Brixton Bugle June 2017

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BRIXTON BUGLE YOUR FREE

No 54 | JUNE 2017

Published monthly in and for Brixton

ISSN 2397-852X

COMMUNITY PAPER

BOATS FOR BRIXTON! John Eacott has a plan …

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NEW CYGNETS – RENEWED MARKETS – PAGE 3

HOME OF THE BRAVE Windrush Square ceremony to open first memorial for Black heroes of world wars

Message from Queen welcomes unveiling Thousands of people are expected to gather in Brixton’s Windrush Square on Thursday June 22 for the unveiling of a memorial to commemorate the two million African and Caribbean servicemen and women who served in the two world wars.

In a letter to the organisers, Her Majesty the Queen said: “It is now over 70 years since the end of that war, but it is just as important to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by those men and women who were prepared to lay down their life for our freedoms.”

Dignitaries expected to attend include the Mayor of London, Baroness Ros Howells (patron of the African and Caribbean Memorial), chiefs of defence staff from Caribbean and African countries, Commonwealth High Commissioners, ambassadors, MPs and peers.

The ceremony will include a military salute and a parade including Tambu Bambou masqueraders, carnival puppets and stilt walkers.

The memorial (left), which consists of two six foot long obelisks of Scottish whinstone on a plinth of

Ancaster limestone, with a combined weight of just under five tonnes, is designed to ensure that the contribution of African and Caribbean countries and people in the wars is known and identified respectfully and globally.

Jak Beula, CEO of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, and a driving force behind the three-year campaign for the memorial, said: “More than 2 million African and Caribbean servicemen and servicewomen participated in WWI and WWII but have not been recognised for their contribution.

“The unveiling of this memorial is to correct this historical omission and to ensure young people of African and Caribbean descent are aware of the valuable input their forefathers had in the two world wars.”

After the unveiling one of several celebration events will take place in Brixton’s Prince of Wales venue. Hosted by DJ Elaine Smith, performers are due to include Jazzie B, Janet Kay, Omar, Keith Waithe, Nairobi Thompson and a special guest from Africa – Kanda Bongo Man. AA www.acmemorial.com.

UNSUNG HERO

Anthony Garner’s London trips 7

BMX BOOST

£70K for Brockwell Park track 24

ART SAVED MY LIFE Paul Ashton’s story

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2 NEWS

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2017 JUNE

Arches court case may be six months or more away

BRIXTON BUGLE brixtonblog.com Proudly edited in Brixton Both website and newspaper are published by a not-for-profit community organisation run by a committed team of people from Brixton » @brixtonblog » brixtonblog.com

ADVERTISING Jenny Shramenko 07811 878394 jenny@brixtonblog.com Circulation 12,000 copies Readership: circa 15,000 EDITOR Linda Quinn linda@brixtonblog.com MANAGING EDITOR Simon Still simon@brixtonblog.com NEWS EDITOR Anna McKie newsdesk@brixtonblog.com ARTS & FEATURES arts@brixtonblog.com FOOD Nick Buglione food@brixtonblog.com SPORT Sandra Brobbey sport@brixtonblog.com ISSUE 54 Contributors: Pam Douglas Frankie Holah Nicola Jones Emma Lange Francesca Mills Jamila Omar Gemma Pasha Sue Sheehan Simon Still Devon Thomas Delores William Sub-editor: Jamila Omar Production: Alan Slingsby Distribution: Philip King Crossword: Josie Gardiner A massive thank you to everybody involved in making this issue, and the Blog & Bugle project, a success If you would like to be a Bugle stockist please email distribution@brixtonblog.com

Supporters of Stand up to Racism South London and others gathered in Windrush Square after the Manchester bombing to convey support and solidarity with the city and victims of the attack

Do you have memories from the Month long festival of early days of Longfield Hall?

Local residents packed into Longfield Hall in Myatt’s Fields to watch “Margins to Mainstream” the first in a series of films looking at the community history of the area.

They saw Don Kinch’s film that sketches a history of Black theatre in Britain. In the 60s and 70s the hall housed one of the earliest UK Black

theatre companies – the Dark and Light Theatre.

The film was followed by an audience discussion. Alex Wheatle, the Brixton Bard, led the lively exchanges which carried on so long that the entertainers were timed out.

Longfield Hall has been awarded Heritage Lottery funding for oral history interviews

with local residents.

Anyone with memories of growing up in the Myatt’s Fields area or who attended Longfield Hall between the 1950s and the 1970s should get in touch.

The project would like to speak to anyone involved with the Dark and Light company.

■■ longfieldhall.org.uk/ contact-us

Poet and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson and education expert Professor Gus John were among the guests at the 79th birthday celebrations at Brixton’s Karibu Centre for Rev Hewie Andrew, founder in 1981 of the Queen Mother Moore Supplementary School

reading and writing Brixton venues will host several key events in this year’s Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival.

From the Brixton Book Jam at the Hootananny on 5 June to a talk on American childhood and youth

by Guardian journalist Gary Younge in Brixton library on 7 June, the month-long event should have something for all tastes and interests.

Local author and campaigner Stella Duffy will lead a panel of female authors at the library on 14 June to discuss the power of reading and writing for women and girls.

AA bit.ly/LRRF2017.

November or December this year may be the earliest that the court case against Network Rail brought by Brixton Arches tenant Ray Murphy of Budget Carpets will be heard.

A preliminary hearing took place last month.

Murphy has refused to accept the terms offered by Network Rail.

The blight on Brixton town centre caused by the ­boarded-up arches is still causing concern.

Brixton traders who do intend to return to the refurbished Arches in Atlantic Road and Brixton Station Road met Network Rail representatives recently.

Johannnis and Regina of Beautiful Books who attended the meeting were told that the likely date they could return was April 2018.

They have taken up a temporary shop near Pop Brixton but are still suffering from the blight of Brixton Station Road. You can find them at No 53.

They say their customers cannot find them and their “We have moved sign” keeps disappearing.

“People think the world ends at Pope’s Road and don’t expect to shop down here.” said Regina.

Ritzy bosses suggest they may talk over living wage Cineworld, the owner of the Picturehouse chain that runs Brixton’s Ritzy, has said it would meet union representatives to try to resolve the dispute over cinema workers’ demands to be paid a living wage, as long as they “act in good faith”.

Campaigners in the Ritzy and five other cinemas have been striking at intervals since last summer to reinforce their demands.

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After Audrey Williams, 60, was offered redundancy from John Lewis due to sickness and eight operations, she turned her hobby of art into a business selling her artwork with the help of Brixton Tree Shepherd. Her work features prominent Black people and African animals.

Pictures: Luke Forsythe

Brixton’s traders are aiming for the top Love Your Local Market – a weeklong festival celebrating Brixton’s markets – began on Friday 26 May, It’s part of a nationwide campaign and Brixton is competing to be number one.

Local dignitaries, politicians and celebrities kicked things off with a “VIP breakfast” on Friday – rubbing shoulders with shoppers and traders.

Family-friendly fun for the festival includes live entertainment from around the world, face painting and guided heritage tours as well

as discounts and giveaways in all five markets (Electric Avenue, Popes Road, Brixton Station Road, Brixton Village and Market Row).

Organisers hope the campaign will reignite Brixton’s market culture and

encourage young and aspiring entrepreneurs to work alongside Brixton’s veteran traders.

Young traders like Curtis Green, 22 (above, right), will take his streetwear brand MouseTrap London to the market for the first time alongside cancer survivor turned artist Audrey Williams.

Irene Kelly (above), 90, will be on hand to show them the ropes. “Queen of the Market” Irene’s family have been trading in Brixton since 1870.

Solomon Smith of Brixton Soup

Kitchen will also be launching his new Brixton Jerk sauce.

As well as showcasing market traditions, some traders will be trialling iZettle readers – a card and contactless payment system.

Irene told the Bugle: “I’ve been on this stall for about 70 years, with my mum, dad and grandparents and I’m still here with my son, David, but not every day as I had an accident.

It actually helps me to be on the stall now and again, it’s great therapy as it keeps me moving”

Her advice to young traders: “Don’t forget your tea!” Curtis, 22, said: “I’ll definitely have my ears open … I’m like a sponge and like to learn. I have an older peer who has already built a successful fashion company and so I appreciate advice from older people.

“I’ll bring new energy and charisma to the market. I don’t think the older generation are that clued up on social media, so I can also share ideas about how to use social media. I’m not an expert, but I know enough.”

Brockwell Park has its first cygnets for decades Swans have hatched cygnets in Brockwell Park for what is believed to be the first time in decades. Local photographer Samuel Hauenstein Swan captured some of the seven youngsters (left) – now reduced to six, a hazard for all wildlife in the park.

The swans nested on an island in a small pond near the Tulse Hill gate – where they prevented a pair of Canada geese from joining them. Forced to nest on the bank, the geese were reduced – probably by foxes

– from a pair with four goslings to one goose and one gosling.

The swans are now to be seen on the larger pond nearer the centre of the park and the cygnets are already large enough to give a fox second thoughts about tackling one.

Commenters on the Brixton Blog suggested that an island in the larger pond – giving nesting birds more protection – would be a good idea.

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What’s On – it’s elementary – the 2017 Brockwell Park Dog Show The Brockwell Park Dog Show is back by popular demand.

After the success of 2015’s Woof Hall judged by local Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, and last year’s David Bow- wow-ie theme, the dogs are bark at 2pm on 9 July.

The theme is fictional detectives.

Help solve the mystery of which is the cutest dog in Brockwell Park.

Organisers say: “This is a free, fun family day out. We’d like to really encourage everyone to get into the spirit of things by dressing up as your favourite detective or sleuth.

“We’re looking forward to seeing many Sherlocks, Marples, Columbos and

Mums and dads from Brixton’s Hill Mead school enjoy a storytelling and prop-making workshop run by the National Theatre, a new and exciting project with the school

Big Luncher?

Let us know

The Bugle wants to hear from you if your street is organising a Big Lunch – the UK’s annual get-together for neighbours – on 16 June. Email us at news@brixtonblog.com.

It’s not too late to register.

This year The Big Lunch forms part of The Great Big Together – a weekend celebrating community, commonality and connected communities, organised in partnership with the Jo Cox Foundation which was set up in her memory by the murdered MP’s husband Brendan.

Anyone can take part, and there’s no right or wrong way. Events can be big or small, filled with activities and games, or laid back and quiet, inside or outside, daytime or night time.

AA You can order a free Big Lunch pack with resources like posters, invites and stickers and all the practical info you need Just Google “Big Lunch”.

Poirots on the day!”

This year there will be a mini-parade of children with their favourite stuffed toys to the sounds of Ruby Rhymes.

The event is entirely volunteer-run and organisers need your help. If you would like to volunteer on the day drop them a line via Facebook (“Brockwell Park Dog Show”).

Categories are: cutest puppy, golden oldie, handsomest dog, prettiest bitch, dog’s got talent, and fancy dress.

AA Entry on the day is £2 per category (limited places, first come first served). Register outside Brockwell Hall between 12 noon and 1.30pm.

Show 2-4pm.

Brexit the issue in Brixton constituencies Brexit is the hot topic in the 8 June general election campaign locally – as was to be expected in the UK mainland area with the highest “remain” vote.

All three Labour candidates who, until the election was called, represented parts of Brixton as MPs – Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) and Chuka Umunna (Streatham) – won more than 50% of the vote in the 2015 election.

Kate Hoey’s decision to back Brexit has brought out rivals and critics. Members of the left-wing Momentum movement have said they will back her, but only because she is the Labour candidate, while UKIP will not run a candidate against her.

Vauxhall Lib Dem candidate George Turner – following his

party’s strongly anti-Brexit stance – came in for criticism from the Green Party candidate Gulnar Hasnain and the Women’s Equality Party’s Harini Iyengar when he asked them to stand aside to give him a better chance of beating Hoey.

There are fewer small party candidates in the three constituencies than in 2015, probably because of the short notice. But the Pirate Party – more serious than it sounds – will again be represented in Vauxhall by Mark Chapman who got 200 votes last time round.

And Robin Lambert, who in 2015 backed free parking and a review of bus lanes to see if they are necessary as well as demanding a vote on the demolition of Cressingham Gardens, is standing again in Dulwich and West Norwood.

Full list of candidates:

Dulwich & West Norwood Independent Yen Lin Chong Labour Helen Hayes Liberal Democrat Gail Kent Independent Robin Lambert Green Party Rashid Nix Conservative Rachel Wolf Vauxhall Pirate Party Green Party Labour Women’s Equality Party Conservative Liberal Democrat

Mark Chapman Gulnar Hasnain Kate Hoey Harini Iyengar Dolly Theis George Turner

Streatham Conservative Liberal Democrat Green Party UKIP Labour

Kim Caddy Alex Davies Nicole Griffiths Robert Stephenson Chuka Umunna

BRIEFLY …

Windmill appeal Friends of Windmill Gardens are seeking volunteers to join them.

There’s lots to do – from helping to organise events, becoming tour guides at the Windmill (training given), becoming millers or even just making cakes for events. Email info@ brixtonwindmill.org.uk.

Lamp post wifi

Lambeth council is set to provide a boroughwide wifi service that will include the use of lamp posts to house the equipment to provide it. The council says that providing the service will not cost it anything and will attract businesses to the borough and lay foundations for “digital information and communication technologies that could be used to support health, social and community benefit”.

The council will receive 20% of the revenue from a 10-year contract to provide the service.

Summer of play

Loughborough Community Centre raised over £4,625 for a Summer of Play programme at Max Roach park through crowdfunding with the Big Summer Give and the The Childhood Trust.

Manager Candice James said: “This is the kick start needed towards the crucial funds of £10k for a jammed packed weekly schedule of activities over the summer. When we applied back in March, we didn’t even anticipate passing the first stage, yet today we celebrate exceeding our target.”

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Richard Atkins Primary School in New Park Road (above) has a summer fair and carnival on Saturday 17 June from 12 – 3pm. Organisers promise “delicious food from around the world and live music.

There’s also cultural fashion show and visitors are invited to come dressed in their traditional best.

There will be a visit from a working fire engine and a display on the history of our school – one of the oldest in Lambeth.

Picture: Fiona Freund

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BRIXTON LEGAL

BRIXTON DESIGN TRAIL WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU

If you have an idea for a creative event or project, it’s not too late to be part of this year’s Brixton Design Trail (BDT).

Applications are still open to community groups, residents’ groups and creatives to run an event under this year’s theme of “Love is Power”.

Deadline for submissions is 12 June.

The BDT is part of the wider London Design Festival from 16 to 24 September.

AA Apply at www. brixtondesigntrail.com.

