Today, Wednesday 18 February, Barking and Dagenham Council put their pioneering community programmes and booming film industry ambitions centre stage during a high-profile visit from Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The morning cast a spotlight on the borough’s nationally recognised work - from early years support and food initiatives to arts, culture, employment pathways, wellbeing programmes, and a host of resident led projects powering community life. It also reaffirmed Barking and Dagenham’s reputation for strong civic partnerships across the Council, NHS, voluntary sector, education providers, and local faith communities.
Celebrating community‑led innovation
The visit included a tour of Barking Learning Centre (BLC), where local organisations, volunteers and frontline services demonstrated how community‑rooted projects are improving residents’ wellbeing and strengthening neighbourhoods.
His Majesty King Charles met supporters of social prescribing, which connects patients with non-clinical, community-based activities (arts, nature, sports) to improve mental and physical health.
Barking and Dagenham remains committed to reshaping public services so they are designed around residents’ needs. Last year, the borough was announced as one of 43 areas across the UK to roll out neighbourhood health services, as part of the government’s 10 year plan, which means the council continues to work with partners to shift care into communities, strengthen early intervention, and tackle long‑standing health inequalities.
Through pioneering collaborations, including a major partnership with Queen Mary University of London, the Council is developing research‑led responses to the wider determinants of health such as housing, employment, and social care. Given the borough’s significant health inequalities, this ensures every intervention is grounded in local realities and meaningful evidence.
Showcasing opportunity and creativity at Barking & Dagenham College
Their Majesties the King and Queen then visited Barking & Dagenham College’s Rush Green campus where they were shown the breadth of learning opportunities available through the college’s state‑of‑the‑art TV and film facilities. During the visit Their Majesties met alumni Sir Idris Elba and joined by students who were able to talk through the skills, training routes, and career pathways being created for young people across the borough.
A major moment for the borough’s growing film and TV sector
The final leg of the tour concluded at Eastbrook Studios, where His Majesty King Charles III met students taking part in Film Barking & Dagenham’s flagship Make It Here Learning and Participation programme.
The visit spotlighted the significant progress the Council has made in developing the borough into a major centre for film and television production, a journey that began with the work of the Council’s Film Unit. By attracting high‑profile productions to the borough, the Film Unit demonstrated the acute shortage of studio space in London and the untapped potential for expansion in East London.
This evidence drove the Council’s landmark decision in July 2020 to approve plans for a major £110m, 22-acre film studio complex in Dagenham East which will create 1,200 jobs and boost the local economy by £35m annually. After securing the former Sanofi site as a viable location, an international search for a world‑class operator resulted in Hackman Capital Partners and the MBS Group being selected to bring the studio to life.
As part of the land agreement, the Council negotiated a £1 million endowment to fund Make It Here, a long‑term programme to develop a diverse, job‑ready local workforce and ensure residents benefit from the wide range of job and career opportunities involved in the screen industry.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Dominic Twomey, said:
“The visit from Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla today is a landmark and incredibly proud moment for Barking and Dagenham. This very special visit enables us to showcase the very best of our community, our partnerships, and our ambition as a borough.
“At Barking Learning Centre, we’ve been proud to demonstrate how our approach to social prescribing is transforming the way we support residents, bringing together arts, culture, nature based activities, community networks and early help to improve wellbeing and widen access to opportunity. This combined, neighbourhood led approach is exactly the kind of innovation Barking and Dagenham has become known for.
“What we’ve seen at Eastbrook Studios today, in terms of the high-quality training, the creativity on display, and the emerging employment opportunities, reflects years of determined and imaginative leadership by this Council. We made a bold decision to secure a film studio for Dagenham, we assembled the site, we attracted worldclass partners, and we created Make It Here to ensure our residents are first in line for the new careers being created.
“From former industrial land to state-of-the-art studios, this has been a long-term vision driven by the Council and delivered in partnership with education providers, local organisations, and the screen industry. And now that vision is becoming reality.”
Fiona Taylor, Chief Executive of Barking and Dagenham Council, said:
“For most of us, today has been a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the best of Barking and Dagenham and what can be achieved when a borough believes in the power of partnerships.
“Everything we achieve here takes collective effort, so it’s been great to have our community partners standing with us celebrating the work we’re all doing to create opportunities, strengthen prevention and improve health outcomes for our residents.
“The last few months have been especially exciting, as we’ve embarked on a new 10 year partnership with Queen Mary University of London to try to better understand our health challenges locally, and we’re part of the government’s 10 year plan to bring care closer to where people live. We’d love to have Their Majesties back in a few years to see the impact this work is having in our community.”
Refuge, who support victims of domestic and sexual abuse in the borough were one of the organisations involved in the visit.
One of their staff, commented:
"It was an honour to meet Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla and to have the opportunity to discuss the Barking and Dagenham Advocacy Service run by Refuge. I explained the vital support the service provides to anyone in the borough experiencing gender-based violence, including refuge accommodation, community-based support, group programmes, specialist provision for young people, and expert assistance for tech-facilitated abuse. I was also able to explain how our Eastern European Service supports women across Barking, Dagenham and Redbridge experiencing domestic abuse. Her Majesty Queen Camilla has long supported Refuge's work, and it’s wonderful to have such a passionate advocate for survivors among the Royals."