Brixton Bugle May 2022

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BRIXTON BUGLE YOUR FREE Published monthly in and for Brixton

No 83 | MAY 2022

ISSN 2397-852X

RECLAIM WINDRUSH SQUARE! Brixton residents, businesses and voluntary org anisations have launched a bid to transform Windrush Square.

“Windrush Square is the heart and soul of Brixton,” said campaign organiser Ros Griffiths.

“It’s an important public space, full of history, cultural and community references.

“We’re on a collective mission to reclaim the square and develop it into an inclusive and welcoming destination for everyone.”

Members of the group include the Brixton Society, Black Cultural Archives, West Indian Association of Service Personnel, the energy company Repowering London and the Ritzy Cinema.

The “Re-Imagining Windrush Square” campaign comes as the 25th anniversary of the naming of the square approaches.

Growing concern about the square was heightened earlier this year when Lambeth council revealed that the cost of the security bollards now surrounding it had risen to more than £2m from a planned £1.5m.

Work on the bollards, which was lengthened by complications caused by their proximity to gas pipes, and the use of the square for Covid testing, saw pedestrians using the square’s grass areas, creating large patches of bare earth.

Other concerns include the failure to re-open or repurpose the public toilets in the square that have been shut for decades.

The group also wants to manage use of the square better. Two separate events in the square on the same Sunday to mark Remembrance Day in November last year highlighted this issue.

It says org anising community events can be a challenge, so the square is not reaching its full potential.

Its “ambitious project” includes plans to develop the amenities available on the square and to deliver an “exciting and inclusive” programme of events.

“Successful implementation of

COMMUNITY PAPER

MAKING THINGS HAPPEN Meet Solomon Smith

14

KIT THAT’S FIT Brockwell Swans keep it local 24

LEADING WOMEN … … at the Black Cultural Archives 19

Plans to make square a tourist attraction the project’s main activities will put Windrush Square on the map as a local, regional, national and international destination,” the organisers said.

They hope to obtain funding from the Community Connections Fund launched by Lambeth council in March this year and will seek

Concern over £2m bollards £200,000 from it. The project has a target budget total of £1.2m.

If funding is obtained, the project would be launched in July this year and run for two years.

Its plans include bringing the

Full story – page 12

Large areas of bare earth in formerly grassed areas

BRIXTON LIT A first for Book Mongers

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DO BE SILLY Book your massage now …

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toilets back into use and establishing a café and information kiosk, as well as introducing signage to the square, including an outdoor screen.

The project would aim to transform the square into a tourist destination, highlighting its history and heritage.

BRIXTON BLOG & BUGLE ART SHOW 2022

Now seeking entries for the show in July | Closing date 20 May – details p8

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2 NEWS

LTN campaigners ‘to fight on’ after appeal is rejected

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ISSUE 83 Contributors Ramses Alexandre George Deacon Sandra Brown-Springer Ollie Goodwin Simone Richardson Deborah Stokes Poppy Woods Mike Woof Print Iliffe Print iliffeprint.co.uk Distribution: Self Select Distribution selfselectdistribution.co.uk NEXT ISSUE Our next issue, June 2022, is due on the street on Wednesday 8 June Deadlines Advertising: 23 May Editorial: 30 May 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

2022 MAY

Cutting the ribbon: (l-r) Lyndsey Fyffe, Maria Kay, Olga Fitzroy and Saleha Jaffer

Mural marks anniversary of Tulse Hill community centre

By George Deacon Lyndsey Fyffe stood on the steps of a community centre in Tulse Hill on its first anniversary and told the story of her journey to revive it.

After losing her sister in tragic circumstances, Lyndsey switched from working as an occupational therapist to setting up a charity called Lavender Hope, named for her sister’s favourite flower.

Through the charity, she began supporting communities and those most in need. Soon Lyndsey took on management of Deronda Community Hall, renovated it and launched an ambitious programme of services for residents and the community.

The mural unveiling marked the first anniversary of the centre.

It was created by Julie Norburn, director of Art4Space, and students from Morley college.

Cllr Maria Kay, Lambeth council cabinet member for housing and homelessness, and councillor candidates for the local St Martin’s ward, Olga Fitzroy and Saleha Jaffer, cut the ribbon and committed to be champions of the centre.

Deronda Estate is a mid-sized estate of 225 properties in Tulse Hill and the community hall is the heart of the estate.

Community activities run from the hall on different days include knit & natter, art sessions, DJ classes, parent and toddler groups, children’s baking, Zumba, and Bible groups. Children from the estate join after-school activities in the hall.

Council ‘mismanagement’ charge renewed Lambeth People’s Audit (LPA), which nearly five years ago accused Lambeth council of “extensive financial mismanagement”, has said that “mismanagement is even more widespread, and in some cases more shocking than we first suspected”.

The council said it had not seen any evidence to support the first allegation.

LPA’s latest document says millions of pounds have been paid to major works contractors in excess of agreed prices, and that millions are also paid in “housing disrepair” compensation.

LPA said the magazine Inside Housing had reported that Lambeth council had

paid more than any other on housing disrepair claims – More than £3m in the financial year 2020/21, up from just over 2m in 2017/18.

Inside Housing reported a surge in disrepair claims which lawyers believe is the result of more cases of tenants living in disrepair, cuts to legal aid, and “no win no fee” claims management companies switching from personal injury claims after fixed recoverable costs were introduced in this field.

LPA said: “It is a sad state of affairs that it is left to an unpaid group of residents to expose how Lambeth taxpayers’ money is spent.”

The Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal against the High Court’s refusal to allow a judicial review of Lambeth council’s creation of low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).

The council said the judgement confirmed the High Court decision that it had taken due regard of the equalities impacts of experimental low traffic neighbourhood schemes when it made the decision to implement them and that proper considerations were taken into account.

The decision related to traf f ic orders for three LTNs – Oval Triangle, Streatham Hill, and Railton and St Matthew’s.

Campaigners against Lambeth LTNs said “the fight goes on” and they intend to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Their legal team has applied for a statutory review of the permanent traffic orders for the three LTNs as part of the formal process of appealing to the Supreme Court.

The lawyers say it could take two months or more to find out if a review has been granted. The QC leading the case has suggested there is a 35% chance of a Supreme Court hearing being granted and that the case itself stands a 55% chance of success.

“If we are g ranted per mission to appeal to the Supreme Court, we would have approximately six months to raise the court costs and we would look to make this a national campaign,” said the Lambeth campaigners, They have launched a £27,200 appeal to cover the initial costs of this legal move and to pay costs of £10,000 to Lambeth council which were awarded against them earlier.

They say the council has refused payment by instalments and that the full sum is due on 31 May. Commenting on the Court of Appeal’s decision, Sofia Sheakh, on whose behalf the original case was started, said that “the voices of the disabled community

must be heard above the cycle lobby, selfish affluent residents and those who purport to govern us”.

She said the Court of Appeal had deliberated for almost three months showing that “this was not a straightforward case”.

Sheakh said the decision “effectively means councils can, depending on context and circumstances, put in roadblocks at any time, saying that they are experimental, carry out a basic equality impact assessment (EQIA), which they can amend as they go along and hold a ‘consultation’ at a later date.”

The campaigners’ barrister said that the court had “effectively reduced the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to zero”, her statement said.

A Lambeth council spokesperson said: “The low traffic neighbourhoods that the council has implemented are just one part of our holistic approach to making Lambeth’s roads and neighbourhoods healthier, safer and more equal.

“The majority of Lambeth residents do not have access to a car and that is particularly the case for many communities which are disproportionately impacted by collisions or toxic air pollution.

“Therefore, to make Lambeth a more equal place, we need to enable more journeys to be made by active a n d s u s t a i n abl e methods and fewer by motor vehicles so those effects lessen.

“Throughout the trial schemes, we have engaged with residents and businesses thoroughly and have changed and improved them off the back of this feedback.

“We have also introduced dispensations for Blue Badge holders to make it easier for Lambeth residents who are reliant on their cars to get around.”

The appeal had challenged the decision by the High Court on 28 June last year to dismiss an application for a judicial review of Lambeth’s creation of low traffic neighbourhoods.

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

NEWS 3

Lambeth’s food banks warn of growing crisis Bell Ribeiro-Addy helps to sort donations

MP organises ‘baby bank’ donation drive Local MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy organised a donation drive for “baby bank” charity Little Village which led to hundreds of items being donated.

They included several cots, buggies, and Moses baskets, and hundreds of items of clothing, shoes, toys and books.

Volunteers, including the Labour MP for Streatham, whose constituency includes parts of Brixton, and her team, came together to take stock of and organise the huge selection of donations.

Little Village, which says it is “like a food bank, but for clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children” operates a network of baby banks in London.

They provide essential items for children aged 0-5, as well as practical and emotional support for their parents.

The charity supported more than 6,000 children last year and

anticipates helping over 7.000 this year with issues like rising living costs and expensive childcare affecting the families it works with.

Rebecca Wilson, head of programmes at Little Village, said: “We were blown away by the incredible amount of donations and the support shown to us by the local community.

“We would also like to say thank you to Bell and her team for organising this event and to all of the volunteers who gave up their Saturdays to help out.

Donations were transported to Little Village’s Tooting hub

by Brixton-based mental health charity, Mosaic Clubhouse, which provided a van and volunteer driver.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy said everybody could be proud of the community response, “with people stepping up to deliver several van-loads of donations to families during a time of acute need”.

Researchers create Brixton ‘riot’ timeline Academics have produced a detailed timeline of the 2011 “riots” in Brixton.

Researchers from Sussex, Keele and St Andrews universities used a variety of material, including social media posts and an eyewitness account from Brixton Blog, to create the report.

Home locations of people arrested during the disturbances show a “strikingly similar” distribution to the most deprived areas of Brixton, the report says. Most were below 26 years old, 93% were male and 76% were Black.

Exact timings and locations recorded and analysed in the report cast doubt on the theory that the events were connected to a Brixton Splash street party that had taken place earlier on 6 August.

A The report, Beyond Contagion, is available at bit.ly/UoS_Beyond-Contagion

Lambeth food banks provided nearly 22,000 emergency food parcels between April 2021 and March 2022 – more than 8,000 of them went to children.

This is a 15% increase on the previous 12 months.

T he Lambeth Food Bank Partnership believes the increase in people needing support is due multiple factors, including their finances being hit by the increasing cost of living and the impact of last year’s £20 a week cut from Universal Credit payments.

Local residents Maureen and Philip have only used a food bank once, but fear they will need to use the service again soon.

