My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Cova
Last Name
Cervilla
Pronouns
She/Her
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Lead Organisation Name
Lambeth Council
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2026
Initiative Title
Sport Strees Vauxhall Street
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/
Initiative Stage
Pilot-Stage (The first activities have happened, and you have proof of concept)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
Sport Streets – activating low traffic streets for sport and play through engagement and physical changes.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
Our project addresses overlapping problems that limit daily opportunities for fun, informal movement and sport. Modern traffic levels have increased so children’s freedom to play in their neighbourhoods has decreased. The bounce of a ball, cycle to school, or race to the park is tempered by danger from motor vehicles. Road danger has led to a cultural shift away from streets being places to linger, socialise, or play. It is hard for people to imagine alternative uses for streets, even when traffic reduction schemes have been introduced. Approximately 80% of public space is the street, demonstrating the scale of this problem, but also the scale of opportunity to use this public space differently. The Vauxhall Ward in Lambeth is densely populated (16,874 people/km²) and there is limited open space dedicated to sport and play. The existing Healthy Neighbourhood has created a space with exciting potential. This project and funding will enable more playful space that supports children’s wellbeing and strengthens community. Project beneficiaries will be: Pupils of Octavia House Special School and Vauxhall Primary who use this street for their daily journey to school; People who live locally in flats without gardens, and with a lack of designated public open space near their homes; local community, which will be experience greater connection and joy that will come from more opportunities for play, games, and communal activity; Other schools and communities for whom this project sets an example about the way that low traffic schemes unlock new opportunities for play, activity and interaction, and the way that space can be reimagined for community benefit. We have already very well engaged with the school and local residents through our Healthy Neighbourhood
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Recognising the potential in the newly pedestrianised 660m2 of street space on Vauxhall Street, we will work with the community to co-design a ‘sport street’. Initially, young people at the Primary School, the Special School and local residents will guide the planning of a series of activation engagement events. Planning with the community in this way we will empower local people to begin to reimagine the space, and ensure the events reflect and respond to their preferences and needs. This is particularly important in planning events with Octavia House Special School, where additional needs and accessibility requirements must be considered. The activation engagement events will get people participating in play, sport and activity next to where they live or go to school. They will see the way street space can be repurposed when traffic reduction schemes are introduced, which will help people to imagine what else is possible in those spaces. At each activation engagement event, we will facilitate focused co-design activities to explore together what changes could be made to the street, to maximise the space for sport, play and social interaction. Collaborative design will include setting small challenges to think creatively about the space, such as ‘what can you do with a bucket of paint?’, ‘how would you transform a feature of the street into gym equipment?’, or ‘design a street court or pitch’. The innovative co-designed solutions for sport and play, will use our tried and tested tactical urbanism approach to deliver transformative spaces at lower costs Once built, we will facilitate further activation activities including cycle training for children and families, and work with the local community to plan a programme of sport and play.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
Building on our existing relationships and historical engagement with local schools and communities, we will work with children to co-design their streets and public spaces. Children’s ideas are highly imaginative; they have innovative aspirations for what a street or public space can be. Our extensive engagement experience means we can guide these activities in a pragmatic way to ensure we can bring people’s ideas to life within the context of available materials and feasible design options to truly respond to local needs, which will engender ownership and pride. They will help to guide planning. All decisions and planning will be guided through collaboration with schools and local residents. They will help plan ‘activation engagement’ events and make decisions about how to engage the wider community. This will help equip and empower local voices. There will be free participation alongside the co-design, activities will allow people to contribute their ideas in a relaxed, non-threatening and supportive way. Activation engagement activities will be open to everyone, locally promoted, and street-focused, taking advantage of the features of the street, to attract passers-by and encourage participation. Young people and the community will help to implement the solutions that they help design, such as the painting of a running track or handball court, or building a raised garden bed. This will get people out socialising, building skills and being active, fostering a sense of ownership over the space. We will help the community and young people to plan continuous use and activation activities and also offer the school support with Walk Wheel Cycle Trust initiatives, like FRideDays Bike Bus or the Big Walk and Wheel.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
‘Unlocking’ a street will allow movement and activity for the widest range of people. In the past, children played independently on the street. Now, partly due to the rising dominance of cars, children spend less time outdoors, other than structured settings. This project will enable children to play and exercise in the streets around their home, making sport and activity a natural part of their day. A camera-enforced street closure was recently installed on Vauxhall St in Lambeth, creating 660m2 of space for people. This project will activate the space for sport and play by introducing physical changes such as installing sport and play features that the community have helped design. This project will be used to develop a practical template for communities to create their own Sport Streets, both after traffic reduction schemes have been introduced, and to help make the case for others. The impact of this project will extend beyond this one street and community. It will build the body of evidence and inspiration for reimagining street space,. We will embed monitoring and evaluation into the programme by linking with Child Friendly Lambeth, where “Place” is a core theme. Evidence of this approach includes the Lambeth Council Kennington Oval Reimagined scheme that transformed the area around The Oval Cricket Ground, using natural features like logs, boulders and planters, with art and places to rest and play. The project led to comments like, “The street is now really nice to walk down, I see people sitting around, meeting and talking with each other, playing table tennis. The varied furniture and drawings bring a bit of vibrancy to the area and the reduced traffic noise off the main road is calming.”