Pam Douglas is a solicitor with local firm Wainwright & Cummins.

Each month, she takes a common enquiry and asks colleagues to answer it for readers

Don’t let your lease get too short Do you own a leasehold flat? Are you worried that the lease is getting too short and you might have problems selling the flat now or in the future? Our lease enfranchisement (lease extension) expert, Robert Wood, is on hand to shine some light …

A lease is a diminishing asset because, when it gets shorter through the passage of time, it loses value. This is why the shorter the lease, the more it costs to extend it.

But help is at hand. There are two ways a lease can be extended – either by contacting the freeholder (the landlord) to negotiate a new lease, or by exercising your rights under the law and serving a special notice on the landlord to force him or her to extend the lease.

Under the first option, the landlord may offer whatever they please and you have no right of appeal. Under the second option, you will be given an additional 90 years on your lease and the ground rent will be immediately reduced to zero (a “peppercorn”). Under this option, you have the right of appeal to a tribunal.

To gauge whether what is offered is good or not, you should instruct a chartered surveyor to tell what you should pay for the lease extension and a solicitor, who is experienced in lease extension work, to go through the new lease to ensure that it does not impose onerous new obligations on you.

When should you extend your lease?

If the lease is approaching 80 years, you should seriously consider extending the lease as when the lease falls below 80 years, the price increases dramatically.

In order to exercise your statutory right to force the landlord to extend the lease, you must have owned the flat for at least two years. It is often the case that landlords, when approached on an informal basis to extend the lease, will use any period of ownership of less than two years to their advantage in order to charge more.

As most leases were granted for 99 years (although most local authority right-to-buy leases were for 125 years), our advice is to check now how many years remain on your lease and to act quickly if that figure is approaching 80 years.

An experienced leasehold solicitor will be able to advise you on your rights and steer you through potential difficulties.

AA Please contact the team at Wainwright & Cummins with any enquiries: info@wainwrightcummins.co.uk.

Installing the crossings.

Picture: Luke Forsythe

Flash crossings on awards shortlist Brixton’s flash crossings are shortlisted in this year’s Design Week awards. Competing in the wayfinding and environmental graphics category, they are up against the Design Museum and Tate Modern.

Designers Dolman Bowles and Eley Kishimoto first collaborated in 2014, spraying a temporary “flash pavement rug” outside Brixton Tube to announce the first ever Brixton Design Trail.

Last year their collaboration focused on the junction of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Road. An accident hotspot, it was selected to make drivers and pedestrians aware of each other and to help slow traffic, as well as to pay tribute to the local significance of the crossroads.

They have a five-year life span and are made from the same stuff as zebra crossings.

After the initial collaboration,

says Phil Dolman: “We really wanted to do something permanent that would be a lasting investment.

“We found a contractor, Thames Hydro Blasting, who were keen to do it. The guy who runs the company is originally from Brixton.”

Mark Eley designed the crossing and Phil Dolman did the installation, which was supported by TfL and funded by the Brixton BID and Lambeth council.

The BID’s Michael Smith said: “Abbey Road eat your heart out, now we have our own Abbey Road.

It’s a reminder that Brixton has so much to offer.”

This year’s Brixton Design Trail runs from 16 to24 September.

Rumour has it that we may be in for further treats. Don’t be surprised if the crossings are more than a flash in the pan.

Design Week award winners will be announced on 13 June.

Syrian supper raises £2,600 for refugees

By Eddie Thomas More than 100 food lovers came to a Brixton pay-as-you-feel event last month that raised over £2,600 for Syrian refugees.

Three local groups – the Baytree Family; Refugees Welcome Lambeth; and Marhabtayn Syrian Supper Club – put on a lavish Syrian supper at Brixton Baptist Church.

Marhabtayn supper club is a group of Syrians and other Londoners who have organised five Syrian suppers in Brixton, all supporting people and groups who need money to deal with some of Syria’s many personal tragedies – disability, displacement and detention.

The Baytree Family organised the venue.

Syrians from Refugees Welcome Lambeth joined Marhabtayn’s team of volunteer cooks.

Working with art activists Artmongers,

WAVE FESTIVAL SEEKING TRADERS, PERFORMERS AND VOLUNTEERS

Brixton Wave, the new three-day festival, will take place over the weekend of 11 – 13 August Organisers say they want the whole community – young and old – to come out and have a good time.

There will be a one-day food festival on Friday 11, a retail and a shopping day on Saturday 12 with cultural, music, arts and street food on Sunday 13.

AA Traders, exhibitors, performers and volunteers can register an interest at www.brixtonwave.com.

Syrian children made decorations for the church hall. Their installation – a geometric pattern of bright fabric ribbons criss-crossing the church hall’s elaborate ceiling – symbolised the world’s interconnections.

The diners finished the evening with music

by Julia and Lama from the group Music with Refugees and they danced the traditional Syrian debkeh.

Some of the funds raised will go straight to families in need in Syria and Lebanon. The rest will be used to sponsor a refugee family to come to Lambeth.

In 2015, the UK promised to take 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years, and it’s not meeting this target.

Last year, the government set up a community sponsorship programme for Syrian refugees. Communities who want to show solidarity with refugees need to provide support networks and raise £9,000 for each family.

Marhabtayn and its partners want to raise money and provide support so that they can welcome a refugee family to Lambeth through the community sponsorship scheme.

AA If you would like to find out more about sponsoring a refugee family in Lambeth, please contact marhabtaynsyriansupperclub@gmail.

I M M I G R AT I O N L AW A P P L I C AT I O N S & A P P E A L S Our fees are transparent and competitive Our other work is performed to the same high standards and we pride ourselves on our clear pricing and plain language.

You can contact us for help with Wills, Probate, Business Leases, Family, Landlord & Tenant Litigation, Divorce and General Litigation

Peter Thomson Solicitors 203 COLDHARBOUR LANE, LONDON SW9 8RZ TEL 0207 733-6196 MOB 07718 863 387 FAX 0207 738 6928 EMAIL: p.thomson@live.co.uk

6 COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE

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2017 JUNE

Lonely entrepreneurs now have a local club of their own

By Emma Lange Brixton-based Hatch Enterprise works with local entrepreneurs to help them to create and launch businesses.

As well as its Launchpad, Incubator and Female Founders Accelerator programmes, Hatch hosts monthly clubs to help entrepreneurs stick to their goals and to learn new skills.

“Being an entrepreneur can be isolating at times, and we know that having a supportive community to draw on plays an integral role in staying motivated,” says Hatch CEO Dirk Bischof.

Research shows that many (65%) entrepreneurs in the UK feel they “have to make it on their own”, not knowing what networks to tap into and often not knowing how to network.

“We initiated the monthly socials for entrepreneurs to make connections, test their ideas and learn from peers,” says Dirk.

The socials are free and happen on the fourth Thursday of every month at Café Van Gogh at 88 Brixton

Road SW9 6BE. Entrepreneurs share their accomplishments and challenges before hearing from an expert speaker or participating in a workshop.

Past meet-ups have included goal-setting, entrepreneurial wellbeing, and a skill-swap session.

This month Hatch is running a social media surgery with Neila Romdane, marketing strategist and co-author of an Amazon bestselling book about internet marketing.

An entrepreneur herself – founder of Tatteo: a community of tattoo artists and studios – Neila understands tools that are valuable to startups and has experience working in “social media growth hack” techniques.

Her session will cover new tools to help entrepreneurs work with social media.

Any entrepreneur is welcome to join the community and learn new skills.

AA More details from Hatch Enterprise on Facebook or email info@hatchenterprise.org.

Raw Talent re-branding exercise

Raw Talent – work experience with a difference Raw Talent, a new community enterprise, plans to revolutionise the way young people in Brixton get a taste of work.

Its plan is based on the recognition that businesses are often too busy to provide meaningful work placements and that schools do not always have the resources to source the right work experience for their pupils.

Raw Talent’s approach is project-based. It agrees a project with an employer and then recruits young people and coaches them on the skills they will need to complete

4. The following covenant in a conveyance dated 15 March 1897 made between (1) John George Godard (Vendor) and (2) Emma Gilbert (Purchaser) is said to affect the Mauve Land: “The Purchaser hereby covenants with the Vendor that he the Purchaser his heirs or assigns will not at any time hereafter use the said plot of land hereby conveyed or any part thereof otherwise than as a private garden with or without greenhouses summerhouses or other suitable garden erections and will not erect on the said plot of land or any part thereof any erection or building whatsoever other than greenhouses summerhouses or other suitable garden erections not exceeding the height of eight feet or walls or fences not exceeding six feet in height.”

(i) Title LN172370, which is hatched green on the plan (“the Green Land”) (ii) Title 191715, which is hatched red on the plan “(the Red Land”) (iii) Title 193455, which is hatched blue on the plan (“the Blue Land”) (iv) Title LN187080, which is hatched mauve on the plan (“the Mauve Land”).

A. The Applicant seeks the discharge of each of the restrictions on the following grounds: (a) that the restriction ought to be deemed obsolete; (b) that the persons of full age and capacity entitled to the benefit of the restriction have agreed, expressly or by implication, by their acts or omissions to the modification of the restriction.

The applicant is: V G Estates Limited, Of: Europa House, Godstone Villas Hove East Sussex BN3 3RG The application is made in respect of the following four covenants, which are said to affect the Green, Red Blue and Mauve Land, as follows:

2. The following covenant in a conveyance dated 8 May 1897 made between (1) John George Godard (Vendor) and (2) Harriet

from Raw Talent and the local community.

The first projects begin this month and include: ●● A documentary for Lambeth council to uncover stories behind the spike in youth violence as part of a campaign to win more resources from the Mayor of London. ●● A project to gather data about why people visit Brixton and where they go, helping Brixton Business Improvement District to improve the town centre. ●● YouTube films for the Safer London Business Partnership that will show businesses how best to

otherwise than as a private garden or without [sic.] greenhouses summerhouses or other suitable garden erections and will not erect on the said plot of land or any part thereof any erection or building whatsoever other than greenhouses summerhouses or other suitable garden erections not exceeding the height of eight feet or walls or fences not exceeding six feet in height.”

TAKE NOTICE that an application under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925 to discharge or modify a restrictive covenant affecting the land referred to below has been made to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). If you are legally entitled to the benefit of the covenant and you wish to object to the application you should object within 1 month of the date of this notice.

The application relates to: Four parcels of land to the rear of Raleigh Gardens, Brixton, London SW2, which are registered under the following Land Registry Title numbers, and which are shown coloured on the attached plan, as follows:

1. The following covenant in a conveyance dated 10 June 1896 made between (1) Richard Strong and others (Vendors) and (2) John George Godard (Purchasers) is said to affect the Green Land: “AND the Purchaser hereby covenants with the Vendors that he will not at any time hereafter erect upon the portions of the land or ground thirdly hereinbefore described which front the Fairmount Road and the Beechdale road respectively any houses other than such as shall be of a description similar in character to the houses or some of them already erected in such roads or use the remaining portions of the said land or ground (not used as the sites of such houses or as the sites of the stabling coachhouses outbuildings and gardens used in connection therewith) otherwise than as private gardens with or without greenhouses summerhouses or other garden erections or as Lawn Tennis courts or Recreation Grounds (not open to the public at large for payment) or for the purpose of a Florists Business or other similar businesses without the consent in writing of the Vendors for that purpose first had and obtained.”

it – like meeting clients, managing the project, presenting a solution as well as and technical skills like film-making.

Raw Talent’s Abigail Melville says: “Projects are intensive but fun and give young people a confidence boost and a great example for their CV or personal statement.

“Local 16 and 17-yearolds will be working as creative consultants to deliver work commissioned by local organisations.”

Projects last a week, with young people working in teams supported by business and skills coaches

Jane Greenhill is said to affect the Red Land: “The Purchaser hereby covenants with the Vendor that he [sic.] the Purchaser his heirs and assigns will not at any time hereafter use the said plot of land hereby conveyed or any part thereof otherwise than as a private garden with or without greenhouses summerhouses or other suitable garden erection or building whatsoever other than greenhouses summerhouses or other suitable garden erections not exceeding the height of eight feet or walls or fences not exceeding six feet in height.”

3. The following covenant in a conveyance dated 21 April 1897 made between (1) John George Goddard (Vendor) and (2) Emile Anton Braubach (Purchaser) is said to affect the Blue Land: “The Purchaser hereby covenants with the Vendor that he [sic.] the Purchaser his heirs and assigns will not at any time hereafter use the said plot of land hereby conveyed or any part thereof

Alternatively, B. The Applicant seeks the modification of each of the said restrictions so as to permit the carrying out of the demolition of the existing derelict garages and the erection of two, two storey residential dwellings on the land, in the manner authorised by the grant of planning permission under references (14/03215/FUL and APP/N5660/W/15/ 3022052) (“the Development”).

Modification is sought on each or any of the following grounds: (aa) that unless modified the covenant would impede the use of the land by the carrying out of the Development; that such use is a reasonable use; that in impeding that use the restriction does not secure to the persons entitled to the benefit of it any practical benefits of substantial value or advantage; and that money will be an adequate compensation for the loss or disadvantage (if any) which any such person will suffer from the modification; (b) that the persons of full age and capacity entitled to the benefit of the restriction have agreed, expressly or by implication, by their acts or omissions to the modification of the restriction; (c) that the proposed modification will not injure the persons entitled to the benefit of the restriction.

use radio and intranets to share information about crime and anti-social behaviour.

Brixton Design Trail organisers want a team to work as journalists in their PressGang – meeting creators and designers and telling their stories in words and pictures for the Brixton Bugle, the BDT website and social media.

AA This project takes place on 17-21 July and is based in Pop Brixton. Raw Talent is looking for creative young people aged 16-21 to take part. If you are interested, contact abigail@ rawtalentlondon.org.

You may inspect the application, plan and other documents at Wainwright & Cummins Solicitors, 57a Atlantic Road Brixton London SW9 8PU during office working hours between 9.30am and 4.30pm. A copying charge may be payable if copies are required.

If you are a person legally entitled to the benefit of the restrictive covenants and you wish to object to the application, you may download a Notice of Objection form from the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) website, or contact: The Registrar, Lands Chamber, 5th Floor, Rolls Building, 7 Rolls Building, Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1NL (or telephone 020 7612 9710) and ask for a form of objection (Form LPD). The form should be completed and signed and sent to the Upper Tribunal and to the applicant’s solicitors within 1 month of the date of this notice. You may apply for an extension of this time period.