“We have always budgeted really well,” said Philip. “I cannot work due to my health condition and my wife only works two days a week.

“Since the energy price rise, we have been really struggling and don’t know which bills to prioritise.

“We are on the breadline now and must make difficult choices each month.

“We are proud and don’t want to use the food bank, but we may have no choice.”

The local Norwood and Brixton food bank is part of the Trussell Trust network, which recently experienced its busiest winter outside of the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided more than 2.1 million parcels to people on the lowest incomes across the UK between 1 April 2021 and 31 March this year.

This national figure is a 14% increase on pre-pandemic figures in 2019-20 as more and more people across the country are unable to afford the essentials to eat and to stay warm, dry and clean.

The need for food banks in the

Trussell Trust network has grown rapidly over the past six months, and food bank managers are warning of a growing crisis: ● July – September 2021 saw a 10% increase in comparison to the same period in 2019 ● October – December 2021 saw a 17% increase in comparison to the same period in 2019 ● January – February 2022 saw a 22% increase in comparison to the same period in 2020 T he Lambeth Food Bank Partnership said it was clear that its team would always do all they can to help people in the community – but that they cannot, and should not, be needing to distribute emergency food parcels on this scale.

Elizabeth Maytom, Norwood and Brixton Food bank project lead, said: “There’ll always be a role for strong community groups looking out for their neighbours, and we’re so grateful for the generous support of our volunteers and to local people who have donated to the food bank.

“Together, you’ve made sure that local people who can’t afford the essentials don’t face hunger.

“The support we see across the community for people on the lowest

incomes is incredible. But it shouldn’t be needed. We should all be free from hunger.

“No one should be pushed deeper into poverty without enough money for the things we all need. It’s not right that anyone in Lambeth needs our food bank in the first place – everyone should be able to afford the essentials.

“At the moment the situation is only set to get worse, as this is just the start of the cost of living crisis.

“But we know what’s pushing people to need food banks like ours, so we know what needs to be done.

“People cannot afford to wait any longer for support – UK, national and local governments at all levels must use their powers and take urgent action now to strengthen our social security system so it keeps up with the true cost of living.”

T he Lambeth Food Bank Partnership was established at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and consists of the Norwood and Brixton food bank, Vauxhall food bank, Waterloo food bank and the Clapham Park food bank.

Each of them has been providing emergency food and support to local people since around 2010.

Two herons have joined the pair of swans in Brockwell Park. It is not known whether the herons are nesting like the swans. Herons have had a growing identification with Brixton since the weather vane sculpture Brixton Heron (left) by Maggi Hambling, who had a studio in Clapham, was mounted above the Prince of Wales opposite Windrush Square in 2010 to celebrate completion of the Brixton regeneration project by Lambeth Council.

brixtonblog.com

4 NEWS

2022 MAY

Hate crime activists remember Electric Avenue bombing The 23rd anniversary of the Brixton bomb of 17 April 1999 was commemorated where it exploded on Electric Avenue outside Iceland.

T he nail bomb was placed by

right-wing extremist David Copeland, who subsequently planted two more.

The third, in the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, killed three people and injured 140. The other was planted in Brick Lane in East London, home to a large Bangladeshi community.

The Brixton bomb injured 48 people, some seriously.

Copeland targeted people of colour and gay people. He received six life sentences for his crimes.

In Brixton, Mark Healey (left) of the National Hate Crime Awareness Week charity, joined LGBT poet laureate Trudy Howson and local police community support officer Juliana Robinson to leaflet and talk to passers-by about the bomb and the continuing issue of hate crime.

“We believe it is important to remember the victims of hate crime, to signpost support to those whose lives have ben changed forever by acts of hate,” says National HCAW.

MP Helen Hayes (centre, red blouse) with the protesters

Health workers protest over nursery fears Brixton MP Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) joined protesting South London health workers who have warned that they could be forced out of the NHS if two affordable workplace nurseries are closed without alternatives.

The Cedar House nursery, used by staff at the South London and

Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and the King’s College Hospital day nursery, are due to close next year for development of the building they share.

The workers joined a protest outside the Cedar House nursery at Mapother House, De Crespigny Park, Camberwell, to urge managers to think again.

UNISON, the trade union representing health staff, said neither trust appears to be planning to offer parents dependent on the facilities alternative childcare provision.

Staff, who are already under pressure, are anxious at the prospect of having to find new, more expensive childcare.

Windrush Scandal: ‘Trauma doesn’t just go away’ Mental health consequences of the Windrush scandal on Caribbean and Black African families in the UK are to be explored in a new project.

Launched by academic Dr Rochelle Burgess (right) and social commentator and historian Professor Patrick Vernon OBE, The Ties That Bind is the first study of its kind of the scandal.

It will map the mental health impact of the scandal and hostile immigration policies, not only on those who have been directly affected, but also on family members.

The scandal began to surface in 2017 when it emerged that hundreds of Commonwealth citizens, many from the Windrush generation, had been wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights.

Victims endured forced detention, lost jobs, housing and livelihoods, and were forcibly separated from families.

T hey often continue to have

negative experiences as a result of hostile immigration policies.

Dr Burgess, associate professor at the University College London Global Institute of Health, said: “The Windrush Scandal is a heart-breaking example of the interactions between state-orchestrated oppression, the violence of borders, and the way that Black life is seen as expendable.

“It cuts to the heart of the ways that systems strip people of home, humanity, place, and personhood.

“However, discussions of mental health are totally absent from our responses – despite evidence suggesting that good mental health is impossible in the absence of these things.

“Our project seeks to bring together affected families and document evidence to motivate policy action around mental health support for victims, families and communities.”

Over the course of the next few

months, the project team hope to speak to families across London and other UK cities who have been affected.

They plan to find out how their health has been impacted using a series of questionnaires and photos and visual images to help people talk about their experiences.

Professor Vernon, a health systems equity advocate, Windrush campaigner, and a former independent adviser on equality and diversity for Lambeth council, said: “How can we, as Windrush generation members and descendants, hope to rebuild our mental health, and imagine our lives in a place where there is no real recognition of how the hostile environment and the Windrush scandal damages our mental and emotional health?

“Projects like this are desperately needed, if we are to ever break the cycle of poor mental health faced by many in our society.”

Results of the research will be exhibited online and a round table discussion will be organised to engage survivors, academics and policy makers to raise awareness and encourage support and change.

Anthony Bryan, a Windrush scandal victim whose ordeal was captured in a BBC TV drama, has helped the project team.

He said: “The Windrush scandal broke my world in two. I spent months wrongfully detained in detention centres, leading to the loss of my livelihood and my home.

“The things I have experienced during that time are not in the past – they are very much my present reality – trauma like that doesn’t just go away.

“I am excited by this project which tries to shed light on what we are living through, as we try to rebuild our lives.”

A For more information, visit: ucl.ac.uk/global-health/ties-bind

Solomon Mhlana (inset), first secretary (political) at the South African High Commission in London was one of the guests at a celebration of the life of Brixton resident Gordon Hutchins, whose death at the age of 87 we reported in our last issue.

Gordon was one of the “London Recruits” – white radicals who volunteered to help the African National Congress in its fight against apartheid by travelling to South Africa as tourists and then distributing leaflets by means of harmless “bucket bombs”.

“From the bottom of our hearts we are grateful,” Solomon Mhlana told the gathering in the Jennie Lee garden at King’s College Hospital, where Gordon gardened in his later years.

He was also an active member of the Lambeth Pensioners Action Group which was represented by its chair Ellen Lebethe.

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

Ruskin Park paddling pool will open in time for summer. Thanks to generous donors and the work of volunteers, renovation work is near completion The pool first closed in 2015, when lack of council funds meant it was impossible to maintain.

But local demand was so great that campaigners raised the money to reopen the much loved play attraction for children.

They stepped in to run the pool and ensure it could operate safely.

In 2020, a broken water pump forced the pool to close again, and lockdowns halted any chance of a quick reopening.

The pool did open again in July 2021, but ageing equipment meant that it had to close once more in September.

Thanks to the efforts of the community, alongside local charities like the Herne Hill Forum and the Herne Hill Society, as well as generous contributions from local businesses, experienced contractors are near to completing the work on the paddling pool, securing its future for years to come.

Improvements that are being made will ensure the pool remains clean and safe, and will include: More water jets. The number of water outlets to the pool has increased from two to 10, improving water circulation, making it easier to clean, and quite possibly more fun too, say the volunteers.

A new plant room and equipment. New pumps, filtration, and automatic chlorine dosing equipment is now housed in a new above-ground enclosure – meaning cleaner water

SEPARATE DOORS FOR ‘AFFORDABLE’ FLATS

and no more green slime. Pumps were previously housed in “the pit” that was difficult for volunteers to access, and prone to flooding.

Repairs to the pool surface. Contractors are repairing damaged expansion joints, completely sanding down the pool surface, and applying new anti-slip paint.

Dedicated mains water. Rather than sharing a supply with the park’s café and toilets, the pool now has its own Thames Water connection, making the pool quicker to fill and helping it to work more efficiently.

Suzanne Vincent, founder of local estate agent Urban Village, said her own children always loved playing there.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that the pool is opening once again. It’s been a beloved feature of Ruskin Park for so long, nobody could bear to see it close,” she said.

“Its long history also meant a number of age-related problems were inevitable.

“I’m so proud of the work of my fellow volunteers at Lambeth Landscapes and Friends of Ruskin Park in ensuring the paddling pool can re-open sustainably.

“Thanks also to Lambeth council for their part in funding the works. I’m delighted that we can maintain the pool for this and future generations.”

The re-opening is scheduled for the Queen’s jubilee bank holiday, with a party to celebrate.

While the funding target for the works has been met, the volunteers say that additional contributions are still vital for ongoing maintenance and improvement – gofundme.com/f/paddlingpool

AMENITY SPACE

PEDESTRIAN ENTRANCE

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PRIVATE SALE/ SHARED OWNERSHIP REFUSE STORE

AFFORDABLE APARTMENT

AFFORDABLE RESIDENTIAL ENTRANCE

HAYTER ROAD

Plans in a brochure for the new “Brixton Centric” development on the site of the now demolished Lambeth council offices, Olive Morris House, show separate doors for “affordable” residential and private sale accommodation.

The developers, Muse, say that all private sale and shared ownership buyers in the Brixton Hill development will have a private balcony or terrace “so you can experience the energy of Brixton from your own unique vantage point”.

One and two bedroom flats for private sale in the development start at £465,000. Two bedroom leasehold flats are advertised at £627,500.

