Aiden d'Araujo

Secured grant funding from Newham Council for our community hub Tracks to support our post-pandemic recovery and reorientation with people powered projects including launching The Forest. The Forest is a branch of Forest Gate's ever-evolving social hub Tracks and is a community driven magazine, for people, by people. Our orchard of content features art & culture, food & drink, health & wellness and home & garden plus profiles of local lives who are the fabric of The Forest. The pandemic has been a catalyst in many of our local residents reevaluating their careers and lifestyle. Our vision is to nurture an inclusive and cooperative economy that supports local creatives and encourages entrepreneurship regardless of age, background or experience. A collaborative platform that champions community, The Forest shines a spotlight on small business and grassroots projects, all through the lens of budding writers and local authors. Since launching last year we’re already achieving up to 10,000 visits per month and the exposure we’ve given to Newham-based business and entrepreneurs has contributed to local success stories. This includes Beautician Mary Simmons who, as a result of the coverage in The Forest has opened a salon in Forest Gate: “The article in The Forest really propelled my business forward; I had a small client base that rapidly expanded after the article was published, leading to me having to establish a wait list – and meant that I realised I had to expand beyond having appointments in my home, and giving me the confidence to know that I had enough interest to open a salon on Romford Road, which I got the keys to in November 2022. I don’t think that without the article any of this would have happened, so I’m very grateful to The Forest and Tracks for getting the word out.” We continue to help people grow and enrich local life in the borough.

Launched with my wife our natural deodorant brand Cacao Pow Deo Bar to offer an aluminium-free alternative to the market. Run the communication side of the business including email marketing, devising social media strategy and building relationships with potential and current stockists. Have achieved year-on-year growth with website sales and increasing customer retention plus scaled up the business through our wholesale operation where at our peak we were stocked in 125 independent bricks and mortar stores nationwide. We have won multiple awards including achieving gold for best natural deodorant in The Green Parent Natural Beauty Awards.

After launching a record store under a railway arch in Forest Gate back in December 2017, this passion project further evolved into a bar, kitchen and community hub under the umbrella Tracks in June 2018 growing from a labour of love to an established neighbourhood hub. In December 2018 left my career in retail management to fully focus on the potential of our ever-evolving people powered place. Successfully navigated the challenging trading climate of the lockdown landscape as adapted the business into a click & collect grocery and pantry to serve the community. Coordinate and host a diverse program of events encompassing art, music and culture with an emphasis to support disadvantaged people and marginalised communities with festivals including Forest Gayte Pride, International Workers Day and Spring is Queer plus co-hosted Arch Day to celebrate the local arches with attendees including the Mayor of Newham. Organise regular pop-up markets including food & drink pop-ups, local makers markets plus workshops to nurture an inclusive and cooperative economy that supports local creatives and encourages entrepreneurship. Awarded accreditation as a Newham Community Wealth Building Champion for the borough and London Living Wage employer. Secured grant funding from Newham Council to support our recovery and reorientation post-pandemic with community powered projects including launching our online community driven magazine The Forest – theforestmag.com to shine a spotlight on small business and grassroots projects all through the lens of budding writers and local authors which now achieves up to 10,000 visits per month.