Persons who file objections become parties to the case, and, provided they are entitled to object, they may appear at the hearing of the application, if there is one. Objection to an application is the assertion of a property right. The Applicant will be asked whether it accepts that the person giving notice of the objection is entitled to the benefit of the restriction of which discharge or modification is sought. If it does not accept this, it will be for the Tribunal to determine whether or not the objector appears to be so entitled and should therefore be admitted to oppose the application. If such a determination has to be made the general rule is that the unsuccessful party will pay the costs of the party in whose favour the determination is made.

Regarding the application to discharge or modify a restrictive covenant, when there is a person or people entitled to its benefit the applicant is seeking to have a property right removed from them. For this reason, successful objectors may normally expect to have their legal costs paid by the unsuccessful applicant. Likewise, although they will usually pay their own costs, unsuccessful objectors will not normally be ordered to pay the costs of successful applicants. Only an objector who acts unreasonably may be required to pay some or all of the applicant’s costs.

The applicant may rely on a lack of objections, or a failure on the part of any particular person to object, in support of the application.

If you are unsure of your position you should seek legal advice.

Signed: Jamela Collins Dated: 8 May 2017 Status: Applicant’s solicitor Address: Hart Scales & Hodges Solicitors 159 High Street , Dorking, Surrey RH4 1 AD Telephone: 01306 884432 Fax: 01306 742370

JUNE 2017

NEWS 7

brixtonblog.com

Charity helps man who slept in a graveyard to get a new home Delores William was browsing through a local magazine when she came across a story about a 64-year-old man who had had his house repossessed and then, as if by a miracle, had it restored to him I knew there had to be more to this his many years of experience as a story so I got in touch with Spires, security guard he would watch over the local charity where the story her as she slept, keeping her safe. originated, and, boy, what a story they Shirley found out that George had had to tell. a sister and offered to ring her. She Spires is a south London-based immediately agreed he could stay charity that helps hundreds of with her while the charity sorted out homeless and disadvantaged people all his affairs. George had been too proud year round. to tell her himself.

George (not his real name) was Spires found out through the sister married for over 30 years to Gloria. that when George was a young man Like any other couple, they had their their father had insisted that he start ups and downs, but they were devoted a pension plan. Spires looked into and stuck together. George was a the pension as well as chasing the security guard for many years and mortgage company. always paid his mortgage and utility George had a substantial pension bills on time. pot – enough to pay off the mortgage Then disaster struck when Gloria with a lot left over. Spires contacted died from leukaemia in 2016. the bank just days before it was going Alone and grieving, he stopped to put his house on the market. working and stopped paying his The bank had not heard from bills. Letters went unopened. One George since the day his wife had day there was a knock at the door, died. Most mortgage providers have George opened it to the police and specialist teams who are there to bailiffs; his house was help in cases such being repossessed. as George’s. Burying Already this year, He was given half your head in the sand an hour to pack his Spires has worked with doesn’t help anyone. essentials and leave Support worker 252 rough sleepers his home.

James recalls the bank He had no idea what – an increase of 27% being sceptical that to do or where to go.

George had enough compared to last year This respectable man money to pay off the was on the streets. debt on the property.

He didn’t approach any government Yet, the next day, George’s house keys agency or charity, and he was on were returned to him. his own.

But the shock of everything he’d Living on the streets was terrifying had gone through had changed him. for George, trying to stay dry by He put the house on the market and sleeping in bus shelters, but so scared bought a little flat near his sister. A that he was going to be attacked that happy ending. he didn’t sleep.

Already this year, Spires has This continued until someone took worked with 252 rough sleepers – an pity on him, by now dishevelled and increase of 27% compared to last year. dispirited. They told him about Spires.

In 2016 Spires supported over 850 James Fuller, a Spires Centre people in need of help. support worker, told me of his first Lucy Barrett, chief executive of encounter with George.

Spires says: “We are currently seeing “This sad, shabby man with swollen around 20 new rough sleepers every feet and the weight of the world on month, and have seen a significant his shoulders came in, we fed him increase in the number of women and listened to his story. A number of rough sleeping. Unfortunately, weeks had passed since the eviction because of welfare reforms and rising and slowly the story started to rents, more and more people are being come out.” made homeless and this doesn’t seem Shirley Harper, another support to be slowing down anytime soon. worker, took pity on George when she “Everyone is welcome. No one is learned that he was now sleeping in turned away! We will always aim to the graveyard of the church where the be the best support we can in helping charity is based. people move from lives of distress, He felt much safer sleeping with the isolation and insecurity to a future of dead. He had befriended a lady who greater stability and hope.” was also sleeping rough and using AA www.spires.co.uk.

Spires sees around 20 new rough sleepers every month

Anthony Garner: I have 25 to 30 places in mind that I’d love to arrange visits for, including the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum

‘Unsung hero’ who organises trips to the opera for local young people Local hero Anthony Garner has been nominated for a national award for his work with young people on his housing estate in Oak Square, Stockwell.

Anthony, who will be 70 by the time of the “Housing Heroes” awards, realised that local youngsters rarely ventured beyond their neighbourhood, despite all that London has to offer.

He set about trying to do something about it and giving them a different cultural perspective. He approached local businesses for sponsorship.

Then he contacted the community engagement officer at the Royal Opera House and persuaded them to provide discount tickets to young people and their parents on the estate.

Since then, Anthony has got funding for a programme of visits including Kew Gardens, Tate Modern and London Zoo. Anthony said: “It all started when I went to the ballet with a friend.

“After I left my mind turned to the people here. I see young people kicking balls against walls and little bits of anti-social behaviour and I felt it would be really good for people in Oak

Square to come along.

“I wanted to see what I could do to engage people on a cultural level and see whether it would give people more pride in where they live.”

“My favourite trip was Kew Gardens. I was worried our group would all clump together all day but they didn’t and, as the day went on, I was so

‘My favourite trip was Kew Gardens. I was so delighted to see everyone smiling because they’d all discovered things that they’d never seen before’ delighted to see everyone smiling because they’d all discovered things that they’d never seen before.

“I have 25 to 30 places in mind that I’d love to arrange visits for, including the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

“There is more to where you live than where you are domiciled. Once you realise that, your world expands and you realise you’re in an

amazing place and London is an amazing city.”

Jackie Thomas, business improvement manager at Notting Hill Housing, who nominated Anthony for the award, said: “Not only has Anthony given the youngsters a way to learn about the world and develop new skills, he is showing them the best of what their city has to offer.

“They are receiving a chance to build passions that would otherwise have been untapped and contribute positively to their own neighbourhood, building self-confidence in the process.

“For that, Anthony is a true local hero.”

The Housing Heroes Awards celebrate “unsung heroes” of the housing world with categories ranging from housing association frontline teams to campaigning tenants like Anthony who is entered in the “inspirational tenant/resident of the year” category.

They are jointly organised

by Inside Housing magazine and the Chartered Institute of Housing. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Manchester on 26 June.

• FAMILY • DIVORCE • NOTARY PUBLIC • PROPERTY • WILLS & PROBATE • CIVIL LITIGATION • MEDIATION 57-61 Atlantic Road, Brixton SW9 8PU Telephone 020 7095 5700 • HOUSING • IMMIGRATION & ASYLUM • EMPLOYMENT • PRISON LAW • CRIME 6A Acre Lane, Brixton SW2 5SG Telephone 020 7737 9330 info@wainwrightcummins.co.uk

Join us at the first Brixton Fund Event of 2017

Calling local artists Did you catch the exhibition in the B£ studio by Paul Ashton, our most recent artist in residence?

We’ve had a series of successful exhibitions at the B£ (see brixtonpound.org/artists) and we are always on the lookout for local artists to exhibit in our space – get in contact if you’re interested!

Read Paul’s story on page 17.

This year we have teamed up with the Brixton BID and the Brixton Neighbourhood Forum to run the first 2017 round of the Brixton Fund, where we award grants to local projects that have a community benefit. We’re grateful to our Fund sponsors Marsh & Parsons, The Queen’s Head, Seven & Three Eight Four.

We have received applications from 35 local projects, which are currently being shortlisted by our panel. The best of these will be presenting to members of the public – that’s you! – at our Fund Event on 28 June, in the Pop Box

at Pop Brixton.

Attendees will be asked to participate in a voting process to select the projects that they feel deliver the best value to the local area, so we need as many Brixton locals as possible to come to the event to ensure we have a diverse and representative set of voters.

There’ll also be a discussion on how we can access the resources our community needs to invest in its future.

AA Come along to meet a host of vibrant local projects and have your say in the future of Brixton.

RSVP via Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/mgyp4ah

Sunday Feasts and what’s on in June

Carnival Fish by Linda Skoglund

Want to meet people and share food in a sociable, friendly setting?

Every Sunday in June we’re running our Sunday Feast, where we’ll be taking surplus food and turning it into delicious meals.

until 3pm. Get in touch, or just see you there for the food.

Do you want to come and help with the cooking?

We’ll be preparing from 10am and open at 1pm

Fancy a go at stand up?

Come along to Let’s Laugh London, a free comedy night on the 10th and 24th.

We’ve also got creative workshops with Linda Skoglund on Wednesday evenings, alongside the regular Mosaics with Kes (6 – 8pm).

Mosaics by Kes

Get involved Like the idea of the Brixton Pound and want to find out more? Our Open Meeting every Monday at 6pm is a chance to get together and discuss and develop our work, from alternative currency, to community building, local arts, sustainability, food surplus and more.

We also need people to volunteer in our cafe. Are you interested in taking surplus food and creating tasty dishes, while mingling with locals and curious out-oftowners who visit us?

We are looking for people who have a couple of mornings or afternoons a week to commit for a few months.

It’s an ideal place for anyone in between work or lucky enough to have a long summer break – parents of 16-18 year olds, we’ll gladly take them off your hands during the day!

AA Email cafe@brixtonpound.org for more details.

7 7 At l a n t i c Ro a d | b r i x t o n p o u n d .o r g | @ b r i x t o n p o u n d | i n fo @ b r i x t o n p o u n d .o r g

JUNE 2017

OPINION 9

brixtonblog.com

BRIXTON BUGLE

COMMENT Police and crime Our feature on page 14 is about how policing in London produced a breakdown in a man who is clearly talented and thoughtful and says he is committed to “people” rather than “power”.

A recent meeting of the Brixton Neighbourhood Forum heard a story that captures part of the problem that police officers feel they face when working in Brixton today.

The many people who live in the very centre of Brixton and some of the tens of thousands of commuters in and out of the Tube every day were complaining often and regularly about obstruction of the pavement and general noise and disruption outside the station.

A police operation in response to the complaints ended up with a well-publicised fracas and a wrist-slapping statement from Lambeth council. Result – nobody’s happy and the temptation is for the police to get back inside their shell.

Is there a place somewhere between the disastrous “Operation Swamp” that precipitated the uprising in 1981 and Commander Brian Paddick’s decision to turn a blind eye to weed sellers in Brixton in the early noughties?

We can’t leave it the police to find out. We all need to forget the easy knee-jerk reactions to crime and how the police tackle it and get involved in how society as a whole does.

Gentrification Irony is a much abused cliché. But it would take the insight of a block of concrete to be able to ignore the irony of launching a film about the gentrification of Brixton in a cinema that refuses to pay its workers the London Living Wage.

Not that the £9.75 a hour the Ritzy workers are demanding would go far in today’s Brixton housing market.

Moving Image, the film, dwells on the personal responsibility of its main protagonist. Is she guilty of gentrification by moving to Brixton?

No. Everyone living in Brixton who was not born here moved in because of a unique mix of personal, economic and social reasons. There’s no point in beating up yourself or other individuals about gentrification.

We’d do better to look further afield. Like the boardrooms of Cineworld plc, the ultimate owner of Brixton’s Ritzy cinema, and of Network Rail, owner of the boarded-up arches that are blighting our town’s economy.

There has to be action on a national scale to stop the mad slide towards a society where nurses must use foodbanks and teachers, firefighters and cinema workers cannot afford to live in the places where they work.

And if that sounds political, it is.

There’s an election soon.

Regulated by IMPRESS: The independent monitor for the press 83 Victoria St, London SW1H OHW 020 3585 4160 complaints@impress.press www.impress.press

Ark Evelyn Grace Academy student Emmanuel Sarpong (Year 10), received a standing ovation last month in the Lambeth regional finals of this year’s Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Challenge after he delivered one of the most powerful and thought-provoking speeches about “Time”.

You can read it here.

The secret to unlock time is time itself Have any of us rushed to somewhere this month or week?

Life is full of many complexities, many challenges and many complications. At times we don’t even know who we are, or what you can do (our capabilities). We live to put our trust in our latest scientists to solve the mysteries of this unknown world and at times they are unsuccessful.

That’s because of the world’s most destructive, most powerful, most dangerous yet valuable force. Time. Time dictates all aspects of our life. Time is always moving forward and never backwards. Time has no room for regrets so, like time, why can’t we move forward and forget our past mistakes.

The secret to unlock time is TIME itself.

Control your time

Whenever I see people rushing off to work/school, to me they have not taken control of their time. To me they have lost the first battle of their day.

Most of us are intelligent, clever and smart people, with high aims and ambitions but we realise we grow to be unsuccessful because, one way or the other, you lost control of your time.

Invest your time wisely

Are you investing in the right things, things that give you

satisfaction or contentment just for today or are you investing in things which will be worthwhile in the future; giving you true happiness and an accomplishment?

With investment one thing comes in mind, the greater your investment the more you will get out.

Each of us is like a bubble, protected by the love of our family, friends and our loved ones. But what do we do when we are left alone; when we crumble to the ground? Like jewellery this is when you shine or show our true beauty/colours.

Make your own way

There are moments in your life when you will have to make a decision to move opposite to the crowd. You will know that this will be the most difficult and toughest decision of your life, as it is simply easier to follow the crowd. But is that the right choice for you?

Enjoy your down time

You realise you will enjoy life more if you make the right decision or the right choice. You will enjoy life more if you make the right investment.

Whenever a situation gets

WHY YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE

Another speaker at the Lambeth regional finals of the Speak Out Challenge was Ben Thomas, from Year 10 of Dunraven School in Streatham. He spoke about the importance of voting in the general election on 8 June. He told the audience: “Young people, we have a problem. In the last UK election, 8 in 10 of over-65s voted; half that number of under-25s voted. Young people, if we don’t make our mark on the ballot, we simply enable politicians to ignore us.”

tough or all hope is lost, just say it out loud: “I may have lost the battle, but I have not lost the war”.

Failure is not always the opposite of success, it is a part of success, it is a lesson meant to develop and help us grow. It is a tool to inspire.

My Message

As long as you have a productive brain to think, a big heart to love and air to breathe you can make a change or difference in this world and there is nothing time can do to stop you.

