A newsletter for people who live or work in the Somers Town area MAR 2014 | ISSUE 14

Funding fantastic projects

More activities designed to encourage healthy lifestyles are springing up all over Somers Town thanks to the Crick’s Community Chest and local community organisations.

Over the last two years, the Community Chest fund has enabled several community groups to run creative, educational and physical activities for local people to enjoy. More good news is that we will be running the Community Chest again this year.

With support from this fund, Coram Life Education held interactive lessons for 200 children at Edith Neville School. In the special Lifebus – a mobile classroom parked outside the school for two days in January – pupils learned about health and drugs. Each session was tailored to suit the age group.

Sarah Greenwood, the Educator from Coram, said: “I felt that the children were enthusiastic, keen to get involved and share their knowledge, and highly motivated to get the most out of the experience.”

Edith Neville School’s year 2 teacher felt that the programme was child friendly and had plenty of visuals for children with special education needs and those with English as an additional language.

Coram will be visiting other schools in the area in the coming months. The children will also be doing follow-up

activities using worksheets and games on Coram’s website.

Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centre has been running its successful ‘50 – not out!’ project for nearly a year. Participants, all Asian women over 50, have benefited from health awareness sessions and regular Hatha Yoga classes.

Melissa McClelland from Hopscotch commented: “This project has given older Asian women an opportunity to get out of the house and socialise, which is imperative in empowering the individual.”

The latest venture to get Community Chest funding is a football club for young people in Somers Town. Run by Rienzi Trento from Ossulston Tenants and Residents Association, there will be monthly coaching sessions led by a professional and plenty of practice time. Once the teams are up and running, they’ll be looking to join a local league.

Somers Town Football Club would like to hear from boys and girls aged 6 to 15 years who are interested in playing the beautiful game. Contact Rienzi.Trento@gmail.com.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE AT WWW.CRICK.AC.UK

ABOUT THE CRICK

The Francis Crick Institute (formerly UKCMRI), is a new medical research institute being built at Brill Place, Somers Town.

It’s named after one of the UK’s greatest scientists, who co-discovered the structure of DNA.

The institute is a partnership between the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London.

Discoveries made in the laboratories will speed up the development of treatments for major diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The Francis Crick Institute will bring new jobs, community facilities and other benefits to Somers Town.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE • Developing the

Living Centre: special pull-out feature

• Community Update event

• Shaping the satellite lab

• A keyhole for obesity and diabetes treatment

COMMUNITY

Above: Participants in Hopscotch’s ‘50 – not out!’ project enjoy other healthy-living activities organised by the centre. © Hopscotch

For more information about the Community Chest, call 0800 028 6731 or email info@crick.ac.uk.

Crick Community Update

At our second Community Update, held in February at Cooper’s Lane Tenant Hall, local people heard more about the Crick and its projects as well as progress on building works. There was plenty of time for questions, and participants also had the opportunity to look at their cheek cells under a microscope.

We included this activity in response to feedback from our first Community Update event held last summer where adults were inspired by stories of the fascinating science experiments local schoolchildren were doing. Local resident Layli Foroudi commented: “It’s a bit of fun, and something we wouldn’t normally get the chance to do. Like John Cooper [the Crick’s Chief Operating Officer] said tonight, science is all around us and shouldn’t be confined within the walls of the institute.”

Guest speaker Sarah Elie, Executive Director of the Somers Town Community Association, talked about the Somers Town Neighbourhood Planning Forum. She said: “Our Health working group supported Well London’s health mapping project for the Living Centre (see centre pages) and we work with local people and organisations engaged in improving the overall health and wellbeing of all Somers Town residents.”

Shaping the satellite labPlans to create a satellite laboratory in Regent High School’s brand new building are making good progress. We have teamed up with the school to provide equipment and expertise that will help make this facility a top notch science resource for students in Camden and neighbouring boroughs. The building will be completed later this year.

Teachers from local secondary schools and scientists from the Crick’s partners have already been working on developing stimulating science workshops for 14- to 18-year-olds. So far, study themes include malaria, genetic engineering, disease diagnosis and drug design.

We’re also running a similar project to develop science workshops for younger children. These sessions will take place at the Crick’s onsite teaching laboratory, which will open when the Crick does in 2016. Clare Davy, Education Officer at the Crick, said: “We piloted one workshop in December last year at St Mary and St Pancras Primary School. The children were very enthusiastic to join in the experiments and asked some great questions.”

APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Laing O’Rourke and the Crick are working closely with the King’s Cross Construction Skills Centre (KXCSC) to recruit apprentices. Apprenticeships are paid and include on-the-job training as well as day release study at college. To apply, you should live in Camden and want to work in the construction industry.Find out more by calling the KXCSC on 020 7974 5161.

GET INVOLVEDSarah is keen to get more local people involved in the main forum and the working groups for Health, Community Safety and others. For more information email sarah@somerstown.org.uk or call 020 7388 6088.

FOLLOW US ON For news about the Francis Crick Institute follow @thecrick.

Above: Sarah Elie, Executive Director, Somers Town Community Association. © Thomas S. G. Farnetti/Wellcome Images.

Looking into the part of the Crick building on Ossulston Street that will become the Living Centre, you start to get a sense of the new community space. Although the Living Centre won’t open until 2016, we’ve started working on what it will offer when it does.

In summer 2013 we asked the Well London team from the University of East London to talk to local people in Somers Town and St Pancras and find out what they think a healthy community looks like. The answers are being used to develop a vision for the Living Centre, to ensure the Crick creates a really useful community facility.

We’re determined that the Living Centre will make a real contribution to community health and wellbeing – and not duplicate the wide range of excellent services already in the area.

Read on to find out what your neighbours said, and Well London’s recommendations for what the Living Centre could focus on.

DEVELOPING THE LIVING CENTRE

Above: An impression of how the Living Centre will look from Ossulston Street when built. © The Francis Crick Institute

Talking to youMore than 500 people got involved and talked to Well London; about 400 residents were interviewed on the street or on their doorstep, and a further 135 people of all ages took part in four group discussions held at local community centres. This was made possible by scores of local volunteers from Somers Town and St Pancras Community Associations, and beyond, who helped collect everyone’s ideas.

We’ve been struck by the enthusiasm of local residents and how constructive they’ve been – Somers Town has a strong voice.

This report is what we’ve heard from you – your vision for the Living Centre and Somers Town as a whole. It’s by no means a blueprint for what will be delivered, but a great foundation.

As the Well London team highlight, the Living Centre cannot meet all of the community’s ambitions for improving health and wellbeing in the area by itself. Well London’s recommendations are relevant to a range of local groups and organisations, and we hope this report will also be useful for other local projects in the future.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part.

Hannah Camm, Crick Community Engagement ManagerJanuary 2014

‘We’re determined that the Living Centre will make a real contribution to community health and wellbeing – and not duplicate the wide range of excellent services already in the area’

Bringing the community togetherWhat emerged most strongly is people’s desire for the Living Centre to help bring the community closer together. There is also a desire to make best use of existing resources within the community, to empower local people, to actively seek to improve health and wellbeing, and to make the most of the support and resources offered by the Crick’s partners for the benefit of the Somers Town and St Pancras communities. The Crick partners are the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London – six of the UK’s most successful scientific and academic organisations.

“It’s a very rich (ethnicity, age, culture) community, but it’s hard to bring that all together.”

Improving public spacesAlthough outside the scope of the Living Centre itself, we support community action on public spaces and the local environment. The residents we spoke to felt the health and wellbeing of local people could be improved by beautifying and cleaning public spaces in the area. They felt voluntary groups could encourage bodies like Camden Public Health, Parks and Police to come together to deal with drug and alcohol abuse in the area, which many see as a barrier to using open spaces.

There was also a call for community members to organise gardening and other outdoor activities, like picking up litter, and for the Living Centre to champion the creation of a locally controlled ‘food economy’ to improve the availability, affordability and quality of fresh fruit and vegetables.

We hope that through the Living Centre we can provide space for these kinds of ventures, and a mechanism for local volunteering to flourish.

Above: How the second floor of the Living Centre could look. © The Francis Crick Institute

Key themes from the community consultation• Bringing the community together

• Safeguarding, maintaining, beautifying, cleaning and improving public spaces

• Helping the community stay healthy

• Improving coordination and communication

• Engaging young people and enabling participation in general

• Helping volunteering and skill sharing in the area to flourish

Helping the community stay healthyOne idea that emerged strongly was to use the support and resources on offer through the Crick’s partners to help improve health and wellbeing.