AFFORDABLE REFUSE STORE

Brixton based photographer Michael Wharley (right) has won gold in the documentary section of this year’s Association of Photographers awards for his series of portraits of Brixton Chamber Orchestra musicians.

“A local of 17 years myself, I photographed Brixton Chamber Orchestra’s diverse, characterful group of young, classically trained musicians – many local – in a series of portraits that aimed to showcase both them and a vibrant, modern Brixton, while sensitively tracing connections to local history,” he said.

“I wanted to create elegant portraits of music being made in non-traditional local spaces that also showed those places in a rich, full detail revealing them in a new light and, through a sensitive choice of setting, to explore BCO’s place at the heart of positive change in the area.”

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SUDBOURNE ROAD

Brixton resident Chloe Evemy ran the Brighton marathon this year on behalf of the Chailey Heritage Foundation in Sussex where her disabled cousin Dan received specialist care for his complex disabilities for five years.

Dan passed away in 2013, but Chloe, a media relations specialist at UBS, felt the need to do something to thank the charity, which relies on fundraising income.

She completed her first marathon in four hours 46 minutes, raising more than £2,000.

“Despite the pain that complex disabilities such as Dan’s can cause, every time I saw him, and in every picture, he is smiling, which is very special,” Chloe said.

“What Chailey did for Dan, and still does for children with complex disabilities, is just amazing.”

A You can still sponsor Chloe and help Chailey Heritage: justgiving.com/ fundraising/chloeevemy

Ruskin Park pool to open for summer

PRIVATE SALE RESIDENTIAL ENTRANCE

Marathon run thanks children’s charity

NEWS 5

PRIVATE SALE AND SHARED OWNERSHIP RESIDENTIAL ENTRANCE

BRIXTON HILL

10 YEARS AGO

5 YEARS AGO

May 2012

May 2017

The opening of TK Maxx in May 2012 was a key milestone in Brixton’s recent town centre development. The former Bon Marché department store now had a popular and viable retail tenant – and local people queued around the block to grab its discounted designer clothes bargains.

May 2017 saw cygnets hatch in Brockwell Park for the first time in decades. The seven were captured by local – and appropriately named – photographer Samuel Hauenstein Swan. However, the swans drove geese from the island where they nested and foxes devoured at least four goslings and one adult goose.

brixtonblog.com

6 BUSINESS & COMMUNITY

2022 MAY

Why not join in the Big Plastic Count?

South Londoner Matt George is appealing for volunteers to take part in the Big Plastic Count between 16 and 22 May. Members of the Greenpeace South West London group and the campaigning organisation Everyday Plastic are taking part in what will be the UK’s biggest ever investigation of household plastic waste, and what really happens to our recycling.

“We need to take much faster action to clean up the plastic pollution, which spoils our local parks, and harms our climate, nature and health,” says Matt, a member of the Greenpeace group.

“This year, the government is starting to decide on legal targets to reduce plastic waste and we want them to set a target to reduce single-use plastic by 50% by 2025 and ban dumping our waste onto other countries.

“Greenpeace volunteers have been taking action on plastic pollution for

Litter picking along the Ravensbourne River years. We have taken part in litter picks in Kennington Park and along Ravensbourne River and campaigned against pointless plastic outside of Sainsbury’s branches in Clapham and Balham.

“As part of the campaign against pointless plastic, one of the local Greenpeace volunteers even collected together the plastic packaging that came with his food shop over the course of two months in

order to demonstrate the packaging’s needless nature.

“I regularly go out picking up the litter that accumulates in the local streets and parks. A large percentage of the litter that I pick up is plastic – plastic food containers, plastic drinks bottles and plastic bags.”

Plastic waste is much bigger than a few individuals, Matt says.

The UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other country in the world, only the USA is worse.

Plastic production is actually increasing – it’s set to double by 2040.

“By taking part in The Big Plastic Count, we can all help to gather the proof we need to push the government to get it right and set a target to reduce single-use plastic by 50% by 2025,” says Matt.

A Schools, community groups, businesses and local residents can sign up at thebigplasticcount.com/join-in

Participants of an earlier Tree Shepherd Employ Yourself course

An opportunity to learn how to employ yourself Tulse Hill based charity Tree Shepherd has launched the Employ Yourself Course – a free six-week programme open to all to explore the idea of being an entrepreneur.

“Being an entrepreneur has never been so accessible” says Sandra Ferguson, CEO of Tree Shepherd.

“The rise of social media

gives business owners access to a marketplace at the click of a button.

“Despite this, there are huge challenges to starting your own enterprise, especially amongst minority g roups. At Tree Shepherd we are dedicated to changing this.”

Employ Yourself attendees will have mentoring and

Free workshops for creative hopefuls Brixton’s Renaissance Studios is running free workshops for young people to give them access to the creative industries – supported this year by Channel 4 and the British Film Institute.

They run from Monday 16 to Friday 20 May. Aisha Gordon-Hiles starts the week with Mind, Body and Goals – how to craft new habits and set goals for your ambitions by building up your confidence into a healthy mindset.

Other workshops are In The Spotlight: How to Create Original Content;

What’s the Story, on pitching your ideas; Say It Loud! Representation in the Arts; and Get Your Sh*t Together! on things like CVs, invoices and headshots, plus speed mentoring with the Renaissance team.

Renaissance Studios is one of ten production studios selected in Channel 4’s Indie Accelerator programme and will work with the channel to develop their ideas, and to tell stories that reflect the vibrant local community.

A Limited spaces available for the free sessions.

Register at bit.ly/3M3EHZN

networking opportunities.

T ree She pherd is hosti n g m a rke t s a n d p o p - u p shops across South London to help participants test their businesses.

The programme is open to anyone over 18 who is unemployed or economically inactive.

I t s t a r t s o n F r i d ay 1 3

Brixton-based designer Alex Peet began his own business last year and has just launched a new product: a Make Your Own Pocket Knife kit, which, he says, is the first of its kind.

Using the Kickstarter group funding website, he won pledges of more than £41,000 – well over his target of £35,000.

The idea of the kit, he says, is to educate people on the workings of these tools and to offer a unique gift. One version of the knife (above) is perfectly clear.

Alex previously studied mechanical engineering and has designed vacuum cleaners for Dyson.

A Instagram: @ madebyparallel

May and runs until 1 June.

Attendance is required from 10am to 4pm on Wednesdays a n d F r i d ays at T h r ive Workspace in Surrey Quays.

A To sign up, visit surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ tsempys A For more information, call 020 3948 3020 or visit treeshepherd.org.uk

New Magnolia club Magnolia Clubs are weekly groups for people with dementia and their carers.

They are arts/craft based drop-ins, using art, music, reminiscence, and social interaction to help people feel happier and more connected. There is no need to book or register and refreshments are provided.

An Age UK Lambeth Magnolia Club will begin on 17 May and run on Tuesday afternoons from 3 to 5pm at Myatt’s Field North Centre, 24 Crawshay Road, SW9 6FZ. Age UK Lambeth’s regular Wednesday 2 to 4pm Magnolia Club at Gipsy Hill is running as usual.

Brixton Umbrella Circle is an independent, peer-led, self-help group for older (50+) LGBTQ people.

Members meet in person for outings in and around Brixton, and for a weekly chat via Zoom every week. The next pub visit is on Wednesday 13 May. A For more details and to receive invitations and links, email brixtonumbrellacircle@gmail.com A facebook.com/brixtonumbrellacircle

£5 yoga for charity Hotpod Yoga’s Brixton studio is hosting an open day in partnership with mental health charity Beder to support Mental Health Awareness Week.

Hotpod says yoga can help with mental health and wants as many people as possible to try it.

There will be classes for a £5 donation to Beder all day at the studio (40 St Matthews Road, SW2 1NL) on Saturday 14 May. The classes are an hour-long vinyasa flow session suitable for all levels.

Hotpod Yoga classes take

place in a dimly lit cocoon heated to 37ºC to aid flexibility, focus and clarity, with relaxing music and aromatherapy.

There will also be “feel good-y bags” with treats from Urban, Teapigs and more.

Beder raises awareness around mental health and suicide prevention through events and initiatives. All donations will help them with this cause.

A To book, buy an open day pass for £5 from the studio and use it to book an open day class at hotpodyoga.com. New customers only.

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

CREATIVE BRIXTON 7

MUSIC

When reggae meets the blues Local blues musician Errol Linton just kicked off a busy summer with a storming set at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. We decided to run our music editor Dave Randall’s Brixton Blog lockdown chat with him following the release of his album No Entry There are some advantages to conducting interviews remotely on Zoom. Yes – the occasional freezes and lost words are a frustration, but you do at least meet the artist on their home turf – in this case blues singer and harmonica player Errol Linton at his home in Brixton Hill.

He has a gentle, calm and slightly world-weary demeanour as he leans into the camera and draws upon a cigarette. On the wall behind him are some of his own artworks and he begins by telling me that painting commissions provided a bit of a financial lifeline in the absence of gigs during lockdown.

With Jools Holland at the Boisdale Music Awards winning of Best Blues Singer

Linton clearly has a passion for painting and proudly shows me a portrait he’s been perfecting of Toni Morrison. He’s also rightly proud of his sixth studio album No Entry.

“This is different to my last album and a lot better than all my other albums, production-wise. It’s produced by Liam Watson, who’s won a Grammy for his work with The White Stripes, and Tim Bulleyment.

“We’ve always wanted to record at [Liam Watson’s] Toe Rag Studios, with it’s nice, old gear.”

The album features Kenrick Rowe on drums, Petar Zivkovic on piano, Adam Blake on guitar

Playing in the Effra Hall Tavern and Lance Rose on bass, with a guest appearance by Tony Uter on percussion.

It certainly has the classic sound of great musicians captured on tape in a vintage analogue studio.

Linton mentions Mississippi-born harmonica player Snooky Pryor as a key influence and there are echoes of other Chicago blues legends – until the track Speak Easy, when Linton’s other great musical love comes to the fore.

Born to Jamaican parents and raised in Brixton, Linton has been immersed in reggae for as long as he can remember.

“The reggae thing was always there …” he says before leaning past the camera to grab a harmonica so he can demonstrate the reggae

‘These tracks are my life story’ Former member of the Brixton PDC gang and reformed prisoner, music artist Noble1BOF says he has used music to turn his life around and now plans to keep young people from making the same mistakes he did.

He started writing bars behind bars.

During his final stint inside, Noble says he dedicated himself to writing and found himself working with the Irene Taylor Trust, which gave him his first opportunity to perform whilst in prison.

Noble has become an ambassador for the trust, working with young people at risk of offending to help prevent them from following in his footsteps.