AA Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge! is a programme run

by Speakers Trust and funded by the Jack Petchey Foundation, a charity which operates in London and Essex. More than 18,000 young people were trained as part of the challenge for state schools this year. The grand final takes place on 3 July at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. Fifteen of the best young speakers from the year will “Speak Out” in front of an audience of 1,000 people and a panel of judges. One speaker will be crowned champion and win a prize valued at £5,000.

The Jack Petchey Foundation works in partnership with the not-for-profit and social enterprise sectors – in areas including prisons, schools, charities and community groups.

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2017 JUNE

The sudden appearance of a large supply of fresh veg at the Brixton People’s Fridge tested the ability of local food activists to make use of such bounty. Sue Sheehan was there to see them pass with flying colours

Start your own food business At Incredible Edible Lambeth we are big supporters of local food, and one way to make this more sustainable and impactful is to support local people to be part of the local food economy.

That’s why we run the CREATE Start Your Own Food Business programme. This year we are running two programmes – one focused on Loughborough Junction area and one on Gipsy Hill.

The Loughborough Junction programme kicked off on 9 May with a panel discussion at Sunshine Arts. We heard from a variety of small start-ups about their experiences and what prospective business owners should consider before they take the plunge.

Ian Riley from Cornercopia valued the fact that when he first started he had “nothing to lose”. He talked about being able to start with

minimum investment. The panel agreed that there is a “need to think ‘scrooge’ and penny pinch at the start”.

Ray from Sunshine Arts said: “Value your personal story and sell yourself”. Lucy from Clarkshaws Brewery said: “Small is beautiful, go niche and keep relationships in easy reach.”

Incredible Edible Lambeth’s observation is that “relationships” are valuable and that we can all support one another. If we want to change the food system we need to be “food citizens, not just food consumers”, said one programme participant.

The course includes meeting many local businesses, as well as practical advice on marketing and where to trade, and how to “penny pinch” and, finally, offers participants the opportunity to test their products on one another and their guests.

AA The Gipsy Hill programme starts on Tuesday 20 June. Email lambethfoodcreate@ gmail.com or call Charlotte on 07841 830463 for more information and to register.

Sue Sheehan feeds Rocky the pony at Ebony Horse Club

Mala Naicker and Sue Sheehan work together to shift the carrots

Mala finds something better than plastic bags

Plenty for everyone

Dorothy Allan: Amazed how quickly the team pulled together

An abundance of fresh vegetables from Franco Manca arrived at the People’s Fridge in Brixton last month and local residents gathered with speed and efficiency to distribute them to people in need, local charities and residents.

People’s Fridge volunteers made their way from work in continuous rain and heavy traffic and worked tirelessly to sort out the masses of fresh vegetables and get them to the community food and cooking projects that needed them.

It was a great success.

Mala Naicker, one of the volunteers who is extremely well networked with food projects in Lambeth, said: “Everybody lent a hand wherever they could. What fantastic community spirit and team work we have in our local area.

“We even got to feed the

horses at Ebony Horse Club.

We offered the horses carrots and they said “nay” at first, then dropped their heads in shame and munched them graciously, then gazed at us for more.

“We just loved it!”

This was a one-off delivery related to a promotion, but it gave the People’s Fridge a great opportunity to test their systems.

“I don’t think any of us anticipated the sheer quantity of vegetables we received,” said another volunteer, Dorothy Allan.

“Once the People’s Fridge was completely full of vegetables, I was amazed how quickly our team pulled together to redistribute mounds of food locally.

“Our wonderful team secured a steady flow of community groups collecting car loads of veg from the

fridge in Pop Brixton. Other local organisations with capacity welcomed delivery after delivery of fresh veg.

“I took a whole load to Stockwell Park Community Centre and some to Brixton Pound pay-as-you-feel café.

“From church groups to community centres and local businesses to friends and family of volunteers, it felt like the whole community came together to facilitate sharing this produce with those in need. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dorothy.

The People’s Fridge remains focused on accepting food surplus from individuals and small businesses mainly to avoid food waste.

As well as community food organisations, individuals can themselves add to the surplus, ensuring there are no excuses for good food to be binned!

LET US KNOW HOW YOU ARE GREENING LAMBETH Incredible Edible Lambeth is working with Lambeth council to celebrate growing and greening in Lambeth through Blooming Lambeth.

Please send Incredible Edible your pictures and a few words about what you are growing/greening and how it makes you and your community feel.

The deadline is 16 June and there will be an exhibition and awards ceremony at the Garden Museum in October.

Every entry will

be exhibited on our website and there are loads of prizes. Contact bloom@lambeth.gov.uk or phone 020 7926 3401 for an entry form.

U16s basketball team second in national finals Following the success of being crowned London Youth Games champions in March, the U16s Deng Academy Basketball Team (below) qualified for the Dynamik National Finals at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester.

In their semi-final they

came up against Durham Johnstone School, winning with an impressive score of 71-44.

In a tense final against Northampton School for Boys, the Deng Academy boys went into the final quarter level at 59-59, but narrowly lost out on the title going down 83-75.

Fantastic opportunities with IntoUniversity IntoUniversity Brixton has been working in partnership with Ark EGA, under the leadership of science teacher David Anti, for the past three years.

Thirty students from each year group take part in two workshops every year.

As well as the workshops, IntoUniversity provides many exciting trips. This year students from Ark EGA have been on a business simulation trip to Lloyds Bank, a trip to King’s College London, a three-day leadership course at the Brixton Centre, and have had the opportunity to meet career professionals such as DJs and fashion designers through the Careers in FOCUS programme.

For the past three years I have been very fortunate to work so closely with IntoUniversity.

The IntoUniversity group is a collection of students from Years 7 to 13 who follow stringent criteria.

The goal is that pupils will one day attend the university of their choice.

IntoUniversity arms pupils with the tools to be successful at university and beyond.

It provides wonderful opportunities for the Academy as a whole – from the building of communication skills workshops in year 7 to personal statement writing workshops in year 13.

We are very grateful to have them as allies in our push for academic success for all of our students.

David Anti Into University school lead

Year 11’s Leon Neziri was named most valuable player in the Dynamik National Finals.

He scored a very impressive 53 points in a losing effort. None of our team’s members had picked up a basketball before joining us at EGA, so to make a national sporting final four years later is very impressive and their effort must be commended.

Over the years, students at Ark EGA have benefited so much from the wonderful experiences and workshops made available through IntoUniversity.

Some of the students are the first in their families to go university and many others have gained a real desire to go to university in pursuit of professions they have experienced through trips or workshops.

I have had a lot of fun working with IntoUniversity because they have really helped me to see things that I have never seen before. They have helped me to plan for my future, which is amazing. They give us lots of opportunities, academic support and keep us career focused.

Jeffrey Patterson attends homework clubs run by IntoUniversity in Brixton

Year 9 footballers win three cups in one term Our Year 9s recently won three cups for the Academy with only a week between each match. They are on a roll!

They won the South London league cup at Chelsea’s training ground; the Inner London cup final

played at Sutton FC; and the South London cup (5-3 against University Academy of Engineering South Bank).

They will be playing in the London Cup final at the end of the month.

Well done team!

What has been so wonderful about this partnership is that not only has it been working alongside supporting staff and students, but also offering support beyond the classroom.

Some of the challenges students have faced and overcome by taking part in the various projects and workshops given at the academy are confidence; team working skills; writing and collating CVs; and personal statements or applications for university and college.

Working with students from EGA is always incredibly inspirational. The students are enthusiastic, dedicated and motivated towards their goals which is a phenomenal achievement for students so young. The workshops ran by IntoUniversity allow them to build their aspirations and provide the knowledge to fulfil those goals.

Alice Myers IntoUniversity Brixton team leader IntoUniversity offers a range of programmes to support students’ aspirations both at its centres, like the one in Brixton, and in schools.

Organised in partnership with schools, universities and businesses the programmes offer information, advice and the development of skills that promote success.

IntoUniversity school trips have been consistently the most wellconstructed and professionally run days I have experienced accompanying students

on trips. Two particularly stick in the mind.

The first was a visit to the offices of the law firm Hogan Lovells, where students were expected to take on various roles in a scenario based on building a new international airport.

The second was to the headquarters of Lloyds Bank, where they had to pitch Olympic-style bids for opposing countries.

The tasks were designed to, and did, stretch the students hugely not only intellectually, but also in building the skills needed to prepare them for the rigours of a professional career – team building, time management and confidence.

I also have testimony from students about support offered by the team outside school and during the holidays which has helped to encourage and maintain students academically and provide support and insights into the world of work I look forward to working with them in the future.

Francesca Hall Career and work related learning practitioner at Ark EGA

■■ IntoUniversity Brixton runs a primary and secondary after-school academic support club at its centre on Brixton Hill. If you would like to enrol your child in this free service, please either visit the centre at 1-3 Brixton Hill Place, SW2 1HJ, or give the team a call on 020 8671 7155 to find out more.

TWO YEAR 9 TEAMS IN TEENTECH AWARDS FINALS Two teams of EGA Year 9 students took part in the TeenTech Awards competition.

Schools across the UK enter teams of three for the competition to develop an innovative technology idea overs eight weeks.

Our students submitted their detailed innovation

logs to TeenTech just before Easter and we are proud to announce that the judges have decided that both teams are going to the finals.

The teams are: ALPHA APPS – Leynner Caicedo, Walter Sesay and Bruno Silva with an app idea they branded as

“sProject”; and TEAM GALAXY – Neco Northover, Dean Thompson and Trey Lewis-Perryman with their idea branded as “The Colour Case Switch” Alpha Apps have been nominated for the “Education” Award and Team

Galaxy have been nominated for the “Music, Media and Entertainment” Award.

TeenTech selects only the top three groups in the whole country to be finalists in each category.

The students will attend the award ceremony/final on 26 June at the Royal Society.

Well done to both teams.

Message from the Principal Dear Brixton community Here at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy, we aim to raise leaders in every walk of life.

Congratulations!! To all those who have been offered a secondary school place for September 2017. We look forward to welcoming you!

Our academy aims for students and staff to succeed. One of our values as a school is to demonstrate confidence. It doesn’t matter what one is trying to do, you have succeeded by just demonstrating confidence.

Revolutionary political leader, Marcus Garvey said: “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.”

How true is this in the times we are living in? I am encouraged and motivated by the confidence we demonstrate as an academy academically and through our extra-curricular provisions.

For example, our under-16 Basketball Team is making waves in the basketball world –coming second in the Dynamik National Finals.

Our students demonstrate how talented, skillful and hardworking they are in their pursuit of victory.

Our Year 9 football team won three consecutive finals in various South London football leagues in one term.

Emmanuel Sarpong (Year 10), received a standing ovation for delivering one of the most powerful and thought-provoking speeches about “Time” in Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge this year.

And there is so much more.

All these achievements have been possible through being willing to demonstrate confidence against all odds.

As a community let as dare our children and one another to overcome life’s obstacles with our heads held up high. Let us push through with confidence and know that by doing so we have begun a journey of success..

Kindest regards Devon Hanson Principal Ark Evelyn Grace Academy

Evelyn Grace Academy, 255 Shakespeare Road, SE24 0QN | Tel: 020 7737 9520 | Email: info@evelyngraceacademy.org | Website: evelyngraceacademy.org | Twitter: @ARKEvelynGrace

High street ret – is there a pro BID

Director Michael Brixton BID is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening Brixton’s diverse business culture. We represent over 650 levy‑paying businesses in the local area and work to develop new and exciting opportunities for Brixton.

Smith Recent retail sales on Brixton Hight Street appear to be no different from recent sales on other high street retail areas across the United Kingdom.

There has been a general slowing of non-food sales, the worst in the last six years. The news, however, is not all gloomy as a cautious Easter boost for non-food sales saw high street retail up by an overall 2.3% in April 2017.

Our high street shops such as Morleys, T.K. Maxx, H&M and Marks & Spencer (to name but a few) have, however, not escaped the general dip in demand for clothing, toys and household appliances and the general shift away from stores towards shopping online.

Increases in business rates and the need to pay a national living wage have all added to pressures on retail.

This retail climate is also

Eco first for Brixton’s Volcano coffee The Brixton-based coffee roaster Volcano Coffee Works, that supplies a number of local cafés and retail outlets, has launched the UK’s first 100% compostable Nespresso-compatible coffee pods. An alternative to poor quality

mass-market pods, they are available in three varieties: “Bold” for a kickstart to the morning, “Balanced” for all-day drinking and “Reserve” with a superpremium Nicaraguan coffee. Available via volcanocoffeeworks.com.

threatening to independent and family-run businesses and favourable to the growth of the discount store.

National retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s with their focus on food, although appearing to avoid the tide, are themselves not immune to the general downward trend in high street sales in recent years.

Brixton, unlike most similar areas, has an added generator influencing high street activities and sales – our outdoor markets.

Some are thankful for the absence of the dreaded “shopping centre” in Brixton. The connection between the energy and activities of our outdoor markets and its influence on our high street retail activity is phenomenal.

High energy and footfall in our outdoor markets on Electric Ave, Pope’s Road and Brixton Station Road goes hand in hand with increased sales in our high street shops.

The success and survival of high street retail and trade in our local markets appear to be inextricably linked.

One will clearly not survive without the other. Local markets, however, have no choice about

tail in Brixton oblem? where they trade.

Some high street retailers, on the other hand, have more options and trading opportunities.

Department stores have the option of relocating and breaking into new areas.

The group which owns our much-loved Morleys has recently opened another store in the Broadway shopping centre in Bexleyheath.

How much energy and resources will our long-established department store Marks & Spencer put back into Brixton if the going gets really tough?

How much do we know of the local priorities of international companies managing some of these retail establishments. Will they simply move on when the pickings are not good enough?

It is important for our high street retailers large and small to recognise the need to “give back� if our local economy is to be spared the fate of other declining high street areas.

High street retailers who are reliant on local market energy and footfall must be sensitive and able to respond and influence local issues and priorities. The national and

international priorities of many of these establishments should synchronise with local initiatives such as business improvement districts and programmes to address local high street issues such as shoplifting, parking and aggressive begging.

Our high street is changing. A mixed economy is developing with the arrival of some nontraditional businesses. The arrival of Squires & Partners and its army of employees should have some positive influence on our local economy.

It is possible that they will create some local employment and business development.

Specialist companies like Volcano Coffee Works and hi-tech business information company Beauhurst, now in Piano House, in business on or in close proximity to our high street can only positively influence the dynamism of that high street.

Is there a problem with high street retail in Brixton? Not one that the activities in the outdoor markets can by themselves solve.

High street retailers must be available to participate in local strategic plans to improve our local economy.