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
Traffic reduction and road space reallocation schemes, like the street closure introduced on Vauxhall Street, have become more common across London. Over 800 school streets now exist in London with benefits for safety, air quality, accessibility. This kind of scheme is still far from the norm and even where they do occur, true transformation requires activation and imagination. This project will help to demonstrate how to combine features like school streets, with innovative street space reallocation. We will use the project to create a Toolkit for community-led Sport Streets that can be rolled out by communities across Lambeth. The project will have an emphasis on testing low-cost, DIY interventions that can be managed by the community and installed quickly and easily. Projects that centre the voices of people who are often excluded are inherently innovative. We will ensure the voices of young people and local residents are captured through planning and co-design. These voices will directly shape the designs implemented through the project. We don’t know what their ideas for how to use and transform this space for sport and play will be – that is where the innovation lies! We will have an emphasis on working with students, staff and families at Octavia House Special school, so the voices of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities will be included in the co-design process, to ensure changes are inclusive and welcoming for all. Extra care will also be taken to ensure all genders are involved with co-design, knowing that girls often have different preferences to boys around sport and play. Collaboration with local sports charity Black Prince Trust, will help connect more children with informal play and sport outside of school.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
Residents, the school, and local businesses will have a shared sense of ownership that makes the ‘sport street’ easy to operate and maintain. Lambeth council are key to securing permissions and long-term support. Our model is intentionally simple: low-cost materials, volunteer friendly activities, and clear safety guidelines. This combination of community leadership and practical planning sets it up to thrive and expand. Operational sustainability is rooted in the community; we will support a core volunteer team and regular occasional volunteers to undertake simple maintenance tasks, ensuring the Sport Street doesn’t depend on any one person or organisation. Lambeth Council will secure ongoing permissions and oversee necessary maintenance. Impact will be shown by participation, resident feedback, and observations of children’s play and social interaction. A traffic order is already in place to secure 660m2 of space for people, allowing us to trial exciting and changing ideas within these parameters. This steady cycle of engagement and evaluation keeps the sport street thriving. This project will provide a template and inspiration for the implementation of ‘sport streets’. Vauxhall Primary is part of the Wyvern Federation which comprises five primary and one secondary school. Following the success of this scheme other schools in this group could replicate the approach. Lambeth Council are a leading authority reclaiming road space and promoting play and safety around schools and present an opportunity to roll out similar areas across the borough providing inspiration to authorities across London and the country. One of the outputs of the project will be a case study to enable other communities to replicate and scale up similar initiatives.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
Walk Wheel Cycle Trust will lead the engagement, pre-installation activation and co-design, along with post-implementation activation activities. The physical changes that result from the co-design process will take place within the street, or ‘highway boundary’. As the Local Highway Authority, Lambeth are well placed to oversee the engagement process, to provide regulatory guidance, and connect with decision-making stakeholders. Lambeth Council will oversee the delivery of the physical works, providing regulatory guidance, technical assurance, and coordination with internal teams such as waste collection, maintenance and emergency services. The Council will also manage any elements of the scheme that require statutory processes to be completed. This project would be directly supported by Child Friendly Lambeth, incorporating their commitment to ensure children are involved in decisions that affect their lives and have the ability to influence and shape the spaces in which they live and play and the support and services that they may need. We also hold relationships with the neighbouring Vauxhall Gardens Estate, and the two schools. The importance of reimagining street space in this way is a fundamental feature of the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust’s work in making it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle. Similarly, Lambeth’s Kerbside Strategy, recognises the great potential of reclaiming roadside space for people. It became clear that the opportunity to empower local people to reclaim the space around their homes and schools is even greater with the increased occurrence of low traffic schemes.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