For example, Cancer Research UK has a Cancer Awareness Roadshow, which could visit the area and be based at the Living Centre.

Residents also suggested the Living Centre could support local people to develop their ideas around health and wellbeing, such as providing more space for local people to put on exercise classes.

People wanted a wide-ranging programme of health and wellbeing activities, not just exercise but advice on healthy eating and activities to boost mental wellbeing too. Many highlighted the need for more space for physical activities, socialising and community-managed events.

Improving coordination and communicationLots of people talked about strengthening connections between residents and organisations by working together on community events and sharing skills. They also talked about creating a safe and informal space where residents and local services providers can work together.

Some residents suggested the Living Centre could act as a communications hub to gather and share information relevant to residents’ concerns and wellbeing. Others thought a dedicated coordinator could help bring together local organisations and individuals to collaborate on improving the area and harness local resources.

Two other ideas were for the Living Centre to support mapping of local services and activities as a tool for local people to access and contribute to, and to produce a community-led newsletter.

“Communication is a real issue in Somers Town and even when nice things are happening around not everyone gets to know.”

Above: The Crick, as seen from the British Library. © The Francis Crick Institute

Left: Residents taking part in a discussion group. © Well London

Enabling participationPeople felt strongly that the Living Centre should be for everyone – with a real focus on young people.

Many said it was important to actively seek to involve people from every part of the community, from older people and younger residents, to people who don’t feel confident speaking English.

Encouraging people to get involved in Living Centre services by removing barriers to participation was another popular suggestion. For example, providing information in Bengali as well as English, and ensuring that there are affordable ways to increase physical activity, improve mental wellbeing, and improve access to healthy food and healthy eating.

“The kids here are very bored... we need a nice place for the youths to attend so that they can stop hanging about.”

Helping volunteering and skill sharing in the area to flourishTraining, volunteering and employment opportunities were very important to residents. People felt strongly that local knowledge and skills should be trusted and given respect; the Living Centre should promote local projects and empower local people, helping them to use and develop their skills.

Volunteering was also important to the people we spoke to. They wanted the Living Centre to help promote volunteering specifically for Somers Town and St Pancras, and were interested in how the Crick and its partners could help. For example, people suggested the Living Centre could further support the trained local volunteers who helped in this community engagement process, training them to become community health champions, promoting healthy lifestyle choices in the community.

“We need local groups to get involved and offer opportunities – volunteering opportunities in Camden are hard to find.”

What next?We want to create an inclusive and welcoming community space; one that offers affordable services and is driven by the needs of the community.

Building on the wealth of information Somers Town and St Pancras have provided, over the next two years we will continue to work with local organisations and our community-based Living Centre Working Group to define in detail the Living Centre role, services and ways of working.

We’ll publish our plans in the Crick’s Community Newsletter and on our website – www.crick.ac.uk. Keep an eye out for more information.

The Francis Crick Institute Limited is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 1140062 and a company registered in England and Wales no. 06885462, with its registered office at 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE.

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Above: The Living Centre, under construction. © The Francis Crick Institute

A keyhole for obesity and diabetes treatmentEating a healthy, well-balanced diet and exercising regularly can help reduce the risk of becoming obese or developing type 2 diabetes, but sometimes the problem is caused by something going wrong at a molecular level in our bodies.

A recent discovery made by scientists at the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), together with colleagues from the Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College and AstraZeneca, may lead to the development of drugs that will help manage metabolic disorders, like obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Dr Matthew Sanders is a member of the team, led by Dr Steve Gamblin at the NIMR, responsible for this breakthrough. We asked him to tell us about his work and the relationship between medical research laboratories and pharmaceutical companies.

Energy and enzymesWe all know that our bodies convert the food we eat into the energy we need to keep going and that we store some of the surplus as fat. We also know that doing strenuous physical exercise requires more energy than sleeping.

An enzyme called AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) is responsible for regulating the amount of energy made available, stored and burned by the body. Without it, our cells wouldn’t know when to start and stop converting energy.

Enzymes are molecules that speed up biochemical reactions. We have lots of them and each one performs a specific task. To do its job, an enzyme needs to attach to the corresponding molecule and this can only happen if they fit together perfectly like a lock and key.