14 PEOPLE

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2017 JUNE JUSTIN KASE Z12Z / ALAMY

Painful privilege The police have a hard time in Brixton. We all want crime to be dealt with quickly and efficiently and we all want it done politely and with a light touch.

When was life ever like that? Simon Still met a police officer who knows all about the problems and, unusually, wants to talk about them John Sutherland has lived in the area throughout his time in the Metropolitan Police and was serving in Brixton when violence erupted in 1995 after the death in custody of Wayne Douglas.

We met to talk about his book – an account of his career in the police and the breakdown that ultimately led to him leaving the force. The father of three young girls, in person he’s warm and quietly spoken and brought with him his spaniel puppy who sat at our feet while we talked.

After joining the Met in 1992 he rose to senior roles fairly quickly – latterly as borough commander for Southwark. A breakdown in 2013 – a “crisis of everything” – left him debilitated and he began writing

about his experiences as a form of catharsis. He started publishing a blog (policecommander.wordpress.com) which developed into a memoir.

A series of vignettes taken from a career spanning seven London boroughs give an insight into both “the carnage that happens beyond the sight of many of us” and the “painful privilege of policing”.

While, like most police officers, he refers to “the job”, it’s obvious both in conversation and from his writing that it was much more than that to him. He joined hoping to make a difference.

His frank and honest account of his breakdown and depression feels like another act of public service and, while it lacks a single trigger, it’s

obvious that the “relentless wear and tear of policing” played a part.

Whatever filter allowed John to go where most would not and do what most could not, his book will give readers an insight into the realities of life as a police officer and the impact it has on them.

I shout out ‘Police … stop … police’ I’m in the front passenger seat of an unmarked police car with a couple of plainclothes colleagues.

Gavin is driving and we find ourselves somewhere near the top of Brixton Hill.

We’re stopped at a T-junction when a moped crosses from left to right in front of us.

Young rider, dressed casually and wearing a helmet. Gavin and I look at each other and say, almost simultaneously: “That’s nicked”. It’s just instinct, but somehow we both know.

And we’re off after him.

Nice and easy does it – he doesn’t know we’ve seen him. Southbound, towards Christchurch Road [The South Circular between Brixton Hill and Tulse Hill].

Onto the radio, I call up for a check on the number plate.

It comes back stolen and we’re in business.

Right onto Christchurch Road and towards the junction with Brixton Hill, he still hasn’t seen us.

Everyone else has heard the result of the check and

they’re all heading our way.

Someone on the radio asks for India 99 – the helicopter. Having them overhead makes it easier to track a moving suspect and their thermal imaging equipment can pick up signs of life in the most unlikely of hiding places.

Straight over the junction, eastbound onto Streatham Place. Approaching the next set of lights.

Now he’s seen us.

Left into New Park Road.

And immediately left again

into an estate – Hayes Court, I think. He drops the bike while the engine is still running. I’ve got my door open before we’ve stopped moving. He’s off and I’m after him.

Damn, he’s quick.

Through the estate and back out onto Streatham Place. I’m trying my best to keep up. At least this stretch is downhill.

Then, up ahead, I see some members of the public walking towards us. I shout out: “Police … Stop, police …”

Nothing is as it seemed The TSG are on the ground and one of their carriers pulls up a suspect vehicle on Acre Lane.

The TSG – Territorial Support Group – are a central Met unit, trained and equipped to deal with public disorder.

When there are no marches or demonstrations going on, they deploy to London’s crime hotspots in support of local officers. They usually turn up in three vans containing six or seven officers each and, today, they’re with us.

The car they’re following has just done a red light and they’ve still got it in sight. Game on. We head down Brixton Hill, anticipating that we’ll catch up with them somewhere near the town hall.

My hand is hovering over the car radio, ready to press transmit and take up the commentary.

We are bang on the money. As we approach the junction from the south, we see the car with the carrier coming up behind it. It does another red light.

But, just as my sense of excitement is reaching a peak, the car simply pulls over, with the TSG bus right behind it.

Dammit. Not only is there no chase, but some other PC is going to steal my prisoner. I jump out of the car and run forward, still hoping for some of the action. But nothing is as it seemed.

The car isn’t stolen and it doesn’t contain a gang of hardened criminals.

Not even a petty thief. Instead, in the driving seat is a distressed husband.

Curled in a semi-foetal position in the front passenger footwell is his wife and she’s in the advanced stages of labour. My grumpy sense of grievance vanishes.

One of the TSG lads gets into the driver’s seat of the car and we lead a three-vehicle blue-light convoy to King’s. I jump out at A&E and run inside, looking for someone other than me to deliver the baby.

AA Extracts from Blue: A Memoir – Keeping the Peace and Falling to Pieces, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, May 2017. £12 from Amazon.

When Brockwell Park had its own speaker’s corner

What better welcome for a new edition of A Brockwell Boy than the return of nesting swans and cygnets to the park that is the subject of the brief book by Jeffrey Rumble.

His recollections of Brockwell Park before, during and after the Second World War paint a vivid image of a time that seems at once more innocent but, for nearly six years, vastly more dangerous than today’s.

Some of that danger may still be with us.

The young Jeffrey and his friends thought that there was an unexploded German bomb in one of the ponds. No-one has seen it – yet.

It was another bomb that destroyed a large theatre in the park, built so that people trapped by war could “holiday at home”.

The park was a very different place in the war, home to several air raid shelters, allotments growing food and training by the local Dad’s Army.

Another role for the park was to host a

local speaker’s corner where the mid-twentieth century equivalent of Twitter spats raged up to and including fisticuffs and arrests.

No-one who loves the park should miss this opportunity to see how it was 70 or 80 years ago through the eyes of an observant and intelligent youngster.

AA A Brockwell Boy; 978-0-9540323-2-6; Herne Hill Society; £5 including postage from bit.ly/HHS-ABB.

JUNE 2017

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BRIXTON PEOPLE 15

Ahoy there Brixton – let’s rock that boat!

Local resident John Eacott has played on Top of the Pops and at the Proms – now he wants to start a sailing club – in Brixton! Delores William caught up with him over a cuppa in San Marino John Eacott lives in Brixton and teaches music at Lewisham Southwark College in Brockley. He’s also a qualified sailing instructor, feels passionately that sailing should be for everyone and wants to start a club here in Brixton.

Also a talented musician, John was part of the eighties band Roman Holiday who had a hit with Don’t’ Try To Stop It in 1983.

Top of the Pops recently Tweeted him as the band were on one of the regular repeats of 80s TOTP broadcasts. He freelances as a musician and often plays at venues in Brixton.

As part of the jazz group, Loose Tubes, he was one of the first jazz musicians to play at the Proms. The Evening Standard hated them, believing them to be too radical and not at all what the Proms – famous for classical music and

the raving Little-Englandism of its “last night” and Rule Britannia – should look like, which John loved.

He grew up on Hayling Island, Portsmouth, where he developed his love for sailing. After school, he would go sailing or rowing. He describes sailing as a spiritual experience that is good for the soul.

But, he says, there’s a visible lack of diversity in the sport. At Cowes week, on the Isle of Wight – sailing’s big annual get-together – there’s a huge crowd, “but it’s very monochrome with hardly any diversity”.

The irony of the location, just across the Solent from his childhood home, is not lost on him.

John’s no fair weather sailor and raised the issue of cultural diversity at a Royal Yachting Club instructors

conference where he received a sympathetic hearing.

Two sailing clubs in London support racial diversity and access for disabled users – the Ahoy Centre, based in Deptford, and Greig City Academy school in Hornsey. They both also teach boat building.

Greig City Academy are taking part in the Fastnet race this August in a 45-foot yacht. Established in 1925, this notoriously stormy and difficult event is also one of the most prestigious races in the sailing calendar. Good luck to them.

There were no black or ethnic competitors in the UK’s Olympics sailing team, and this is something John would like to change in the next 10 years.

■■ John is in the process of getting a Brixton Sailing Club up and, well, sailing. if you would like to get involved contact him at Eacott20@gmail.com

16 CREATIVE BRIXTON

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2017 JUNE OPERA HOLLAND PARK/FRITZ CURZON

Living with her characters

Opera singer Elizabeth Llewellyn, who began life in South London, tells Alan Slingsby that a year is not too long to learn a new role and why she rarely gets it Larry, D Wayne and Be Atwell at Brixton Jamm with an earlier D Wayne inset below

Alabama 3 back in their spiritual home Jamila Omar looks at the present and past 20 years of a trailblazing Brixton band The Alabama 3’s incendiary debut album Exile on Coldharbour Lane fused techno with country and western in an astonishingly bold fashion, merging radical and reactionary genres of popular music.

From that album, Woke Up This Morning, which plays over the opening credits of cult TV show The Sopranos, remains their best known song.

Alabama 3 (according to author Irvine Welsh), “turn a crazed mirror on the UK’s mainstream cultural influences, parodying derivative and genre-based music” through what the band call their “sweet acid country house music”, adding a gloriously unhealthy pinch of dirty rock’n’roll into the mix.

Celebrating 20 years’ of existence the full Alabama line-up played their “spiritual home” Brixton Jamm recently.

Frontman Larry Love is as cadaverous as ever, still looking as if a ray of sunlight will burn him alive.

Cohort Rev D Wayne Love, though, cuts a rather more substantial figure, suiting his pseudo preacher persona. Both are proper rock’n’roll stars who wear shades on stage, adding to the mystique but also covering a few under-eye bags at the same time.

Alabama 3 has had an ever changing roster of band members over the years, but original keyboard player Orlando (Spirit of Love) is still there.

Also present and delightfully politically correct is freestyler and vocalist Be Atwell (aka Reverend Be).

Long-term collaborator and guitarist Mark Samms (Rock Freebase) and Nick Reynolds, a talented harmonica player and the son of a Great Train Robber, are also there.

Last but by no means least, there’s Johnny (LB Dope), the original drummer; newer guitarist Steve Finnerty and producer Wizard doing his magic.

The band grew organically out of its members’ acid house DJing activities.

Back in the day they were doing a gig

in Italy with two turntables, a load of acid house records and some obscure blues LPs. It was run by the Italian Communist Party, who said the band had to have a manifesto. Someone hastily tore a page from an Italian comic book and read it out. It started with: “The techno warriors will save the Martians”. The crowd loved it, and the rest is history.

That was a generation, 20 or so years, ago. The Alabama 3 were an integral part of my life as I eased myself into Brixton nightlife.

They made a video on the roof above my Brixton flat for Hypo Full of Love, complete with giant pink model of a syringe. Later encounters included raucous live shows in the then Brix in St Matthew’s and as far afield as Liverpool Royal Court, when Rev D Wayne managed to convince a few irate audience members that he was a bona fide preacher who had taken an erroneous moral path.

I remember with fondness the band’s takeover of HMV Records in the West End, with bemused shoppers looking on as dog-collarwearing becloaked supporters preached to traffic police.

The stalwart party faithful (“party” being the operative word) are still a core following, albeit with a few more grey hairs, but now with the addition of an equally up-for-it new band of followers.

Back then, as now, we used to jump up and sing along, raising our left hands (yes left, not right!) in solidarity whenever iconic anthem Mao Tse Tung Said was played.

Today their music remains at once raw, catchily accessible and danceable as was apparent from the sold out, jam-packed gig at Brixton Jamm where they played old faves and new material from their current album Exile to Blues – Part Two. Fans young and maturer, gathered in happy harmony to celebrate and pay homage to this ever-endearing collective of Brixton stalwarts, who willingly lower the tone and nip gentrification in the bud whenever they make an appearance back at their “spiritual home”.

AA Alabama 3’s current album Exile to Blues – Part Two (as well as their back catalogue) is available from alabama3.co.uk.

Opera singer Elizabeth Llewellyn has travelled a long way from her local origins when, as a child, she lived “halfway between Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill”.

She is back in London to star in a new production of Puccini’s La rondine – a romantic tale of love and loss – in the striking open-air setting of Holland Park Opera in west London.

Her career has not been straightforward. After studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, she stopped professional singing because of illness and worked as a recruiter in the booming IT industry of the nineties.

Her route back to professional singing passed through south London again when membership of clubs like Bromley Music Makers got her back on track.

Now she is in demand across the world. After a brief stint in West London, she will be performing another Puccini opera, Madame Butterfly, in the Danish capital of Copenhagen until next summer.

Then she will make her US debut in Seattle on the west coast of the USA as Bess in Porgy and Bess.

If you want to hear her sing that show’s all-time classic number Summertime, look out for a live radio broadcast on 18 August, 2018.

And you should want to hear her, because critics acclaim not

only her voice but also her ability to convey the depth, meaning and emotion of what she sings.

Her attitude, and possibly one of the reasons for her success – as well as her wonderful voice, comes out when she explains how long it takes to prepare for a new role and why it is so important for her to understand what she is singing, whether it is in Czech, Russian, Italian or one of the several other languages she works in.

“It’s not a very British thing, is it, to think that we need to learn languages? But if you are going to be singing in a language, you are obliged to do it as well as you can and for that you really need to understand what it is you are saying.”

And while she would, ideally, like a year to prepare, she says, “it really depends on how long you are given – we don’t live in an ideal world, do we?”

She had only a few months to learn each of her two Puccini roles. “That isn’t a very long time, particularly if you are busy doing other things,” she says.

“It takes time to get it into your system like it’s almost second nature and you are not always thinking about the technical demands. The longer you live with something the better you get to know it.”

With critics applauding her ability to interpret roles, has she

Make the world a better place Warren Malone talks to the Bugle about his first feature film Across the River and offers tips to budding film makers Warren Malone, a Brixton resident for 10 years, has written and directed his first feature film, set and shot in London and featuring Brockwell Park and Poets’ Corner.

“Being at the end of the Victoria Line is brilliant,” he says.

“Brockwell Park is one of my favourite green spaces and the mix of people and sense of community is great.”

Across the River stars Elizabeth Healey (Dr Strange) and Keir Charles (Man Up) and premieres on 18 June at the East London

Film Festival.

Malone says: “It’s an ex-love story about recapturing lost love, following your dreams, responsibility, modern life and cake.”

“Emma is a successful lawyer with a supportive, loving husband, two beautiful children and a fabulous house in Chelsea.

“Ryan is trying to build an elephant out of sand on the South Bank.

“He was her first love; it ended badly years ago and they haven’t seen each other since then. They meet accidentally, and when a strike paralyses public transport they’re travelling home in the same direction. On their way they reminisce, argue, cry and laugh.

“They can never

thought about regular acting as well as opera? “I’ve no ambitions off my own back,” she replies.

“But if someone asked me I would seriously consider it.