He is also a key artist at Red Tangent Records, a label launched with funding from the by The National Lottery Community Fund and led by a team of former prisoners, giving other former prisoners an opportunity to reform their lives and offering a way out of the cycle of re-offending.

Noble is in the unusual position of being a former prisoner artist, on an ex-prisoner label with ex-prisoner management.

He released his new mix-tape with the lead track No Games at the end of April. His style has been described as “grime-adjacent hip-hop with elements of drill”.

“These bars are my life,” he says.

“It’s my story, and, yes, sometimes there’s swagger and sometimes it’s cold.

“I hate driving past these corners, every day, where one of the man ’dem got shot. I’ve got close friends doing life sentences, 15 years of my life has been spent inside a prison, most of that in a cell. These tracks are literally my life story.”

Noble is now ready to headline his own event, championing local Hip Hop, at Brixton Jamm on 29 June.

A Soundcloud: tinyurl.com/ NOGAMES-ORIGINAL

skank that has always been a part of his playing.

“The first time I got some courage to go into one of the record shops in Brixton was in Granville Arcade – big man smoking his weed … That’s how they used to run it in them days!

“I bought Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires, and then Lone Ranger M16, Ranking Toyan – they were the big DJs at the time …

“Reggae was all around us in Brixton – at school, at parties … It’s always been natural to combine the blues and the reggae.”

A friend gave Linton a harmonica when he was in his late teens and he started to visit records shops a little further afield, including Dobell’s in Charing Cross Road, where he

discovered a tape of American blues harmonica players from the 1920s and 30s.

His love for the blues soon took hold, and his mastery of the genre has been recognised by BBC 6 Music and Radio 2’s Cerys Matthews, who debuted Speak Easy on her show, and by US blues guitar legend Joe Bonamassa, who invited Linton to guest on his new album recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

Linton remains modest about the accolades, commenting about Bonamassa: “He was pretty cool …

It was good – I’d never been to Abbey Road before. He’s a good player.”

I ask Linton what’s next, “I just wanna put out a good positive vibe with my music, that’s all. Know what I mean?”

Free family festival in Brockwell Park Organisers of the Brockwell Live series of one-day music festivals – Mighty Hoopla, Wide Awake, Cross The Tracks, City Splash and Jubilation – are hosting a free family festival “Brockwell Bounce” over three days during the coming half term (30 May to 3 June).

Activities, acts, workshops and food/drink vendors, with something for everyone to enjoy are promised.

The Brixton Chamber Orchestra will be live on stage on Wednesday 1 June.

The BCO will also appear at the Mighty Hoopla after party at Hootananny on Friday 3 June.

At Brockwell Bounce, main stage headliners

include Yolanda’s Band Jam (CBeebies) and Cosmic Kids Yoga Live with Jaimie, all set to a backdrop of music provided by Brixton Radio.

Big Fish Little Fish will present their kids’ rave. There will be podcasting workshops from industry professionals and dance classes with The Cocoa Butter Club.

Keep an eye out for The Bureau of Silly Ideas / Brixton Project pineapple car.

From 5 to 9.30pm Brockwell Bounce Lates will be an adult, but totally family friendly, programme.

Sip a drink, watch a movie in the big top cinema, or dance to a DJ at the bandstand.

A brockwell-bounce.com for more

brixtonblog.com

8

2022 MAY

ARTS SUMMER ART SHOW

There’s still time to enter the Brixton Blog & Bugle Summer Art Show to be held in July in Brixton library on Windrush Square.

The ever-popular show brings together the work of local artists and the local community, and the winner will receive a unique award – a £250 voucher from Brockwell Art Services and a solo show in the Lounge bar on Atlantic Road.

To enter you simply need to send digital photos of up to two works to arts@brixtonblog.com Closing date for entries is 20 May. A For further information, including the rules, visit bit.ly/BBB-ART2022 or scan the code.

Image from Speaking Rybawdy

BLOCK 336: SPEAKING RYBAWDY AND HIEROGLYPHICS OF THE FACE

Medieval subversion and modern faces We reported in the last Bugle, that Spekyng Rybawdy, Melanie Jackson’s new exhibition in Block 336, brings to life in a series of large scale animations the bawdy badges which were commonly worn in medieval times.

The show is both shocking and hilarious as it depicts acts of violence on and by wandering penises, and grotesque creatures doing unspeakable things.

It also has serious point to make. As subversive and satirical comments on the issues of the day, the badges and their contemporary reincarnations invite the audience to reflect similarly upon the state of the world today.

Hieroglyphics of the Face, a new exhibition by Clifton Wright, occupies the other half of the gallery.

These are not traditional portraits; but are more akin to maps and frameworks within which features are

A Clifton Wright face shaped and arranged.

Their bold colours, lines and abstractions have their roots in modernism and, in particular, the work of Picasso.

A Spekyig Ribawdy and Hieroglyphics of the Face run until 28 May in Block 336, 336 Brixton Road SW9 7AA. Entry is free and the gallery is open from Thursday to Saturday 11am to 5pm.

For further information visit block336.com

IMAGE: CHRISTOPHER ICHA

Deborah Stokes introduces the OpenheArt Collective – who have an exhibition in Pop Brixton – and discusses art in the community post lockdown

Diverse but together OpenheArt Collective is a Lambethbased community arts group which formed during lockdown and has kept evolving ever since.

Originally consisting of six women who met at local award-winning social enterprise Arts4Space, the collective, who work with mixed media, decided to make creativity and geographical proximity rather than gender the uniting features of the group (partly because members had differing views on this subject!)

All members were united, however, in their belief that social inclusion, accessibility, active participation and interchange were vital to the health of any community, creative or otherwise.

The coronavirus pandemic has made many people re-examine the role of art and artists in society.

During lockdown artists were deemed “non-essential” workers with government campaigns seeking to persuade artists and performers who had spent many years training to abandon their dreams and work in fields deemed more “useful”.

Museums and galleries – traditionally the places where interchange between artists and the public occurred – were forced to close and art moved into outdoor spaces or transmigrated into the digital zone.

There were benefits as well as disadvantages to both – outdoor exhibitions, such as giant photographs in residential streets or on the sides of buildings, meant a greater, more mixed audience and engagement with local communities

who often also participated in these projects in collaboration with the artists involved.

The explosion of online art meant that museums and galleries, the traditional custodians of the fine arts, could be bypassed. But it also meant that older generations of people who were not digitally literate, or those with certain disabilities, were excluded from these platforms.

As the hospitality sector opened up before galleries and museums did, many artists exhibited their work in local cafes and restaurants, which necessarily involved local engagement, again bypassing larger institutions.

Many people who had lost jobs, were furloughed, had disabilities but lost support structures, or were simply no longer able to leave their areas, found themselves with time on their hands. As Grayson Perry’s TV art show, Grayson’s Art Club, demonstrated, they used this to fulfil what seems to have been a collective need for creative expression, producing an outpouring of incredible art as a result.

The coronavirus pandemic has made many people re-examine the role of art and artists in society

Performers who were no longer able to rehearse or meet in groups channelled their creativity into other creative mediums they had previously regarded merely as hobbies and people who had rarely spoken to their neighbours found themselves forming new ties with random individuals so as not to be condemned to social isolation or a purely Zoom-based existence!

The OpenheArt Collective is an example of a very diverse group, with artists of different ages, nationalities, ethnicities and backgrounds who recognised a need, exacerbated by the lockdown, to work together collectively rather than in isolation.

They hope to expand in the future and would like to lead creative workshops in addition to continuing to exhibit locally.

Previous exhibitions have been at The Coffee Lovers Moroccan/ French café in Wandsworth Road and at International House in central Brixton.

If you are a cafe or restaurant owner or local Brixton business/ organisation with available wall space and an interest in promoting local artists and increasing footfall to your own venue, please contact the artists (Elżbieta Skowron, Janet Rich, Tiah, Sylvie Kone Awa Kone Le Gal and myself ) at openheartcollective@outlook.com.

A The next OpenheArt exhibition will run for several weeks at Pop Brixton in May and will feature embroidery, textiles and mosaic.

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

CREATIVE BRIXTON 9

ARTS CURIOUS KUDU GALLERY: AMBIENT ANXIET Y

Troubled journeys and seductive places Art uses a universal language to enable and encourage people to share experiences and feelings. So say Elina Yumasheva and Djuro Selec whose joint exhibition, Ambient Anxiety, is currently in Peckham’s Curious Kudu gallery, writes Leslie Manasseh.

Their work explores two key issues facing humanity: climate change and the transformational impact of technology. Both pose major threats to our world and way of life and yet both seem to have an inexorable momentum in the face of which we appear helpless – under control rather than in control.

They aim to create a space for people to connect and share this collective feeling of being overwhelmed.

Although their work is very different in terms of subject and visual language, it is rooted in this joint ambition.

Elina’s work occupies a space between abstraction and landscape – a place of troubled journeys in dark, oppressive environments. Largely monochromatic, it draws you in with a hypnotic quality, but leaves you lost in a strange and uncomfortable world of uncertainty and fear.

She says: “Art uses a universal visual language which can drive attention to universal problems and challenges, in my case environmental concerns”.

Elina has a background in environmental science and sustainability and sees her art as a continuation of this work: “my painting is a porthole to an emotional experience” which talks

about the dangers of climate change in a different way.

By contrast, Djuro’s work at first seems a bright and bold venture into a digital world of computer graphics. But the soft colours hide a harder reality.

Under their surface is a different world – a manipulative and seductive place of traps and fault lines, disruptive, dangerous and overwhelming.

She is interested in the very contemporary tension between the real and virtual worlds, and how our dependence on ever more powerful technology creates confusion between the two.

“My art makes me feel most alive and connected to the world. I’m exploring the gap between the online and offline worlds, the difference between our screens and our environments and the problems of sensory overload …

The concept of Ambient Anxiety was first articulated by Paul Virilio in his 2005 book The Original Accident which described how humanity faces multiple threats as we race towards our own destruction.

The show invites you think about a series of crises facing the world, and very contrasting styles make for an interesting visual experience. This is high quality work from two young women artists who have much to say.

Go and see it if you can.

A Ambient Anxiety is free and runs until 29 May in Curious Kudu, 117 Queen’s Road, SE15 2EZ.

Elina Yumasheva (left) and Djuro Selec

PHOTOFUSION: TEN SECONDS

Weird, witty and wonderful Leslie Manasseh on an exhibition created from things left lying around a Brixton gallery

This month Photofusion in Brixton presents Ten Seconds, a solo exhibition by British photographer Sian Bonnell.

