Vision Thames Ward Community Project (TWCP) aims to be a catalyst for sustainable community-led change. The project will bring together schools, community groups and residents from across the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s Thames ward, over a period of three years, to develop initiatives that will improve the environment, achieve better health and quality of life for residents, increase their skills and job opportunities and ensure that they have a strong voice and can influence change in the area over the next decade. By Year Three, the project will have established a resident-led Community Development Trust to continue this work into the future and to ensure that the initiatives that emerge over the next three years are sustainable. Context The development programme on Barking Riverside is set to double the ward population over the next ten years. It is attracting new investment from developers and national programmes that could benefit the whole community. However, to date, there has been no significant investment in community development and, without a clear strategy to engage the whole community, there is a danger that the changes will not benefit the older, established community and might exacerbate divisions rather than bring people together. TWCP will employ skilled community workers to ensure that residents (in the older estates as well as the new properties) benefit from new opportunities arising from Barking Riverside, and also support them in developing the sense of ownership and control that is needed to build a more resourceful, inclusive and forward looking community.