Tell us a bit about your researchMost drugs copy naturally occurring molecules in the body. To work, they need to be a ‘key’ of the right size and shape to fit the ‘lock’ on the enzyme.

Pharmaceutical companies have large libraries of potential drugs that have been developed but need to be explored further. AstraZeneca supplied us with several different drugs with potential for treating metabolic disorders.

Our research involved creating a three-dimensional computer-generated image of the structure of the AMPK enzyme. We used X-ray crystallography, which exposes crystals of the enzyme to X-rays, to see the whole AMPK enzyme when it was bound to each of the drugs we were testing – the whole ‘lock and key’.

These highly detailed images revealed a previously unknown drug binding site (a ‘keyhole’) on the surface of

the enzyme. Just like the keyhole on your front door, this is the place on the AMPK enzyme that the drug (the ‘key’) needs to aim for and fit. Using this new information, scientists can manipulate the structure of existing drugs to design one that binds well with the enzyme.

This discovery was very much a team effort. Medical research is becoming increasingly specialised, yet we all share a common goal: to find treatments and cures for disease. It’s only by working closely with others – in this case the Clinical Sciences Centre and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca – sharing information, ideas and equipment that we were able to make progress.

What happens next?The ability to see the ‘lock’ on any drug target is a big step forward for the scientific field and pharmaceutical industries, but this doesn’t mean that drugs will be available overnight.

AstraZeneca and other companies and academic laboratories will use our research to develop the drugs further, then experiments will be conducted to find out if the treatment works and identify any side effects.

The drug development process takes many years. It is like a pyramid: you start off with lots of options but, for various reasons, most get discarded along the way. Research gives a better understanding of the drugs, and results in a few ‘possibles’ that can be taken forward.

To find out more about Dr Sanders’ research go to www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk

RESEARCH FOCUS

Above: Dr Matthew Sanders.

• Approximately 2.9 million people in the UK are affected by diabetes.

• Type 2 diabetes usually affects those over the age of 40, but it is increasingly common in younger people.

• About 9 in every 10 adults with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

• Find out more about diabetes on the NHS Choices website www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetes-type2

• Obesity is one of the top four factors leading to premature death in Camden.

• For lots of useful information on living a healthy lifestyle visit www.healthycamden.com

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GET IN TOUCHIf you have any questions, please contact us.

Email: info@crick.ac.uk

Web: www.crick.ac.uk

Phone: 0800 028 6731

Facebook: facebook.com/ thefranciscrickinstitute

Twitter: @thecrick

Post: The Francis Crick Institute Gibbs Building 215 Euston Road London, NW1 2BE

Visit: The Crick Visitor Centre, Ossulston Street (opposite Hadstock House), NW1 1HG

Staff will be on hand to answer your questions and you will be able to see the latest designs and plans for the building.

OPENING TIMES Thursdays: 14.00-18.30We can also open the Visitor Centre for groups on request.

Building works have progressed as planned despite heavy rainfall and high winds at the beginning of the year.

Much of the recent external activity has involved works to connect the four concrete structures of the building. This work includes the ongoing installation of the steel for the curved roof and glazing the full-height atria on the north (Brill Place), south and west sides.

Cladding the building with the warm terracotta-coloured panels is also continuing. Some residents have noticed that, from time to time, panels seem to go missing. Rest assured that this is not because they have fallen off. Our quality control people inspect the work regularly to make sure everything is of the highest standard. Any defective panels are removed and replaced.

The inside of the building is shaping up too. As internal walls to divide workspaces are erected, the decorators start work. Lifts are being installed as are heating and lighting systems. In the coming months we’ll start laying flooring and fitting specialist furniture.

OUTLINE TIMETABLEEarly Summer 2011 Building work started.

Autumn 2013 External work completed, internal fit-out starts.

Autumn 2015 Internal works completed. The building is ready for use and staff move in.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Construction questions? Call the construction hotline free on 0808 165 0180, or email projectinfo@laingorourke.com

This newsletter tells you about the Francis Crick Institute and its plans to build a medical research centre on Brill Place, Somers Town. If you would like a copy in Bengali, please send your name and address to The Francis Crick Institute, Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE or email info@crick.ac.uk.