Rather than search for or set up scenes and images to capture, in this show, Bonnell works with available objects and spaces in order to challenge our ideas around the nature of art and its subject matter.

During a residency at Photofusion, she made impromptu sculptures out of the assorted objects and equipment left lying around in the gallery.

Then she added another dimension by setting a 10-second timer to record a performance. The resulting frozen moments are weird, witty and wonderful.

Bonnell said: “I became intrigued with this idea of time, speed, and balance – quite literally catching moments. What interested me most, were the instants and movements a little bit off or a little bit out,

implying impending disaster or complete failure, fractions of seconds before occurring.”

Sian Bonnell is a UK based artist, living and working in West Yorkshire. She was awarded an honorary fellowship at the Royal Photographic Society in 2010 and the following year was awarded the Photoworks Senior Research Fellowship at the British School at Rome.

Her work has been exhibited and published widely and is held in many public and corporate collections notably, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

A Ten Seconds runs until 10 June in Photofusion, 2nd Floor, International House SW9 8QQ – accessed via Brixton Rec.

BRIXTON LIBRARY: PERIPHERAL VISIONS, MARGINAL FIGURES

A touch of magic and mystery

Elina Yumasheva: How do I feel about bringing children into this world? 2022

Djuro Selec: Close All Windows (Doomscroll) 2022

Peripheral Visions, Marginal Figures is Martin Grover’s new show in the Brixton Library, Windrush Square, from 10 to 28 May. Martin is an endlessly inventive and witty observer of life in and around Brixton.

His work captures well known places and spaces but adds to them. Sometimes simply joyful, sometimes with an echo of Edward Hopper’s empty landscapes, his prints and canvases express his love of and fascination with the area.

He uses bright colours or dark tones with equal facility and often adds a touch of mystery and magic.

The show is free and will be real treat. For opening times call 020 7926 1056 or visit the Brixton Library’s website.

Martin Grover: I Always Thought I’d See You Again

brixtonblog.com

10 NEWS FOCUS

2022 MAY

Housing and pollution dominated election issues Anna Mackie looks at the issues before voters in the recent local elections. This issue of the Brixton Bugle went to press before the vote on Thursday 5 May – check brixtonblog.com for results in Brixton and the rest of Lambeth

BRIXTON NORTH

It’s been four years since the last election and a lot has happened.

Locally, this year Lambeth’s 21 wards become 25, although the total number of councillors remains at 63. The leader of the council has changed twice since the last elections, after Labour’s Lib Peck stepped down in 2019, her replacement Jack Hopkins then did the same in 2021. Current leader, Labour’s Claire Holland, was hoping residents of the Oval ward would see her re-elected.

While seemingly less dramatic than general elections – and often featuring lower turnouts – the results of these elections could have a big impact on local people and local issues, and all candidates were hoping to persuade residents that they have their best interests at heart.

As ever, housing, inequality and pollution – Brixton is home to one of the UK’s most polluted roads – were the big issues on the table this year.

The council is also responsible for a range of other issues in the borough, which include libraries, care of the elderly and support for people with disabilities, local schools, parks, council tax, planning, street cleaning, looking after vulnerable children, funding care homes, adoptions and fostering, and rubbish collection.

The 2018 elections saw the Labour party slightly reduce its majority, dropping two seats to 57. The Green Party increased its total from one to five, and the Conservatives lost two seats, taking their total down to one. The Liberal Democrats again failed to win any in 2018.

Here are the main parties and their policies they set out for this election:

BRIXTON ACRE LANE

Labour

Claire Holland, Labour councillor and leader of Lambeth Labour group, said voters should recognise that the Labour party has a proven ability to support people in the borough, “despite a decade of Conservative cuts and the devastating impacts of a global pandemic”.

Their manifesto featured a plan to tackle child poverty; creating 2,500 apprenticeships and more support for older people; cracking down on anti-social behaviour; tackling the climate crisis by creating more cycle hangars and planting more trees; and building more council homes.

Cllr Holland said Labour had “built the first new council homes in a generation, helped thousands of people affected by Covid-19 with food and financial support, and been the first borough in London to declare a climate emergency.

“Labour will always stand up for Lambeth, keep fighting Conservative attempts to cut your services and for a fairer deal for Lambeth. We’ll help people feeling the pressure from rising energy bills and the Conservative’s cost of living crisis – and make sure support is always there for those who need it most. We’ll take radical action on the climate crisis – not just to safeguard our future but because fuel poverty is affecting so many families right now and we know there can be no climate justice without social justice. And everything we do will be about tackling inequality – removing the obstacles that hold people back in this borough and never failing to challenge injustice.”

Green

Lambeth’s official opposition party said its focus is for “greener, fairer communities”, which means “making Lambeth a safer, fairer, cleaner, greener and healthier borough in which to live, work and thrive.”

Green Party councillor and MEP Scott Ainslie said they want to see an end to the one party state in Lambeth council and for residents to feel their voices will

BRIXTON RUSH COMMON

Brixton’s new wards – Brixton Acre Lane, Brixton North, and Brixton Rush Common will elect three councillors; Brixton Windrush will elect two – 11 out of a total of 63 for the whole of Lambeth

BRIXTON WINDRUSH

actually be heard.

The party’s manifesto goals included getting the borough to net zero by 2030 and a “people’s housing plan” that explores alternatives to demolition, including maintaining and retrofitting homes, and more genuinely affordable homes. The Greens said they would also tackle the council’s own contributions to air pollution, including by ending waste incineration and unnecessary development. They also want to see the introduction of a four-day week in the council and to make sure that within the elected body there is greater accountability, openness and transparency and much better value for money.

“Our plans are designed to keep people in their homes; reduce their bills and help with the cost of living crisis. The greenest home is the one already built,” Cllr Ainslie said. They are also “demanding justice for every survivor of Shirley Oaks [a council-run children’s home where decades of historic abuse was covered up].”

“Whatever happens we will continue to hold Labour’s feet to the fire in how they run things,” Cllr Ainslie said.

Conservative Party

The Conservative Party said it wants to improve democracy in the borough, improve council efficiency and make Lambeth safer.

The Tories were the only party to say they planned to remove the low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) road and bridge closures, which they said cause traffic and do not decrease pollution as they are supposed to.

Their manifesto said the party would improve life chances for Lambeth children from lower income families in line with Wandsworth council standards, support the regeneration of Lambeth’s high streets with sustainable and ­responsible development, prioritise facilities closed by the council, including youth clubs, sports clubs and other organisations, “with a view to improving the life chances of younger people, especially in areas of high deprivation”.

They also set out plans to make Lambeth “greener and cleaner”, and end the “over-exploitation of parks and green spaces”.

The party said it would introduce a repairs charter for tenants and leaseholders who have Lambeth council as their landlord. “We support the objectives of Lambeth homeowners. We will establish a new centralised contracts team so leaseholders can finally understand what they’re being charged for. Labour councils don’t understand what the issue is,” Councillor Tim Briggs said recently.

Liberal Democrats

The Lib Dems said a vote for them would be “a vote for councillors who care and a council that listens.”

The party said it aimed “to make sure that our young people are supported with their education and wellbeing, addressing the real impacts of the pandemic.

We’ll work with community policing teams to make sure that everyone is safe, at home and on our streets. We will speed up action on air quality and the roll out of electric vehicle charging points,” said Sarah Lewis, chair of the Lambeth Liberal Democrats. “And we’ll fight to reset the council’s priorities when it comes to housing and development – saying no to estate demolition and to big buildings only designed for big profits at the expense of local residents, instead focusing on building more council homes that local people can truly afford.

“Lambeth is an amazing place to live. But it’s currently the third most complained about borough in London. It’s time for that to change,” she said.

“We’ve heard from people up and down our borough that Labour Lambeth isn’t working for them. They want a council that cares for the spaces we share. Services they’re proud to pay for. Real action on the environment, not just hot air. No ­corruption, no cronies, no secrets and no spin.”

A The TUSC and the Women’s Equality Party also had candidates in the election.

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

BRIXTON BUGLE

COMMENT

It’s up to us all

Latest figures from the Norwood and Brixton food bank might once have been described as shocking.

But there is now a grim inevitability about such statistics.

Many people, in Brixton and everywhere in the UK, are facing a precarious life which depends on hanging on to insecure employment, staying well and avoiding accidents, and juggling bills, childcare and transport costs.

They are just one mishap away from a trip to the food bank.

Brixton’s community, like many others, is doing its best to support people in need.

As Elizabeth Maytom, Norwood and Brixton Food bank project lead, says: “The support we see across the community for people on the lowest incomes is incredible.

“But it shouldn’t be needed. We should all be free from hunger. No one should be pushed deeper into poverty without enough money for the things we all need.

“It’s not right that anyone in Lambeth needs our food bank in the first place – everyone should be able to afford the essentials.”

Elsewhere in this issue we profile Solomon Smith, one of the founders of the Brixton Soup Kitchen, whose volunteers provide food and much more to community members in need.

We could list many more local people who freely give their own time and ability to help others.

All of them need support in what, we hope, is the aftermath of Covid and the crisis now afflicting our health service, education system and housing.

Anyone with a spare hour or pound can help.

But we should not lose sight of the fact that we live in a society where there is immense wealth alongside great poverty.

This is not the natural order of things. We should all be free from hunger.

And as we report on this page, the issues facing a stretched and fracturing society are not limited to physical needs like hunger.

As a new group of politicians takes over at Lambeth council, the need to change society for the better should be on everybody’s mind. We can’t just leave it to the politicians.

If you have a complaint about the Brixton Bugle, see bit.ly/BBB_complain for how to pursue it Regulated by IMPRESS: The independent monitor for the press 16–18 New Bridge Street EC4V 6AG 020 3325 4288 complaints@impress.press www.impress.press

OPINION 11

Let’s chip away at loneliness Meditations on Wellbeing with Sandra Sandra Brown-Springer on loneliness and Mental Health Awareness Week May is a perfect time to start something new, and I’m pleased to be starting this column, where each month I’ll write about an aspect of common everyday experiences from the perspective of wellbeing.

I’m interested in how we might maintain or increase our general wellbeing and I hope to highlight things that can be incorporated into our lives at minimal cost for maximum benefit.

May is also the month of National Mental Health Awareness, which is in its 22nd year.

This year the theme is loneliness, that thing many of us have experienced but perhaps never talked about.

To be lonely can be understood as being isolated, or feeling separate within a group (be that family, social or professional). It often involves painful feelings of not being valued or understood, and may not be about solitude – the crucial thing is how the individual sees their situation. Many people value time alone, and it’s possible to feel detached and isolated while at a social gathering, or even in the embrace of a life partner.

