. Then you're moving furniture. Then you're fixing a printer. Then you're replying to emails at 10pm wondering how it somehow became 10pm.

People often ask me what it's like being a Director. And my honest answer? It's about twenty different jobs wearing a trench coat pretending to be one job.

Community work is people work and people are wonderfully complicated. Sometimes it's inspiring. Sometimes it's exhausting. Usually it's both before lunch.

A Word About Lime Bikes

Now before anyone thinks this has become too serious, let's talk about something equally important. My new found-er love of Lime Bikes.

Last year, whilst travelling into Central London for workshops with Big Issue Impact and other meetings, I discovered them and what started as a practical way of getting around quickly became one of my favourite parts of the week.

Those rides became my thinking space. My breathing space. My reset button.

Anyone who knows me knows my brain and mouth are usually operating three months ahead of themselves. There is always another idea. Another plan. Another project. Another spreadsheet. But being on a Lime Bike somehow forced me to pause.

Some of the best ideas for The CoHub happened whilst cycling through London. Some of the hardest decisions got worked through there too. And when things felt overwhelming, it gave me a chance to breathe. Looking back now, I think these rides are probably as important to building The CoHub as some of my meetings are. They are definately more enjoyable at times lol..

Y2

The biggest lesson I've learned this year is that impact and sustainability are not the same thing.

Year One was about proving the idea worked. Year Two is about making sure it survives. We've shown the impact. We've shown the need. We've shown the demand. We've shown what happens when communities are trusted, invested in and genuinely involved in shaping solutions. Now we need to solidify the foundations that enable that work to continue.

That means securing long-term funding. That means creating paid roles alongside volunteer opportunities. That means investing in infrastructure, systems and capacity. Not because volunteers aren't enough - they are incredible. But because communities deserve services that are sustainable. Services that can still be here in five years. Ten years. Twenty years. Services that don't rely entirely on evenings, weekends and goodwill.

As Founder and Director, one of my biggest priorities for the coming year is securing the funding needed to create stability - not just for me, but for the organisation as a whole. Because when you're not constantly worrying about survival, you can focus fully on long-term impact.

Looking Back. Looking Forward.

Watching those old reels this week made me smile. Not because everything went to plan, trust me, it didn't. Not because the journey has been easy, trust me, it wasn't lol. But because those videos captured a moment in time when all of this was still just a possibility. An idea. A dream. A vision.

Today, it's real. Built by residents. Powered by volunteers. Supported by funders, partners and a

community who believed in what we were trying to create. A year ago I was filming updates about something that didn't exist. Today I'm writing about a community that does.

Turns out those reels were only the beginning.

KB x