by Andy Naylor (Westminster Community Enterprise Catalyst)

We are delighted to announce that our first Community Micro-Enterprise (CME) for the Westminster project has met our ‘Doing It Right’ standards and is ready to join Small Good Stuff! The CME is called The Dende Collective and was founded by the brilliant Andre. Dende Collective’s aim is to enhance and encourage the community’s relationship with live theatre and to provide a place where people can express themselves, meet others, and have a brilliant time.

I caught up with the man himself to ask him some questions about his journey with Community Catalysts, and what Dende are looking forward to in the future…

Hi Andre, what have Community Catalysts been able to help you with over the past few months?

Andy and Community Catalysts have been incredibly supportive in several key areas. Andy has provided valuable information on accounting for small organisations, risk assessments, funding opportunities, and networking possibilities. His visits to our sessions and active participation have been particularly encouraging. Additionally, Andy’s support has helped us to gain visibility through their directory and explore opportunities to showcase our work in future sessions.

 What are you excited about working with Community Catalysts going forwards?

Looking ahead, we are excited about continuing to work with Community Catalysts to expand our reach within Westminster. We hope to leverage their support to increase our participant numbers and extend our classes and projects to new areas. Andy spoke about us participating in sessions where we can demonstrate our work, which hopefully will help us to build stronger community connections and attract more participants.

What are your plans for Dende Collective over the next few months?

Over the next few months, Dende Collective has an exciting line-up of activities for older adults. We currently offer free drama sessions at Mayfair Library, where people can join anytime. This August, we will be delivering The Church Street Masquerade at Penfold Community Hub NW8, featuring free mask-making, acting, and performance opportunities. It will be a fabulous event with masked characters invading the Church Street area, bringing excitement and mystery to the streets.

Starting in September, our drama classes will restart at Church Street, focusing on the fun world of pantomimes. In January 2025, we will being back to our arts and crafts, drama, and film project at the Penfold Community Hub. So there’s loads going on!!

Wow, such a busy few months ahead! We can’t wait to support Andre on the rest of his journey and look forward to watching Dende Collective grow into even more of a community powerhouse. Would you like to join Andre on our Community Catalysts development programme? Get in touch with Joe or Andy at westminster@communitycatalysts.co.uk.