Having said that, loneliness can often

impact people when they are physically alone.

Research conducted by the Office of National Statistics in 2020 found working age adults who lived alone reported experiencing loneliness “often” or “always”.

Loneliness can carry a social stigma – people might assume that there’s something strange or wrong with isolated individuals.

These assumptions could lead to a cycle of intense self-consciousness and shame among lonely folk, possibly resulting in anxiety and a desire to detach themselves from society even more, as a form of protection.

Alcohol and drugs might be used to self soothe, which could create a much larger problem than the lack of social connections.

Everyone can benefit from some time to themselves – but, increasingly, studies show that social isolation can have very real negative effects on physical and mental health.

Our recent experience with social isolation through the national lockdown is an excellent example of this – I’m sure that most of us know at least one person who struggled to cope with the lockdowns from 2020 onwards – I definitely did, and I don’t live alone.

National Mental Health Awareness Week runs from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 May and is organised by the Mental Health Foundation. Its theme this year is loneliness.

Now that the lockdowns are (hopefully) behind us it would be easy to forget how hard it was to limit our social contacts. Mental Health Awareness Week is a great time to remember that some people are isolated most of the time, and maybe if we reach out – through a conversation with a neighbour, or a coffee with someone from the gym, perhaps a phone call to an older relative – it could have a hugely positive impact on someone’s day.

In a society that values individualism, it is

vital that we emphasise the negative effects of loneliness, such as anxiety and depression, and what we can do to minimise it, which is exactly what the Mental Health Foundation is doing.

You can support their fundraising efforts by visiting mentalhealth.org.uk where you can buy a green ribbon or a themed face mask to showcase your support for mental health awareness.

There is lots of advice and links to ideas and suggestions for dealing with loneliness at bit.ly/NHS-EMM-loneliness.

I visit the Brixton Recreation Centre or Brockwell Park when I feel isolated. I always seem to bump into someone who wants to chat in those places!

If we each make a small conscious effort to reduce someone’s experience of loneliness, together these efforts could make a big difference to people who have become resigned to social isolation, and we can chip away at the huge, hidden iceberg of loneliness in our midst while making connections that enrich our community.

Let’s beat loneliness, together.

Sexual violence – so obvious, so overlooked

Poppy Woods on a film tackling an issue with special significance for Lambeth

On first viewing, the inaugural instalment of Brixton’s Yellow Box Theatre Company’s Docuseries THINK appears more like a government infomercial than a community created documentary.

People Don’t Want to Believe is a crisp and colourful collection of interviews discussing sexual and gender based violence in the local area and beyond, from the perspective of Lambeth-based charities and politicians.

Sad as it may be to acknowledge, many of the basic facts about sexual and gender based violence and their prolific nature in our borough are not generally known.

So while viewers may seek more complex and personal stories, what is really needed first is a basic education and awareness of the key issues and how insidious they are in our community.

This film highlights organisations and individuals helping to spread this awareness and creating frameworks by which individuals can understand and remove themselves from situations in which they are faced with gender-based violence. These voices include pioneers in advocacy and awareness from The Gaia Centre, the Havens and Rape Crisis South London as well as local politicians.

The lack of awareness and ignorance around sexual violence stem from many different and complex origins, but is largely because, as Francesca Jarvis of South London Rape Crisis says: “People don’t want to believe that people hurt each other”.

The campaigners and advocates in this film discuss the rates of reported sexual violence Lambeth – which are significantly higher than other London boroughs – as well as the complexities of our cultural demographics and how they can function to repress awareness, create survivor stigmatisation and protect perpetrators.

The effect of this is that the real figure is much higher than the reported rates. As Jennifer Heron, a housing support worker for The Orchards, says: “Women of colour experience trauma the minute they’re made to feel different” and therefore understanding what is and isn’t OK can be much more complex when the infliction of trauma on women, and people, of colour has been normalised by society.

The reality of the situation is as Rose Parker, head of commissioning for safer communities at Lambeth council, and Councillor Jacqui Dyer, deputy leader of the council for jobs, skills and community safety, say: the biggest barrier between justice and prevention of sexual violence is a misconception that it only occurs with strangers and down dark alleys.

In reality, it is a part of everyday life which has been normalised in a way that almost always favours the perpetrators.

The key message of this film, is as simple as its style: “There is no such thing as non-consensual sex.

Non-consensual sex is rape”.

A message that we must hope will become socially understood and acknowledged in a way that means survivors can begin to get the justice they deserve and our women can live a life free of normalised trauma.

A Yellow Box is planning online screenings for the community next month.

Check Brixton Blog for dates and details.

brixtonblog.com

12

2022

TIME TO RECLAIM WINDRUSH SQUARE Brixton’s Windrush Square is so much more than just another urban open space. It is named for and celebrates a key moment in Britain’s post-war history. It is the centre of one of the most dynamic and diverse districts in the country and hosts both the unique Black Cultural Archives and protests, celebrations, memorials and spontaneous events.

But, as it approaches its 25th anniversary, concerns about its physical state, anti-social behaviour and its management have surfaced again, with a new group combining to push for change and improvement

Windrush Square bollards

A

coalition of Lambeth and Brixton-based organisations, businesses, residents and local activists have joined forces to transform Windrush Square into a worthy and welcoming public town centre space for the community.

Led by local award-winning social entrepreneur Ros Griffiths, coalition members include the Brixton Society, Black Cultural Archives, West Indian Association of Service Personnel, energy company Repowering London and the Ritzy cinema.

“Windrush Square is the heart and soul of Brixton. It’s an important public space, full of history, cultural and community references.

“We’re on a collective mission to reclaim the square and develop it into an inclusive and welcoming destination for everyone,” says Griffiths.

The coalition’s “Re-Imagining Windrush Square” project is being established as the 25th anniversary of the naming of the square draws near.

Growing concern about the square was heightened earlier this year when the council revealed that the cost of the security bollards now surrounding it had risen to

more than £2m from a planned £1.5m.

Their installation had been agreed as a matter of urgency by Lambeth councillors following the spate of attacks on Black Lives Matter rallies in the US by people driving cars and trucks into groups of protesters.

However, many local people felt that there had been insufficient consultation and that the bollards are adversely impacting wheelchair and double-buggy users and others.

Work on the bollards, which was lengthened by complications caused by their proximity to utility pipes and cables, particularly gas, as well as the use of the square for emergency Covid testing, saw pedestrians forced onto the square’s grassed areas, creating large patches of bare earth.

Long term concerns include the failure

Cherry Groce memorial

Previous plans and proposals …

The current campaign to improve the square is not the first. More than six years ago, in February 2016, the Bugle (left) reported an appeal to Brixton people to “use or lose” the square.

In November 2016 the Brixton Business Improvement District (BID) and local architect Zac Monro produced proposals – WC, Windrush Central – for re-opening the public toilets in the square which have been closed for decades and using them as an information hub. The proposals were

to open up the toilets with glass walls and skylights and to replace “dark, unused” space with a bright hub for the square.

Lambeth council has made two attempts – in July 2016 and November 2020 – to sell or rent the toilet premises, potentially for use as a catering establishment, despite demands from local residents that they be re-opened in view of the continuing plague of public urination and worse. Community groups have also proposed their use as a community hub.

to re-open or re-purpose the public toilets in the square that have been closed for decades, and the non-appearance of the fountain.

Anti-social behaviour, particularly around the memorial to local resident Cherry Groce, who was shot by police in 1985, and the use of the square by skateboarders are other issues. There was concern about the safety implications of the number of lights that were out of action earlier this year.

There is also a desire to manage the use of the square better. Two separate events in the square on the same Sunday to mark Remembrance Day in November last year highlighted this issue.

The current community body most concerned with the square is Friends of Windrush Square (FOWS) a sub-committee of the Brixton Society charity.

It was set up “to protect, preserve and promote the heritage, function, and architecture of Windrush Square” and to act as its champion.

The plan is to expand and extend its role to work with partners and stakeholders to provide “an enhanced cultural, educational, environmental, and welcoming experience for visitors, communities, and

Computer generated image of suggested information hub in Brixton BID proposal

2 MAY

brixtonblog.com

13

The Brixton Society’s history of the square This is an edited version of the Brixton Society’s history of Windrush Square

PROTEST

MEMORIAL

Primary school pupils demand action on climate change

Overflow from Black Cultural Archives event to remember Darcus Howe

CEREMONY

COMMUNITY

Remembrance Day parade in the square

Tourists in Windrush Square businesses” and to manage the square for the benefit of the public.

A senior Lambeth council officer took part in one of the monthly Zoom meetings that are discussing plans for the revived FOWS. “The square is a place of memory, ‘living history’ and powerful symbolism,” say the organisers of the project.

“It is also the centre of local democracy and protest. During the summer, the square serves as an important meeting place for local communities, businesses and organisations.

“Many events have been hosted by the square, including cultural celebrations, commercial events, rallies and demonstrations, filming and photography shoots.

“However, the space has its limitations, and organising community events can be

Windrush Square toilets for rent in 2016 …

Brixton Society event in Windrush Square

a challenge, so the full potential intended when the square was redesigned some years ago is not being fully realised.”

The “ambitious project” for the new FOWS plans to develop the physical amenities available on the square and deliver an “exciting and inclusive” programme of events to foster civic pride, promote community cohesion and create a welcoming and safe environment for people who live, work and visit Brixton.

“Successful implementation of the project’s main activities will put Windrush Square on the map as a local, regional, national and international destination,” say the organisers.

Their plan is to re-establish FOWS as an independent organisation, linked to the Brixton Society and chaired by Ros Griffiths.

It would develop and implement a strategic and business plan for the square, engaging and consulting with the community and key stakeholders and partners.

It is hoped that funding can be obtained from the Community Connections Fund launched by Lambeth council in March this year. The £4m in the fund has been raised by statutory levies on developers and will be

spent over the next three years.

FOWS has submitted an “expression of interest” to the fund, applying for £200,000 out of an overall project target budget of £1.2m. If successful, the project will be formally launched in July this year and run for two years.

It would have five areas of work: AMENITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE – including bringing the toilets back into use and establishing a café and information kiosk; introducing signage to the square. including an outdoor screen; creating a green/ environmental agenda for the square.

EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING – planned performances and a celebration of the square’s 25th anniversary next year. It was renamed in 1998 to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.

ENGAGING AND TRAINING YOUNG PEOPLE – A youth representative for the FOWS committee and a training scheme for Brixton tour guides.