“I learn a lot by going to the theatre and watching my colleagues ply their craft – how they put across a character using their words and bodies.”

AA Elizabeth Llewellyn opens the Investec Opera Holland Park 2017 season as Magda in Puccini’s La rondine, 1 – 23 June. This year is the hundredth anniversary of the opera’s first performance.

JUNE 2017

CREATIVE BRIXTON 17

brixtonblog.com

Art saved my life Paul Ashton, recently artist in residence at the Brixton Pound, talks to Francesca Mills about art, life and work

Paul Ashton, the Brixton Pound’s artist in residence last month, has a story that goes beyond the borders of his canvases.

He moved to London after 18 years of homelessness in Manchester. Wanting to change, but not knowing how to, Paul took a gamble when he told a prison officer he was from London. He was given a train ticket to Waterloo after completing a sentence for shoplifting.

“I got to London in the afternoon and I suddenly realised … hang on Paul, you’ve just left one city only to be in another city vastly bigger, and one that you don’t even know.”

He would roam the Waterloo tunnels, admiring the graffiti and watching people pass by at rush hour, wondering what it was like to have a job.

“I honestly didn’t think I would ever do anything with my life. I thought I would die on the streets,” he says.

But he got a big break in 2011 when he was walking to the Blackfriars Settlement Project where he was doing an art course. He walked past a shop and saw a sign in the window saying “Gallery space – £200 a day”. He got talking to the owner who, upon hearing his story, said: “Instead of paying £200 you give me that painting [insert above] and we’ll call it £100”. On his opening night Paul made £1,000.

“People become dehumanised, they really do, when they’re homeless,” he says. “You lose a lot of self-confidence, a lot of self-belief. It’s

taken a long time, and even sometimes today if a really good thing happens to me I still find it really hard to think I deserve it.

“So it was almost like, somebody pinch me, I’m dreaming! Somebody really wants to pay £600 for one of my paintings!?”

A photocopy of the first cheque he received on his opening night now hangs in Paul’s home in Brixton.

He started to make art in prison as a way to stop self-harming.

Paul, who suffers from depression, says he could not take the thought of going back to living the same life as before.

Two weeks before he was due to finish a six-month sentence he was planning to take his own life. But Helen Williams, a teacher in an art class could see that something was wrong and encouraged Paul to take out what he was feeling on the canvas.

“I painted a life-size portrait of myself self-harming and did it Francis Bacon style.

I really hacked at the canvas, and it was such a cathartic process. I literally slept like a baby that night.

“For me, Helen Williams and that painting saved my life. My art literally saved my life.”

Paul currently works at Pret A Manger near Victoria station.

“Sitting on the tube with all these other working people, early morning, sat there thinking I’m part of the working force. I’m actually doing this. I get up early, about 5, get to the tube station around half 5, and, again, it’s that sense of I’m going to work and if anybody sees me or looks at me they won’t think: ‘Oh look at that layabout’.”

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recapture what they had, but the memory of it tempts them.”

Shot entirely on location in London, with no script, the actors improvise the dialogue and action during shooting.

Malone honed his skills on short courses: acting and directing at City Lit, editing at the National Film and Television School and film production at Birkbeck College.

He financed the film “out of my own shallow pockets or the ever-reliable bank of Mum! “There was a few thousand from IndieGogo during post production, mostly from friends, then credit cards, later paid off with a remortgage.”

The actors came on board thanks to a combination of the script, his track record as a director and money.

“The money was low to non-existent and there wasn’t a script, just an outline, so I wasn’t seeing big names in auditions.

“Fortunately London

is a major TV, film and theatre hub so there are a lot of very talented actors out there. I had some assistance from casting director contacts and my short film Forgiving Your PE Teacher helped convince the actors it would be a rewarding project.”

Malone’s tip for aspiring you filmmakers is to practise. “Practise writing and rewriting. This is the cheapest one so there’s not much excuse not to!

“Practise working with actors, getting the best

out of them, getting what you want out of them and choosing the right ones for your project.

Practise shooting. Use your phone or whatever you’ve got or can get and work out how to say what you want to say with light, shadow, framing, movement, colour.

“Practise editing. Work out how to express ideas and information through cuts and what you need to shoot for the edit.

“And, while you’re practising, accept criticism and advice graciously even if you disagree wholeheartedly with it.

“Try to make something that is rooted in the real world and not just about characters or situations inspired by other films.

“Try to make the world a better place. Try to be honest.”

AA Across the River is screening in competition at the East End Film Festival on 18 June, 5:30pm at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA.

Tony says drop by and say hello!

We are open all hours and you are very welcome.

a ave f We h range o S+ AT GRE ium ALE prem AGERS L

Brixton’s finest selection of CRAFT BEERS including Brixton Brewery and BrewDog

FREE local delivery within 2 miles for orders over £60

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18 FOOD & DRINK

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2017 JUNE

DIY KITCHEN: GRILLED TILAPIA

DIY KITCHEN: CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Ghana Kitchen’s grilled tilapia PICTURES: NASSIMA ROTHACKER

Zoe Adjonyoh lets us inside her Ghana Kitchen “Tilapia is the most common freshwater fish in Ghana, its meaty flesh providing a substantial meal. This recipe is based on a very traditional style of cooking found all across Ghana. If the idea of looking your dinner in the eye is intimidating, use tilapia fillets instead.”

Serves four.

MARINADE

¡¡ 1 white onion, grated ¡¡ 1 tbsp rapeseed oil ¡¡ 5cm piece fresh root ginger, grated

Whether you’re vegan, veggie or just a good old chocolate lover, this recipe can be gluten-free, dairy-free or simply whatever floats your boat. And it’s so simple.

Twelve servings.

¡¡ 400g light brown sugar ¡¡ 100g cocoa powder ¡¡ 100g dark chocolate (milk and white chocolate optional) ¡¡ 600g plain flour (gluten free optional)

¡¡ 1 garlic clove, very finely chopped ¡¡ 2 green kpakpo shito (cherry) chillies, deseeded and finely diced (or green habanero chillies) ¡¡ juice of 1 lime ¡¡ 2 tbsp ground grains of paradise (or ½ tsp ground mace/nutmeg)

Invitation

Plenty of room for all your friends

Treats & Ting’s Emma-Louise Stewart shares her favourite healthy recipes

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

¡¡ 2 fresh tilapia, scaled, gutted and washed, gill coverings and hard fins removed (ask your fishmonger to do this) ¡¡ lime wedges

Chocolate for all

¡¡ ½ tsp dried chilli flakes ¡¡ ½ tsp ground hot pepper (or cayenne pepper) ¡¡ sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Carefully cut three evenly spaced diagonal slashes into either side of the fish – tilapia skin is very thick, so you’ll need a firm, steady hand.

Place in a dish.

Mix all the other ingredients (except for lime wedges) together for the

Fresh and juicy mussels

Pietro & Stefania invite you to enjoy their delicious SUMMER mENU from 1 JUNE

marinade in a bowl or place in a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Pour the marinade over the fish, saving a small amount for basting. Rub into the slashes and inside the cavity of each fish.

Cover the dish with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

Place the fish on a baking tray lined with foil and cook under a medium-high grill for 25 minutes (add an extra 3–5 minutes if the fish are particularly large or thick) until nicely browned and cooked through, turning and basting with the reserved marinade halfway after 12–13 minutes..

Serve with plain boiled rice and lime wedges.

AA zoesghanakitchen.co.uk AA @GhanaKitchen AA Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen is published by Mitchell Beazley, £25

¡¡ 150ml soya cream ( or single cream) ¡¡ 150ml vegetable oil ¡¡ 600ml water ¡¡ 1 tbsp vanilla extract ¡¡ ½ tbsp baking powder

METHOD Preheat the oven to 200°C while bringing 300ml of water to boil in large pan.

Sieve 200g of flour into the water, stir and slowly add the remaining water.

Continue to stir until mixture is of porridge/ wallpaper paste consistency.

Remove from heat and leave to cool.

Into a mixing bowl, add light brown sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, vegetable oil, baking powder and soya cream. Mix well with wooden spoon or hand whisk.

Add flour and water mixture to the bowl and mix well again.

Fold in the remaining sieved 400g of flour into the

bowl, stir well and pour onto greased or baking paper lined baking tray.

Break up dark chocolate into chunks and sprinkle on top.

Place in oven for 30 minutes on the middle shelf.

After 30 minutes, use a sharp knife to check the consistency.

You want the brownies to be gooey so the knife shouldn’t come out completely clean, but make sure it isn’t to gloopy, as this means the batter is raw.

Put back into oven for a further 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and baking tray, leave to cool for 30 minutes, then cut into blocks.

Serve with cream or ice cream.

REVIEW: THE COMMERCIAL

Home from home An evening at Herne Hill’s The Commercial

Mediterranean seafood soup

Our new creamy and tasty Sicilian pesto

TRATTORIA FRANZINA, POP BRIXTON, 49 BRIXTON STATION ROAD SW9 8PQ. PHONE 07802 473 444 @POP BRIXTON INFO@FRANZINATRATTORIA.CO.UK

LUNCH - DINNER - APERITIVO - TAKEAWAY - CATERING

Remember the good old days when pubs were just blokes, beers, fags, pork scratchings and scantily clad page 3 women advertising peanuts?

Back in the good/bad old days (delete as appropriate), The Commercial – yes we do sometimes extend beyond the boundaries of Brixton to its leafier neighbourly suburb – was such a place.

Populated mostly by red-faced portly Irishmen on the wrong side of daily alcohol intake guidelines.

We’d turn up and nurse a budget “half” through two halves of whatever footie Sky was showing.

That was then but this is now and many years later,

through various incarnations, The Commercial has embraced gastropub. But not completely sold its boozer soul to sourdough breads and artisan dining.

I like its blended schizophrenic feel. To the left, friendly pub including guys (and their pints) who don’t look like they are here for focaccia. To the right, winers, diners and cosy “village”

romantics. All dressed up in fairly template, pleasing gastropub trimmings.

Farmhouse tables, slouchy sofas and retro photography.

There’s all-day gastro fare, steamy Sunday roasts, real and boutique ales with funny names and a decent wine list.

Perfectly fine for a Tuesday night catch-up with an old friend.

And as an occasional vinylhunting visitor to Herne Hill’s Sunday market, I may have to try the Sunday roast.

There is a familiar stable of staple gastropub dishes – beer battered fish and chips, homemade burger, sausage and mash. Comfortable classic friendly pub comfort food, alongside less homespun flourishes … beef carpaccio & celeriac remoulade? Pecorino stuffed guinea fowl?

JUNE 2017

Out for a duck Nick Buglione finally makes it to Duck Duck Goose

Howzat? Oli Brown’s kitchen is surely a culinary Tardis. Leaving aside the logistics of running a upscale Cantonese canteen in a tin can, it’s a minor miracle he can fit his staff into a matchbox-sized kitchen, jostling for space alongside duck and goose hanging in their funky air-dryer.

A far cry from expansive service at Café Anglais from whence Brown came, via Hong Kong.

As we found out in a previous Bugle, inspired by trad Hong Kong cafés and roast meat shops, Brown has dabbled in a spot of reinvention, adding upgrade flourishes to classic Cantonese cuisine. And cocktails – we had gin, ginger and lime tonics. It’s a warming (occasionally smoky) joint, decked in orange hues, funky formica and kitsch lighting.

Cutely utilitarian and about as stylish as a sea container is going to get.

Our waiter, part barman in The Shining, part droll raconteur, supplies the first of a series of substantial “tasting plates”, from a concise menu divided into raw, fried, wok, steamed and BBQ. Raw scallops (think ceviche) with choi sum, pickled ginger and

sesame was precise, elegant and citrusrefreshing, generous on the scallop.

Unlike the depressingly functional prawn toast dispensed by your average Chinese takeaway, Brown’s prawn toast revisited is a visit worth making. An elegant, indulgent mini-mountain of mashed prawn, bread and sesame, deep fried and garnished with bonito flakes (katsuobushi) – dried, fermented and smoked tuna. My non-existent heart surgeon may not approve but he, or she, doesn’t exist.

I’m not entirely sure I can ever go back to the takeaway.

Duck Duck Goose only serves its goose on Saturday night so we chose everything else – char sui pork, roast pork belly with five spice and the roast duck. Hashtag meatfest.

Served with dainty pickles, plum sauce and mustard. Not much need for reinvention here – why mess with classic? The char sui was good, revealing the time it has spent basking in marinade and the duck was excellent.

Crispy five-spice infused skin over nicely meaty breast.

I like a bit of fat but some might want the pork belly rendered down a little more? That would include Mrs B. It’s also hard to get a plate of meat looking quite as sexy as the prawn toast. Pickles offer a tangy accompaniment.

They also do shoulder of lamb, mussels with black beans and Shaoxing wine and whole bream with ginger and spring onion. All coming out of a microscopic kitchen. If you make it to dessert, there are palate cleansing sorbets or, wait for it, cha chaan teng (tea restaurant) peanut butter toast with caramel and soy ice cream. That will have to be for another day/life.

This isn’t the cheapest date at Pop. The (substantial) sharing meat platter nudges just past £30 but you can pick and mix more conservatively than we did. The menu’s high-wire balance of tradition and innovation is pretty much right up this diner’s street and you get what you pay for. Both in life and at Duck Duck Goose.

Pop Brixton, SW9 8PQ | 020 7346 8521 | duckduckgooselondon.com | @ddglondon

sesame. Connie, meanwhile, demonstrated there is no elegant way to eat ever-sosticky spicy Korean glazed wings with daikon, pickles and sweet chilli sauce.

The wine list is pretty decent and fairly wallet friendly.

We start with a smoothly intense Argentinian El Bar Malbec (£22.00). This being one of those borderline chilly pre-summer evenings, I happily voted for the venison

and bacon pie. Good, old fashioned meaty fare (one of those cheaty pies with no bottom) beneath a puff pastry lid, a rich indulgent gravy, slow cooked venison and, in the only duff note, some rather industrial carrots on the side.

Connie, probably mindful of the next morning’s Lido session, went for a Chicken Caesar salad, crispy Romaine lettuce, shaved parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, you know the score.

As I suspect you are discovering dear reader, I don’t do desserts, so for “pud”, the middle-class winos that we are, we jumped from Malbec to a fruity Tondeluna Rioja.

I like to sneak back to basics and home-style cooking. The Commercial is as good a place as any to do so and if you want to get a bit cheffier, they do a bit of that too. Or just enjoy a pint and some less sexist peanuts.