nitial project scoping, including stakeholder mapping and local research. Reach out to existing and new contacts in the area including: o School - Vauxhall Primary and Octavia House Special School o Housing Estate – Vauxhall Gardens Estate. o Businesses on Vauxhall Street o Go Mammoth Netball – use the school multi sport pitches Undertake initial engagement and activity planning with the primary school, SEND school and residents association. Establish a project working group with representatives from the schools (both leadership and students), businesses and local residents. Plan and run a series of activation engagement events on the pedestrianised area of Vauxhall Street. This will include seeking the necessary council permissions, which Lambeth will be well-placed to facilitate. These activities will be determined in collaboration with the local community (previous milestone), but could include things like a Play Street, ‘sports festival’, dance workshop, learn to ride sessions delivered over one or multiple days. Co-design activities will be incorporated into and alongside the sport and play activities, so that local people and school children can share their ideas and suggestions about how to reimagine the street. Analysis of the co-design outcomes will take place, and a series of designs will be produced by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust urban designers, working with Lambeth Council to ensure the outcomes are feasible and deliverable. These designs will be shared with the community for comment and refinement through further engagement activity or events. Delivery and implementation of the schemes will take place. Where possible and depending on what the community designs, young people will help with elements of the installation, such as with painting of a running track, construction of climbing features, or building of planters. Post-implementation workshops will take place with the community, to help plan the continued activation of the space. Learn to ride lessons and cycle skills session, outdoor PE lessons, or other activities will be planned and delivered. Initial project scoping, including stakeholder mapping and local research. Reach out to existing and new contacts in the area including: o School - Vauxhall Primary and Octavia House Special School o Housing Estate – Vauxhall Gardens Estate. o Businesses on Vauxhall Street o Go Mammoth Netball – use the school multi sport pitches Undertake initial engagement and activity planning with the primary school, SEND school and residents association. Establish a project working group with representatives from the schools (both leadership and students), businesses and local residents. Plan and run a series of activation engagement events on the pedestrianised area of Vauxhall Street. This will include seeking the necessary council permissions, which Lambeth will be well-placed to facilitate. These activities will be determined in collaboration with the local community (previous milestone), but could include things like a Play Street, ‘sports festival’, dance workshop, learn to ride sessions delivered over one or multiple days. Co-design activities will be incorporated into and alongside the sport and play activities, so that local people and school children can share their ideas and suggestions about how to reimagine the street. Analysis of the co-design outcomes will take place, and a series of designs will be produced by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust urban designers, working with Lambeth Council to ensure the outcomes are feasible and deliverable. These designs will be shared with the community for comment and refinement through further engagement activity or events. Delivery and implementation of the schemes will take place. Where possible and depending on what the community designs, young people will help with elements of the installation, such as with painting of a running track, construction of climbing features, or building of planters. Post-implementation workshops will take place with the community, to help plan the continued activation of the space. Learn to ride lessons and cycle skills session, outdoor PE lessons, or other activities will be planned and delivered. Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and Lambeth will use the outcomes and findings of the project to create a Toolkit for communities to create their own Sport Streets.
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details.
The £10,000 of capacity building and support funding would be used to tackle barriers to participation within the capacity building programme. This may include but is not limited to: • Services for refining the ultimate scope definition of the project outputs, e.g. co-design workshops, volunteer recruitment and information sessions • A bespoke package of measures to support the participating SEND school, e.g. accessible communications such working with those who know sign language to ensure equal opportunity for SEND project participants • Communications materials for the project, for volunteers and local partner organisations to support their mobilisation and build capacity in the run up to the project The precise needs of the £10,000 would be kept flexible to serve the needs of project beneficiaries and would be more specifically determined through a collaborative design process.