COMMUNITY AND PARTNERSHIPS – Consultations and an “engagement hub”.

MARKETING AND PROMOTION – transforming the square into a tourist destination, highlighting its history and heritage, and creating a “things to do” programme.

… and in 2020

Part of the historic Rush Common, Windrush Square was formed by the amalgamation of Tate Library Gardens with the adjacent old Windrush Square.

The part of Rushcroft Road that used to separate the two areas was closed and incorporated into the new square.

The area in front of Raleigh Hall, now home to the Black Cultural Archives, was laid out as the original Windrush Square in the 1990s. Previously, although part of Rush Common, this land had a garage built on it for motor coaches. Orange Luxury Coaches operated from here from the 1930s.

Some claim this to have been the first motor coach station in London. It was built in 1927 on the plot of land between Ardville Road (now Rushcroft Road) and Saltoun Road. In 1933, there was a large banner under the arch announcing trips “daily to all seaside resorts”. The bus station faced Effra Road. Later a small fun fair operated in front of this.

To the left of the depot there was a small Esso petrol station. In 1980 the garage was adapted for other uses, including tyre and exhaust fitting for private cars, a cane furniture shop, and then small business units.

During the Brixton Challenge programme in the 1990s, the old garage was demolished and its site was laid out as public open space. This was later extended to include the adjacent petrol station site and the former car park of the Prince of Wales pub, and became the original Windrush Square.

In 2010 a refurbishment of the central area of Brixton took place. The scheme linked the former Tate Gardens in front of the library and Windrush Square as a pedestrianised open space which was designed with safety in mind and included improved lighting, better sightlines and CCTV coverage.

Design features included a new water feature, 21 new trees, new lighting and a sculptural granite seat which contribute to the creation of a new civic space.

The project was led by Transport for London in partnership with Lambeth council. It formed part of the Mayor of London’s “Great Outdoors” programme.

The stone paving along the rear edge (and around the tree) is limestone and if you look carefully, you can see fossil sea shells in some of the slabs. The red brick paving with stone bands echoes the front wall of the town hall, and also the flats in Rushcroft Road.

The new water feature is controlled by an anemometer on one of the lighting masts, to switch it off if the wind is too strong.

The West Indian heritage is echoed in the small area of cast iron paving panels adjacent to the underground toilets which have a sugar cane motif, the lights near the corner of Saltoun Road are called the Windrush Lights and there is commemorative text in the paving in memory of the Windrush settlers.

The new square was opened on Friday 26 February 2010 by the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, together with the then Minister for London Tessa Jowell MP and Lambeth council leader Steve Reed.

brixtonblog.com

14 PEOPLE

2022 MAY

I am good at looking at something and making it happen Solomon Smith grew up in the heart of Brixton and went on to be a driving force behind one of its most notable institutions – the Brixton Soup Kitchen. He spoke to Simone Richardson Solomon Smith was born in Brixton and grew up here with his parents Dennis Smith and Marcia White, twin brother David, sister Kebra and younger brother Tesfaye on the Moorlands Estate next to the Barrier Block.

He has strong memories of Moorlands. “Where I was raised on our estate there are over 300 houses.

All the bedrooms are shaped the same in the same place and all our front rooms in the same place too so it is really like copy and paste.

“For us all growing up in the same place we didn’t see things like driving mopeds as bad, we didn’t see things like playing stone fights as bad.

“So when we came to realise we were getting an “ASBO” [anti-social behaviour order, now replaced in England] – for being a nuisance, we were saying: ‘You have put in all this work to create us to get an ASBO, but we are on the estate where nothing is happening with us growing up, which was when I was eight or nine years old.

“We started going to youth clubs, and that’s when I realised the bad kids were getting the special treatment. If I wanted to go go-karting, if I wanted to go Alton Towers, if I wanted to go ice skating – I had to be the bad kid.

“So I was like: ‘I’m gonna be the bad kid then!’ And I got to go on all these amazing trips – because of being poor and the estate we lived on!

“Going to Alton Towers for us is like going to Disneyland! We didn’t have the money to do that, so that’s what I decided to do – me and my twin brother David – as we are severely dyslexic “I found it challenging as, since I was in primary school, we were

looking at people doing their work and reading, and we were wondering how they could do that, as we are not able to do it.

“My parents weren’t clued up about dyslexia. So we thought ‘are we just being lazy or disruptive?’

“We could not fathom out what was literally going on around us and what we were going to do about it.”

Going to primary school, Hill Mead on the Moorlands estate, and secondary school in Southwark, Solomon came to terms with the way he was with pride.

“I have come to realise what I am good at: looking at something and making it happen, even though I couldn’t read or write.”

Proof of that came when he ensured that he and David and 48 friends went on a teenage dream trip.

“I remember being in year 9 and my teacher calling up Thorpe Park saying: ‘Hello my name is Mr Richards. Could you please donate us tickets to go to Thorpe Park’ – and I realised it was that easy.

“And I also saw my youth worker do it too, saying: ‘We are calling from Lambeth youth club and we wanna know if you can donate some tickets’.

“I thought: ‘OK, let me go home and try that’.

“We didn’t have Google, but we had Yellow Pages. I called up Alton Towers, saying: ‘I am one of the youth workers from the estate’ “I said: ‘There are many people on this estate who would never be able to go to Alton Towers and I want to know if you can donate some tickets’ and he asked: ‘How many tickets do you want?’

“Off the top of my head I said 50 and they said ‘OK, let us know the address and we will send then

to you’. So I gave my own address.

Then I thought: ‘how are we gonna get there?!’

“So I looked up coaches. I thought it was spelt with a K. That’s when I realised it was C! “I called up the coach company and I was like: ‘We have been donated 50 tickets to Alton Towers, so need a free coach there and back. They said ‘Yes’.

So I organised it with people for me and a driver “When we arrived one of the reps asked for the organiser – saying: ‘Can I speak to an adult organiser?’ as they thought it was gonna be an adult.

“I said it was me and that my age was 13. They said: ‘How the hell did you organise all of this?’ And I said: ‘I dunno. I just did it!

“We had so much fun in Alton Towers. We had thought we would never be able to experience that!

I said I was 13.

They said: ‘How the hell did you organise all of this?’ And I said: ‘I dunno.

I just did it!’

“Then it hit me. I realised I didn’t need to read or write or have GCSEs for happiness.

“I organised community work on my estate, worked with young people, worked with gangs. You name it I have done it!”

Solomon applied for a job as a youth worker and got it. “Every time I apply for a job, I say: ‘Guys, I need to be totally honest with you, I am shit at interviews. All my quality has been in my actions’ – and that’s what got me the job! I started making them all laugh. They had never heard anyone be like that before. I got a job as a Lambeth detached youth worker.

Did that from 21 years old for three years – first paid job.”

Solomon was encouraged to go to uni. “Despite no GCSEs, I went to Goldsmiths and took a degree in social science, community development and youth work.

“I had massive help with my dyslexia. They gave me a psychologist, a laptop, someone to help me in my classes – and from that I got a 2.1 in my biggest achievement.

And that’s when I decided I wanted to do the soup kitchen.”

Mum and dad Marcia and Dennis were great cooks. They brought Solomon up with rice and peas, jerk chicken, fish and fried dumpling.

Solomon says he has always

worked with homeless people and fed them, so the Brixton Soup Kitchen was a natural progression.

Despite the name, soup is not on the menu. “Soup kitchen just means hot meals – anything hot – Solomon explains and that there is an open door policy.

“We want people to know that this is where the heartbeat is – hot meal, food pack, meals to take with them – and nobody has to pay anything.”

All the food the soup kitchen passes on has been donated and the work is done by volunteers.

It all began on 1 January 2013.

BSK became a charity in August the same year.

Solomon will mark the tenth anniversary by driving from Brixton to Lisbon in Portugal – 1,800 miles – on a “Holiday Hunger” fundraising drive with supporting cars following.

The Soup Kitchen, on Coldharbour Lane, is open from 11am to 3pm.

There is also a food bank, clothes, gardening workshops, massage therapy, and help with job search and CV skills. “You name it, we do it!” says Solomon.

He loves “the multiculture, the colours, the smell, the vibrancy of Brixton. I go anywhere in the world and I say ‘I am from Brixton’ and people know Brixton.”

For food Solomon likes to go to Honest Burger and Morleys chicken shop. For music, it’s reggae Upstairs at The Ritzy. He went to Brixton Academy to see Dave, the Brixton-born Brit Awards winner, and many others.

Solomon now lives on Clapham Road but he’s checked out the postcode which he is glad to see is still Brixton. He loves spending time with his two children, daughter Nashaya, 13, and son Nasheem, 8, who he looks after over the weekends and regularly takes them to “Brockwell Park and Lambeth County Show – always”.

Donate or get help …

Brixton Soup Kitchen 297-299 Coldharbour Lane SW9 8RP Monday – Friday 11am – 3pm Open door policy Contact number – 07538 419514 brixtonsoupkitchen.com Donate: bit.ly/BSK-donate Instagram: @brixtonsoupkitchen @sollysworld

Launched after a win on the horses – still going strong after 53 years The Abbotts family have been growing and selling plants from all over the world near Brockwell Park for more than 50 years.

Simone Richardson finds out how it all began

Daniel and Kevin Abbotts

Despite being more than 53 years old, the Croxted Road Garden Centre is not as well known as it should be. Its originators, Donald and Betty Abbotts, launched it in 1969.

Donald’s nephew Kevin Abbotts, who inherited it from his uncle earlier this year, was only nine years old when he decided that gardening was the path for him. Born in Clapham, he grew up in Morden and now lives in Dulwich.

“I have always loved open space and the plant life around me,” he says. My dad ran a sports ground with 100 acres of green space. I enjoyed all the sports there, but I also liked to engage with people.”

“My uncle Donald and aunt Betty started the garden centre after Donald had a £200 win on the horses!” [that’s about £3,000 in today’s money].

“When I was nine, I started working there at

weekends Then I left school started and never looked back,” says Kevin.

“It’s a busy place with lots of customers wanting help and advice. My own son, Daniel, started last year and is becoming an invaluable member to the business.”

“When I finished university, I decided to commit my future to making sure the family business continues in to its third generation,” says Daniel.

Lockdown was a shock, says Kevin. “But, with the help of the internet, phone communication and the invaluable support of the local community, Daniel and I delivered a lot of joy to many people in a very strange time. “Of course, we missed the usual day-to-day socialising of our business.”

The Abbotts’ nursery is just a few minutes from Brockwell Park and about half an hour’s stroll through the park or up Railton and then Croxted Road.