212 Railton Road, SE24 0JT | 020 7733 8783 | thecommercialhernehill.co.uk | @CommercialSE24

PICTURES: MATT HICKMAN

REVIEW: DUCK DUCK GOOSE

So Connie and I, between French election chat (she’s from over there), the perils of secondary school teaching and early morning Lido lane wars, tucked into Korean chicken wings and salt and pepper squid in sesame dressing.

As someone who has had issues cooking squid (once involving three fire engines, but that’s another story), the squid was crisp, still tender and nicely balanced with

FOOD & DRINK 19

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Here at Healthy Eaters we combine great tasting food with quick and friendly customer service. Every meal is as healthy as can be thanks to our low fat cooking techniques which lock in our uniquely succulent flavours.

Drop in for take-away or eat in.

We are open lunchtime til evening.

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Tel. 020 7274 4521 www.healthyeaters.co.uk

20 WHAT’S ON

brixtonblog.com

2017 JUNE

Jamila Omar rounds up a June selection of what’s on in Brixton and nearby FRI 26 @ GIDA COLLECTIVE

WED 7 @ DOGSTAR

SAT 27 @ COURTESAN

THUR 8 @ WHIRLED CINEMA

Loughborough Road venue Gida Live boasts a formidable lineup of SPOKEN WORD acts, as well as acoustic musicians and singers. Resident host Uncle Errol of Word On The Kerb will add his infectious poems, after which the open mic will be waiting for those with a performance busting to be heard. Seating is limited, so arrive early. 6 – 10pm. £5.

Patty Jenkins as Wonder Woman

RITZY ROUNDUP

With Wonder Woman, Whitney and My Cousin Rachel, June is a good month for women, writes Nicola Jones She is finally here! And by “she” I mean the long awaited and publicised WONDER WOMAN (from 2 June) solo film. DC Comics introduced Gal Gadot as our whip-wielding leotard-wearing hero in BATMAN v.

SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, an over-two-hour commercial slog that left the internet riddled with memes and me in love with her theme music.

Here’s hoping this stand-alone film with a female director (Patty Jenkins) is not only worthwhile, but a success.

Also out this month is the Tom Cruise fuelled remake of THE MUMMY (from 9 June).

Following on from that rehash are some superb Sundance Festival films. The Woody Harrelson vehicle WILSON (from 9 June) follows a middle-age loner as he reunites with his former wife and meets the teenage daughter he has never known. Another Sundance film arrives with BERLIN SYNDROME (from 9 June) starring Australian Teresa Palmer as a photographer who awakes in a Berlin apartment unable to leave. MY COUSIN RACHEL (from 9 June) is an adaptation of the Daphne Du Maurier novel of the same name. English writer Du Maurier is responsible for the original short story The Birds and the novel Rebecca.

Rachel Weisz Inset) takes on the title role of a gorgeous cousin believed to

have murdered her cousin’s guardian.

This did not make the festival circuit … so hard to predict its worth.

We all lost an immeasurable talent in 2012 with the death of Whitney Houston. In the new documentary WHITNEY: CAN I BE ME (from 16 June with a Q&A via satellite on 11 June) filmmaker Nick Broomfield investigates the family dynamic and race relations of the record business that Houston experienced. If you are interested in watching young talent rise then look no further than THE BOOK OF HENRY (from 23 June), starring Naomi Watts as a mum of two boys who discover a secret of the next door’s family.

Jaeden Lieberher from MIDNIGHT SPECIAL and Jacob Trembly from ROOM play the sons.

Don’t know who they are?

Watch both of those films immediately.

A must-see for me this summer is BABY DRIVER (from 30 June) written and directed by Edgar Wright. A cast brimming with stars elevates this film about a young getaway driver who gets in deeper than he can manage.

Not to be missed. If you have kids and it’s raining there will be some safe enjoyment with DESPICABLE ME 3 (from 30 June). Steve Carell returns as the lovable super villain who has given us more Minions than we could ever imagine.

A Nicola Jones is a freelance writer whose website asophisticatednoise.com covers film reviews, trailers, and industry news.

She can be found tweeting @MzJones

Part of this dim sum restaurant and cocktail bar’s regular Courtesan Lates series of events sees Tokyo-born record collector, artist, promoter, label owner and influential AFROBEAT figure Kengo visit Brixton with his eclectic mix of world music. 10pm – 3am. Free.

SUN 28 @ BRIXTON JAMM

This week Sunday Jamm hosts Sir Coxone Outernational Soundsystem playing some LEGENDARY REGGAE. This is the ultimate Brixton “Sunday Funday” for those who want to chill out with pals or shake off any remaining weekend energy.

Great pizzas, jerk chicken, meal and drinks deal. 2pm to midnight. Free before 5pm, £5-£7 after.

MON 29 @ BRIXTON VILLAGE/MARKET ROW

Love Your Local Market returns with a week of festivities (until May 31) and fun for all the family. Enjoy exclusive FREE GOODIE BAGS, live entertainment from around the world, face painting and workshops, plus discounts and giveaways across all five markets. All day. Free.

TUE 30 @ UPSTAIRS AT RITZY

Film collective TAPE curates screenings for some of the best movies from the festival and CULT CINEMA scene and this month presents an engrossing look into the formative years of one of football’s greatest ever players, Swedish talisman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Becoming Zlatan. Film 7.30pm. DJ from 9pm. £8.

WED 31 @ HOOTANANNY

Celebrate one year of SPAGHETTI NIGHT, hosted by DJ Cienfuegos, guests include Dub Experience, Sinisa Eskapone, Rah Stars Project, Rastacla MC and Manlio Calafrocampano. 9pm to 2am. Free.

THUR 1@ BLUES KITCHEN

Soothe your soul and surrender to the music of SOUL SACRIFICE. Open til midnight. Free.

FRI 2 @ UPSTAIRS AT RITZY

Cinematic Soul is an exciting blend of SOUND AND VISION, teaming a live DJ (DJ Philster, Funkalicious) playing funk, soul and soundtracks from 1965 to now, while an epic montage of clips from cult movies projects on the screen. Come to dance, or just kick back and enjoy. 8pm – 1am. Free.

SAT 3 @ DOGSTAR

The Magic Robot is a destination for PARTY ANIMALS, with party-centric hip hop, funk, soul, disco, new hits, old favourites and all of your terrible requests. 10pm – 4am. Free before 10pm, £5 after.

SUN 4 @ EFFRA HALL TAVERN

A great weekly LIVE JAZZ SESSION at this welcoming, intimate local Brixton pub, which has retained its original friendly vibe and genuine atmosphere for many a year. 8 – 11pm. Free.

MON 5 @ HOOTANANNY

Whitney Houston

Do The Right Thing … Ritzy staff and others employed by the giant Cineworld corporation are calling for a boycott of the Ritzy, East Dulwich Picturehouse and other cinemas in the Picturehouse chain that do not pay the London Living Wage

The BRIXTON BOOK JAM returns for its fifth birthday, with Paul Bassett-Davies, Alex Wheatle, CN Lester, Toby Broom, James Nuttall, Leila Segal, Danny Scheinmann, Matthew Miles, Zelda Rhiando, Paula Lennon, Oliver Cable, Merlin Sinclair and Anne Cooper, and music from Robert “Hacker” Jessett.

8pm. Free.

TUE 6 @ PRINCE REGENT

The Prince Regent PUB QUIZ is held every Tuesday.

Big cash prizes, free drinks questions and a rollover jackpot question that grows each week. Come down early because it’s first come first served. 8pm.

Disillusioned with mainstream politics? Do you wish there was a credible alternative to the establishment?

Try Future Sellouts, an “inclusive; non-genitalia grabbing; free from Russian interference” EXPERIMENTAL COMEDY night with Rob Auton; Fin Taylor; Evelyn Mok; Sophie Duker; and Claire Lenahan. 7.30pm – 10pm. £5.

Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, Beyond the Hills) returns with GRADUATION, a masterly exploration of moral compromise and bureaucratic corruption, told through a captivating and intricately plotted family drama that grips like a thriller. 8pm.

FRI 9 @ GIGALUM

Designed for the discerning musical palate, Gigalum brings you the best in GLOBAL BEATS and diverse sounds from around the world. A specially curated roster of international DJs serves up a variety of delicious party-starting jams, guaranteed to get you moving and grooving. Enjoy the outdoor patio or sample a tasty selection of food as you dance the evening away. 6pm – midnight. Free.

SAT 10 @ BRIXTON POUND CAFE

Let’s Laugh is a COMEDY ACT in the heart of Brixton. The line-ups feature a mixture of newer up-and-coming acts alongside more established ones working on new material. It’s free to get in and you can bring your own booze. What’s not to love? Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. Free.

SUN 11 @ CAFE CAIRO

Every Sunday evening you can catch a FREE MOVIE at the fantastic Cafe Cairo. Check their Facebook page for which films they have in store each week. 7.30 – 11pm. Free.

MON 12 @ POP BRIXTON

Daddy, Mummy & Me TODDLER YOGA. Focusing on the children with the encouragement of parents.

Includes breathing games, yoga postures, singing, stories, yoga games and music. Suitable for parents/ guardians and children. 11 – 11.45 am. Free.

TUE 13 @ UPSTAIRS AT RITZY

A varied and welcoming OPEN MIC NIGHT hosted by local singer/songwriter and Ritzy staff member Gabby Colledge. She will be welcoming all acts ranging from musicians, comedians and spoken word artists to the Ritzy stage. 7 – 11pm. Free.

WED 14 @ WHITE BEAR THEATRE

A courtroom in hell. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES sees Shakespeare’s Prospero (The Tempest) presiding as Macbeth (Macbeth) and Goneril (King Lear) battle each other for a chance at redemption. An allegory on modern times, this new play shines a light on the obsessive pursuit of power and the destruction of the old world order. 7pm. £10.

THUR 15 @ POP BRIXTON

Hip Hop Karaoake is not only London and the UK’s original HIP HOP KARAOAKE event, but has cemented itself as one of London’s most loved, consistently roadblocked and celebrated parties. Choose from over 200 songs, all performed with a live DJ. 7 – 10pm. Free.

FRI 16 @ ELECTRIC BRIXTON

Shut The Front Door are excited to welcome Parisian ELECTRONIC PRODUCER FKJ to perform his incredible live set. This multi-instrumentalist has mastered everything in studio and on stage, and is an accomplished musician who plays the guitar, bass, saxophone, piano and many more. 7 – 11pm. £15.

SAT 17 @ BLUES KITCHEN

Ready for the most intense and utterly compelling live show around? Then pop down to Blues Kitchen to check out the mesmerising and uplifting CONGO FAITH HEALERS. Open until 2.30am. £10.

JUNE 2017

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SUN 18 @ DOGSTAR

Celebrating 40 years of Animal Aid is the Brixton summer VEGAN FESTIVAL. Enjoy three floors of great vegan street food, including alkaline, raw and glutenfree options, soul and comfort food, plus plenty of cakes. Midday – 7pm. £1. Kids 16 and under free.

MON 19 @ EFFRA SOCIAL

Comedy improvisation show Duck Duck Goose host their IMPROV JAM plus guests in the Effra Social’s Churchill Lounge each and every Monday. You can watch or join in! From 7.30pm. Free.

TUE 20 @ POP BRIXTON

Each Tuesday, take the “work” out of workout by mixing low-intensity and high-intensity moves for an interval-style, calorie-burning dance fitness party, otherwise known as ZUMBA. 6.15-8.25pm. £10.

WED 21 @ BLUES KITCHEN

Swing Night and Double Down. Jump, JIVE and wail your night away! 8pm till midnight. Free.

THUR 22 @ HOOTANANNY

The fourth heat of BRITAIN’S GOT REGGAE, a platform providing opportunities for the next generation of artists. Prizes this year include a recording with Stingray Records and performances at One Love and Rototom Festivals. 9pm-2am. £3.

FRI 23 @ ELECTRIC BRIXTON

Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo, aka THE BLOODY BEETROOTS, synergises sonics and sensibilities – from The Damned to Debussy, from the wistfulness of new wave to the primal screams of hardcore punk – into remarkably actualised efforts that became platforms for larger socio-political historiography and cultural histrionics. 10pm – 5am. £15/£19.50.

SAT 24 @ PORTICO GALLERY

House of Bamboo NORTHERN SOUL night, with soul classics, Tamla Motown, Northern Soul, Seventies grooves, R&B and Latin. Hosted by DJs David Diston, Adam Jenkins, Tom Ambrose and Neil Stroud plus special guests Tony Schokman and Mick Gauntlett.

7pm to midnight. £5 on the door.

SUN 25 @ BRIXTON BEACH BOULEVARD

Supa Dupa Fly bring their show to Brixton Beach Boulevard. Expect an ’80s inspired MIAMI BEACH concept. Open 1pm – last entry 4pm. £7.70.

MON 26@ POP BRIXTON

Stresses and strains of city life getting you down?

Then pop down to POP, whose weekly MASSAGE MONDAYS offer to soothe your cares away. Midday – 6pm. £20 –£40.

TUE 27 @ EFFRA SOCIAL

Tuesdays mean nothing other than PUB QUIZ. Tommy McArdle hosts one of the busiest in Brixton, with a cash prize for first place and booby prizes for second and second to last place. Starts at 8pm, £2 per person.

WED 28 @ MARKET HOUSE

House of Idiot is an ALTERNATIVE COMEDY show upstairs at Market House every Wednesday. Take a walk on the weird and wonderful side, with sketch, character, musical comedy, clown, cabaret and more.

8pm. Free.

THUR 29 @ UPSTAIRS AT RITZY

End of The Weak is famous for its international MC CHALLENGE. Expect rap cyphers and a soul jazz jam, plus the MC challenge, backed by the house band with residents, DJ Snuff, DJ Jazz T and host Mas Law. Five rounds test all the skills of an MC. The prize is a trip to Prague to compete in the world finals. 7.30pm. Free before 9pm, £5 after.

FRI 30 @ PHONOX

Ivy Lab continue their 20/20 Friday residency at Phonox. Their productions are making a huge impact on the UK dance scene as their half time DRUM & BASS is some of the most innovative music of the past decade. 10pm – 4am. £5 advance, more on door.

Brixton’s open-air gallery is back for 2017 Urban Art, London’s largest annual open-air contemporary arts fair, will take place once again this year along the railings of Josephine Avenue over the weekend of Saturday 8 July and Sunday 9 July from 10am to 6.00pm. Entry is free and 10,000 visitors are expected.

On display will be an amazing selection of work using railings on both sides of road as an open-air gallery. Visitors can talk to artists face to face and learn the creative processes

that created the works on show.

Now in its sixteenth year, the event provides affordable and credible exhibition space for new and established artists and a creative showcase for South London artists.

