What have we done?

PAPRIKA was created in 2015.  Having project managed the opening of a community shop/gallery/cafe in Styal, Cheshire and developed the location into a community hub, Esther Morrison decided to put into practice her practical Place Making skills.

Initially, operating as a market trader (to learn the other side of the market development picture) she opened a business hub and coffee shop in one of Stockport's successful Portas Pilot projects (20th Century Stores).  A number of initiatives were trialled to test theories as to the reasons behind the problems with footfall in Market Place, outside of Foodie Friday and the ways in which the historic market was becoming less relevant to the town and its communities.

Having explored a number of avenues and brought the local stakeholders back together with her ‘matchmaking’ skills, Esther saw a wider, place-based need for her skillset and founded PAPRIKA.

PAPRIKA has

• Created the first weekly, evening food market (High Peak Food Hub) to support local high street retailers and independent farmers, growers and producers.  The market quickly also became a social hub, with an eclectic programme of street food traders
• To encourage potential restauranteurs to take up empty premises on the local high street, a programme of popup restaurants was started, welcoming traders from across the North West
• Taken over the food bookings for the majority of community events in New Mills, creating a central request and booking system
• Run a number of successful artisan food fairs, showcasing local producers and growers
• Created a universal set of terms and conditions that emphasise the town’s green credentials and environmental focus for community organisers wishing to professionalise the street food at their events
• Event managed street parties at film festivals, arts festivals and carnivals
• Took on the food tent at a local country show to change the focus to locally produced food and drink
• Supported street traders towards delivery at residencies and festivals
• Ran popup restaurants
• Delivered food-related education sessions for an alternative curriculum provider
• Act as a conduit between community organisers and a comprehensive database of selected street food traders

In the culture and heritage area:

• Baseline analysis of cultural and tourism assets for a combined authority
• Audience Development Strategy for a museum in Cumbria
• Focus group delivery for a technical solution to an outdoors interpretation problem
• Performance measurement and evaluation for HLF projects (and other funding streams)