It also raises funds for local causes. This year’s beneficiaries are Holy Trinity School, Jubilee Primary School, Southside Rehabilitation project and the Anchor Group, all of whom will receive a percentage of the sales made during the weekend.

Don’t go too far for festival fun As the festival season gets under way, there are at least three you can visit by bus and get back home to your bed rather than sleep in a muddy field.

CAMBERWELL ARTS FESTIVAL runs from 10 to 18 June 2017 and plans to turn the whole of SE5 into a “creative playground” with its pubs, parks, cafés and crypts.

The programme includes talks, walks, workshops, open studios and screenings with an Art Party on Camberwell Green (10 June). and an interactive Evensong plus an open studios day on the 18th.

The focus is on participation.

AA For more information, visit www.camberwellarts.org.uk.

Up in CRYSTAL PALACE, the OVERGROUND FESTIVAL runs from 15 to 18 June.

After a year off to prepare for a move of the park event from Westow to Crystal Palace Park, it’s back and bigger than ever.

All events are free and include history walks, opera, music – with Morcheeba headlining the main stage, dance, storytelling, comedy, meditation, memories of Bowie in Beckenham, sport, a dog show, men in sheds and a lot more besides.

AA Details at crystalpalacefestival.org.

AA And don’t overlook the Balham Literary Festival from 8 to ll June.

More than 1,000 pieces of work will be on display from over 100 artists ranging from the novice to the established and with prices ranging from under a tenner to over £1,000.

This is a great opportunity to buy direct from a range of painters, printmakers, street artists, photographers and mixed media artists whose work can be found at www.urbanart.co.uk.

Additional attractions for Urban Art 2017 include Mexican

and Caribbean food stalls, smoothies and coffee.

Urban Art was created in 2002

by Josephine Avenue resident and portrait artist Timothy Sutton.

Print maker Stefan Gnosspelius, who has been exhibiting since 2002, says: “The atmosphere is always great and the feedback from the public is always very encouraging. It’s one of my highlights of the year and one of the reasons I love living in Brixton”.

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22 COLUMNS JUNE 2017 GEMMA PASHA

FRANKIE HOLAH

Little helping hands …

Move more

The garden is a wonderful place to spend quality time with the whole family. We are cooped up in the house during the long winter months and, as spring bursts into life and the evenings get lighter and warmer, it is a very positive environment for your little people.

It is incredibly educational for your children to learn about nature and how plants grow and you can demonstrate this in a practical way in your own back yard.

From my experience with my friends’ children and my nieces and nephews, children love to help in the garden, and sometimes their “help” can be a little over zealous.

So it’s best to task them with fun jobs that they can do to help.

Treat them to a little gardening kit and watering can – it is always great to let them help with the watering. They can do this all day long with their little cans. It’s also good because it keeps them cool!

Another great idea to keep their interest is to create a small veggie patch with fast easy-to-grow veggies. Tomatoes, runner beans and courgettes all have a wow factor for little ones.

Make sure you create the veggie patch in the sunniest spot in the garden and away from hazards like steep drops or steps.

Anything that your child can plant and watch grow is a fantastic experience for

COLUMNS 2017 JUNE 22

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them. Sunflowers are good as they are cheap, grow so tall and look so positive and sunny!

If you are lucky, your child will go to a school where there is a least some outdoor garden activity and, if not, why not search out a local group – West Norwood, for instance, has Little Diggers. Alternatively, you can find your local community garden and take your children along to volunteer. Lots of parks and community centres have them.

While you need to be mindful of the dangers in the garden, don’t be too worried if your little one swallows a bit of soil, or comes up close and personal with a slug.

But, most importantly, make sure any sharp garden tools you are using are kept well out of reach of your kids and do not leave them unsupervised at any time. Keep them well protected against the sun and make sure they are always wearing a hat in hot weather. øø If you like the idea of creating a baby/ toddler friendly garden then call Gardening Girl on 07826 551 353.

I’m all about being able to work out anywhere and injecting more activity easily into the day – especially when so many of us live busy, demanding lifestyles.

On-the-go fitness is a great option for fitting it all in. A big part of this for me is using my surroundings and being creative.

So, I thought I’d give you some ideas to get you moving more in your daily life.

ON THE TUBE: The simplest option here is to STAND! Far too much of the day is spent sitting and as it has been described at the new smoking, let’s make an effort to be more upright.

Make an effort to focus on standing tall, tightening your core, putting your shoulders back and standing with your feet shoulder width apart.

As well as helping your posture, standing up uses more energy and recruits more muscles than your fellow seated commuters.

If you’re feeling brave, try not holding on to anything and give your balance and a core a challenge. I bet your journey will pass more quickly too … win!

When it’s less crowded, those hand rails make for great hanging out time … who cares what anybody thinks? You’ll be the one with the stronger shoulders and abs. Try simply hanging with your knees raised and if you’re feeling strong turn them into reps. I tried this between Tube stops the other day, got a few looks and then casually strutted off the tube – Break the mould, fellow Londoners, you’ll feel good for it!

AT THE OFFICE: Definitely too much sitting going on here. Challenge yourself to move more during your work day. Get up every 30-45 minutes, stretch, walk around and maybe even get in some squats … hello pert toosh – how many can you do in a day?!

If you’re feeling adventurous, set an office trend and try out some incline or decline press-ups using your chair. Compete with your colleagues to see who can do the most in 60 seconds and make it an office challenge …

OUT AND ABOUT: Using the escalator?

Work or live above the ground floor? Use the stairs, walk, run, sprint the escalator (obviously take care with this one). Even just walk and simply miss a step each time.

Whatever you do, get walking! It really is the simplest way to inject more movement into your day and it doesn’t even need to include steps.

Get off your bus a stop earlier and walk the remainder of the way. Little and often really does make a difference.

66 Have a think about your day, pick one extra activity to inject into it and tweet me what you choose @frankieholah – Go forth and MOVE!

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JUNE 2017

Hill Mead HERALD The V&A Museum of Childhood – it’s fascinating, educational … and fun Nathaniel and Melissa, Year 5, report on Year 2’s trip to the V & A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green

We love football more than sweets

By Amy and Fathia, Year 4 blue We are on the girls’ football team, and we love football more than sweets.

Our journey started in Year 3, when Amy joined first. Then she persuaded me, Fathia, to join in as well. We weren’t very good at first, but now we are the “pros”.

The other girls are very supportive of us, and we are of them. We needed this support to get us to our first tournament.

Our tournaments are held at Ferndale Sports Centre. We attended one on Wednesday and scored 18 goals in total! We were ecstatic!

If we had to describe football, it would be “the beautiful game”. It is just the best thing to experience.

Our coach, Mr Elusade is great.

He is firm but fair, and if we are losing two-nil, he’ll be extra hard on us.

We need a lot of teamwork at our matches. Especially when

Our trip to Bethnal Green in East London was fascinating, educational and fun.

We went to the childhood museum as Year 2 was working with the Unicorn Theatre on a story about the Velveteen Rabbit. The visit was to learn about the history of toys.

When we arrived, I thought it would be a real museum with an old-fashioned outside, but it looked like it had just been built the day before!

It was filled with toys that looked new, toys that had never been used.

When we got to the rocking horses, we all had to line up to have a go on the horses. It was like we were riding an actual horse because it went backwards and forwards, it was really rocking.

Meanwhile, everyone else played with magnets where you had to move the metal filings onto people’s faces. There was also a robot that

we had to try and move. We got it functioning by using cogs that were at the back. You had to stick everything on and it moved. I’m not sure about Melissa’s group, but we did it and the robot moved!

Lunch was a highlight. We went to the park and played lots of games and we got some fresh air.

When we went back to the childhood museum we did a workshop where we talked about modern and old toys.

We discussed what they used to play with in the olden days and we played lots of stuff they used to play with.

We played ball in the cup, spinny tops, diablo and other wood toys. As we tried lots of old stuff, we got to make our own people with pegs that they used to hang washing up to dry. We made peg dolls, mine was a super hero!

We had to wait for a long time for the Tube home. What a trip!

Sohayla got slide-tackled by a member of the Streatham Wells football team. We were getting fouled left, right and centre, but we had to fight on.

When we’re on the subs’ wall we have a big part to play, cheering our team on. If we don’t get motivation, we won’t win anything. Therefore, encouragement and advice is key.

Once more, football is great. We look forward to lifting a trophy soon, because Hill Mead ROCKS!

So much to do at the Horniman Rain didn’t spoil our Roman adventure

By Angel and Zavier, Year 5

We were the roving reporters on Year 1’s trip to the Horniman Museum in May. We got a very crowded P4 bus.

I felt excited because the Horniman is one of my favourite museums. We were looking forward to showing the Year 1 children the animals they have there.

The trip was part of Year 1’s project to find out all about bees. The Year 1 children were very excited to see so many plants and flowers as we walked in, I helped them to look for bees. We were able to help the children observe bees looking for nectar. We even saw a huge bumblebee. When we saw the

huge bee we ran away from it.

After we had been around the garden, we went inside the museum to look at the British wildlife area and the Year 1 children loved looking at the wildlife we have in London.

We saw lots of stuffed animals like foxes, badgers and rabbits. I think that the Horniman is a really good place to go on a school trip because there is so much to do inside and outside.

After we had our lunch we had a long play on a very steep hill and we helped the children to find and look at the different plants and trees.

It was a great trip for Year 1 because it was a good chance to see everything they had been learning in school.

By Naja Ahmed, Year 3 red and Crystal Marsh, Year 3 blue

Year 3 went on an amazing trip to Fishbourne Palace in the historic town of Chichester. We travelled by coach for over two hours. On the coach Zeinab and Crystal did colouring on paper which made the time go faster.

When we arrived we watched a short film about Fishbourne Palace and what it would have looked like when the Romans were there 2,000 years ago. It felt like we were going back in time with them.

After the show, we went to our workshop. It looked like a school inside and the lady was so knowledgeable! We got to be a slave and also do fun activities.

My favourite part was when Hakeemah and Abdi dressed up as a princess and prince (right).

The funny bit was when the lady said they have four whole years to get married. We found it funny as they are still so young!

Although it was raining, we didn’t let it ruin our day. We went outside to the beautiful gardens

and discovered lots of facts about what Romans ate. Many of their food sources came from the ground and were medicinal.

Everyone was laughing because the plants had funny names like mustard, marshmallow and coriander. This made us laugh!

Our favourite part was when we found a shed with an actual Roman man inside. He was very angry because people kept disturbing him while he worked!

Next we went inside the palace and saw beautiful mosaics. We couldn’t believe our eyes! The best part was when we got to see the buried skeleton. The archaeologists said it was the King of the Romans. Najia and Elizabeth’s eyes were watering because we were so sad. We didn’t want to move away from it, but we had to.

When the day was finished, we got back onto the coach and sat quietly with our friends as we were very tired! Some people were even sick! I managed a one-hour nap which was nice.

We both loved the trip as now we are full of knowledge about the history of this country!

BRIXTON

Bugle SPORT

£70K boost for Brixton BMX track Work has started on a major upgrade to the Brixton BMX track in Brockwell Park.

The work will include a raised starting hill, a new starting gate, raising the course’s second berm by 1.5 metres, resurfacing the whole track and changing some of the jumps so the track flows better and faster.

The cost of £70,000 has been donated by the William Wates Memorial Trust via the Access Sport charity as part of its London BMX Legacy Programme.

This was set up as part of the Olympic legacy programme to build BMX tracks and clubs to encourage young people into cycling.

Work is due to be completed on Friday 9 June.

Ken Floyde, secretary and founder of the club, said the upgrade would make the facility a

safer place for young people and adults to enjoy.

“The club hopes that the upgrade will attract a great number of young people from the local area to continue building healthy relationships within the community while having fun and keeping fit,” he said.

The first races on the new track will be part of the BMX event of the London Youth Games on Sunday 18 June. Hundreds of young people from across London come together to compete while representing their boroughs. Ken called on Bugle readers to “come down and see the sport live in action or even get involved and volunteer on the day”.

He said that Brixton BMX Club and Lambeth council are responsible for the upkeep of the track in Brockwell Park and that club volunteers work tremendously hard to make sure the venue is in the best possible condition.

Annual maintenance of the new track is expected to cost at least £2,000, so all donations are very welcome, said Ken. The club was forced to cancel a London regional race event in September 2015 due to concerns over the safety of the track.

Brixton BMX Club is London’s oldest and was founded by Ken Floyde after the Brixton uprising in 1981.

Its alumni include BMX racing legend Charlie Reynolds and BMX World Championship bronze medallist Tre Whyte.

Last year Ken Floyde was awarded a Medal of Honour at the British Citizen Awards. He has devoted more than 30 years of his life to helping residents, young and old, to hone their BMX skills.

The track will open to the public again on Saturday 10 June.

Brixton BMX Club training sessions take place on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 to 11am for experts and from 1am to 1pm for novices and beginners.

The cost for each session is £5 for non-members and £3 for members.

AA For more information, contact the club on 020 8671 5401, brixtonbmxclub@hotmail.com, kenfloydebmxman@hotmail.co.uk or see www.brixtonbmx.co.uk.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Absentee (2,4) 4. Value (5) 7. Appear (6) 8. Small bite (6) 9. Lazy (4) 10. Mollusc appendage (8) 12. Cocoon-maker (11) 17. Sensory organ (3) 18. Wipe (4) 19. Likelihood (4) 20. Set off (6) 21. Hypnotic state (6) 22. Brixton picture palace (5) 23. Conjugal (6)

DOWN 1. Itinerant (7) 2. Present (anag) (7) 3. Usurp (9) 4. Card game (5) 5. Girl’s name (7) 6. Took (advice) (6) 11. Cliff hanger (9) 13. Taco bar (anag) (7) 14. What 13 across might wear (7) 15. Extreme (7) 16. Shooting star (6) 18. The hardest word? (5)

Midfielder Ashley Carew in action for Dulwich

Dulwich set for reunion with South London foes next season

By Sandra Brobbey Dulwich Hamlet will come face-to-face with old rivals Tooting and Mitcham with both South London teams in the Ryman Premier division next season.

Dulwich, who had been battling for promotion to the National League in May, were narrowly defeated by two goals to one in their play-off final against Bognor Regis.

Their old foes Tooting, currently managed by Frank Wilson, recently secured automatic promotion to the division by winning the Ryman South Championship. The league title win was Tooting’s second since 1960.

Dulwich Hamlet boss Gavin Rose, who recently participated in a charity football game in support of sports organisation Football Beyond Borders, says the club “are working hard behind the scenes getting ready for next season”.

The club is soon due to announce its plans for the 2017–18 season,