Croxted Road Garden Centre SE24 9DB |020 8674 4366 croxtedroadgardencentre.co.uk Open daily 9.30am to 6pm | Deliveries to Brixton and beyond

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

PEOPLE | STYLE 15

Captured on camera: the future style stars of Brixton’s streets Artist and Fashion Editor Ramses Alexandre is on the hunt to capture and showcase the best and brightest of what Brixton’s Street Style has to offer.

On any given day, there are a gaggle of up-and-comers floating around, living their best lives and looking quite supermarket chic while doing it.

From Browns on Blacks to Textured

Tone Blocking, Vintage Bares and Assymetrical Styling, this month displayed the power of pastel and an effortless subtlety of style singular to Brixton’s diverse artistic community … and forecast! Head to @brixtonblog on Instagram to let us know which looks you’re feeling the most and why! For more on Ramses, follow him @ramsquiat

MILO | @milonvsh | Hip Hop Music Artist

ELISA | @elisatrimarchi | Londoner

ELLIS | @ellisabc | Tech Recruitment

LEO | @lion_souljah | Senpai

ANTZELA | @anjo.mos | Fashion Designer

PELE | @pele_castillz | Skater

ANANYA | @yevalo_oruval | Model

FREDDIE | @freddiedadson | Actor/Model/Bartender @ Joe Allen

16 PEOPLE

brixtonblog.com

2022 MAY

Fragile, but super strong Glass – jagged and smooth, strong and fragile – is central to the creations of Roberta De Caro. She talks with Simone Richardson about her art, life and Brixton

Rap resilience Simone Cohen and Aston Jones were rapping with the Brixton Chamber Orchestra at Rush Common at the opening of the new children’s playground there by the Lambeth Mayor Annie Gallop. Simone Richardson listened and learned Being invited to a Rush Into Spring celebration on a sunny day at Brixton’s Rush Common was well worth a stroll up Brixton Hill to enjoy.

The event put a new children’s playground at Rush Park on the Brixton map and Lambeth Mayor Annie Gallop was there to make it an official opening. “I’m really proud to be here to be asked to open the new refurbished playground,” she said. “I have always looked at this space and thought ‘wouldn’t it be brilliant to create a green corridor for wild life and the environment’ and it is brilliant to see it happening.”

The Brixton Chamber Orchestra delivered an amazing mix of magnificent music from classic to rap with a lot of soul in every way.

They introduced the Brixton audience to the rhythmic rappers – Simone Cohen and Aston Jones.

Simone displays a passion for music, dancing and writing – on her therapeutic journey through lockdown and life in general.

“I am a radio broadcaster, mentor and wellbeing coach specialising in mediation and sound therapy,” she said.

“I also deliver guided meditation, vocal raps and spoken word with a spiritual vibe and I have just written a piece based on being a Windrush descendant. My lyrics often reflect current issues, healing and the resilience required to overcome life’s challenges.”

Being brought up by a mother of Jamaican descent, Brixton has always been a place of importance for Simone.

“Growing up in Crystal Palace and Penge in the 80s it has always been a place where we would go to get our cultural fix of food, music and culture, including record shopping at Blacker Dread, where I purchased my first vinyl, Leviticus’ Burial, in 1994.

“One of my favourite memories is Brockwell Park in the 90s – a Choice FM all-dayer and General Levy’s epic performance. He offered my brother around age 10 a sip of his pink lady – I think he was trying to check my mum!

“As a child, I would pretend to be Jenny Francis of Choice FM, the Brixton-born radio station [now Capital Xtra].”

Simone says the journeys of guided meditation which she leads are connected

to the journey of spoken word – “and now rapping, which I discovered during lockdown, connecting with various artists via my radio shows.”

Simone Cohen – as Afrolicious Mumma – can be found on Choice FMUK on Thursdays with The Cure And The Cause from 6 to 8pm and on Saturdays from 2 to 4pm for AMA in Heaven.

Aston Jones, who joined Simone rapping on Rush Common, produced her first solo track, Lokhu.

He has rapped his way from Croydon where he was born, but, he says, “I’ve lived in most of the boroughs of London due to being in care from a young age. Now I live in Penge. My father’s name is Tony Angus and my mother’s is Deborah Clarke. My family inheritance is not 100% clear to me just yet, due to life circumstances.”

Aston’s music was all self taught. “I took to music lessons like a fish to water,” he says.

Music is not Aston’s only gift: “I also do home baking for most occasions. I make fully decorated birthday cakes and cupcakes. You can see my cakes on Instagram by following @ajsbakery2021 [Aston’s music: @mrajones].

“When I was going through the care system, I found myself being drawn to street life, I learnt a lot in this period. I was referred to an organisation called Croydon Youth Development Trust where I was heavily involved in the music studio and the young people that used the services.

“I always come across musical talent in Brixton, whether it be, busking, dancing or an event happening at one of the many locations in the area,”Aston says. “Brixton is a great place with an even greater community. I have seen the strength of Brixton’s heart grow stronger and it is an absolute pleasure to see.”

A Aston’s socials at: linktr.ee/MrAJones A Simone’s Instagram: afroliciousmumma

Mayor Annie Gallop opens the playground

Roberta De Caro, born in Milan, settled in South London in 1997 in her early 20s after a personal crisis pushed her to change course and move to the UK where she would be able to realise her dream of speaking English like a native.

She has lived in Kennington since 2009 and has been involved in art, culture and music in Brixton for many years.

One of her current projects is From the Fragment To the Whole – one-to-one glass-making workshops for women survivors of domestic abuse.

“The sessions offer a safe space to engage creatively with fragments of glass to create new art objects as we process experiences of surviving abuse,” Roberta says. “Fused together from broken glass, these artworks speak of our strength and resilience, documenting life stories that are too often unheard, misunderstood, or ignored.

“This project was borne out of my own personal experience of surviving domestic abuse and rebuilding my life through glass making. Working with glass has helped me not only to start a business, but also to process what happened and to rebuild my self-esteem and self-confidence.

“When working in the studio I experienced first-hand the benefits of working with this magical material. I often thought that the glass somehow represented what I was going through. It was sharp, and dangerous, but it could be made smooth and tactile through this process.

“I reflect on the fact that it is fragile but also super strong; that it could break in a million pieces, but could be reformed into a new beautiful whole, like my life.”

She realised that “what was on my mind and in my heart was actually being recorded in the physical properties of the work created.

“At the time I was merely experiencing this, without realising the importance of this process.”

At school, Roberta was passionate about languages, especially English. Most of the music she listened to was in English and she felt the need to speak it communicate with the rest of the world.

She was also very interested in psychoanalysis and studied psychology at university in Turin.

Once in London, she was part of a sound system that ran underground parties in and around Brixton.

They participated in the 2002 Jayday pro-cannabis festival in Brockwell Park “putting our sound on a float through the streets of Brixton – an unforgettable experience”. in 2010 the birth of her daughter Mia saw her

move on from the sound system.

“After a difficult time with no fixed abode, I was re-housed in Kennington. This gave me the chance to settle down and start my own business.

“I was introduced to fused glass by a friend, Cornwall based glass artist Zoe Schoning, one afternoon in 2010.

“I was immediately smitten! I saw it as an opportunity to start a new career, a business that I can design around the needs of my daughter, Mia and the chance to work creatively to rebuild my life.

“I started selling my glass jewellery, homeware and decorative art pieces in Brixton market in 2012. At the time, there was a thriving arts and crafts market by the recreation centre.

“That’s where I started, often running a stall whilst looking after my toddler, in all weathers.

“I didn’t let anything get in the way of what I wanted to do. Going from strength to strength, I first moved to Herne Hill market and participated in events such as the Brixton Urban Art Fair.

“From market stalls, I started selling my work to independent shops such as Wish in Herne Hill.

“In 2014 I won a grant towards the purchase of a bigger kiln, and I set up a studio in Kennington with the help of a charity supported by St. Anselm’s Church.

“I expanded my business making glass cityscapes, often depicting the view of the city from Brockwell park, a place I still like to visit regularly.

“I love the view from there, and Mia loves the playground.”

Roberta is still a frequent visitor to Brixton.

“We often go shopping in Brixton where there is a lot of choice for clothes shops; and sometimes we eat out at Brixton Village, especially when we have visitors from Italy; it never fails to impress my guests!

“I love the multicultural atmosphere of the place. Brixton always feels festive to me for some reason; there is always music blaring out somewhere, people socialising or out shopping.

I used to put on events at the Brixton Jamm, when it was still called Bar Lorca.

“Oh … and I never missed a Lambeth Country Show. It was my favourite event of the year! I love reggae, so Brixton is home from home. I loved events such as the Brixton Splash; I wish they would do it again!”

A Free glass–making workshops – no prior training necessary – for women who have experienced domestic abuse. Women interested should contact Roberta at: fragmenttowhole@gmail.com A Website: robertadecaro.com A Instagram: @robertadecaroart

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

FOOD & DRINK 17

REVIEW: FRANZINA TRATTORIA

Nero di sepia

Arancina

Island in a sea of sameness Alan Slingsby enjoys the flavours and textures of a Brixton original

Amid a sea of differently branded but ultimately samey pizza, chicken and burgers, Franzina Trattoria on Coldharbour Lane is one of Brixton’s islands of originality.

Its menu comes from Sicily, an island with a historic cultural diversity that surpasses even Brixton’s.

Its billing as a “Sicilian kitchen” is spot on. If you sit in the right place in its long and narrow former shop premises on Coldharbour Lane, you can see the cooking happening right in front of you.

And you’re likely to start discussing the results of that cooking with your neighbours on the

shared tables.

The menu has meat and seafood, but vegetables predominate.

It is the range and complexity of flavours and textures available that separate Franzina from the pizza/ burger/chicken domination of the local food scene.

Take one of the 10 small plates on offer: arancina, a saffron-flavoured ball of risotto, filled either with mushroom mousse and button mushrooms, or with tuma cheese from Cinisi – famed pastures for Sicilian Cinisara cattle – bechamel and parsley.

Combining the crunchy, deep-fried surface with the yielding rice and hot melted cheese in the cheese version produces something very special.

You can understand why Sicily’s famous fictional detective and food-lover Salvo Montalbano passed up new year in Paris with his long-suffering girlfriend Livia in

favour of spending it with a petty crook and his mother who cooks a perfect arancina.

It’s a similar story with the nero di seppia – one of five sauces for Franzina’s handmade, fresh and perfectly al dente tagliatelle.

It’s a rich, deep black, concoction of calamari, squid ink and acutely judged amounts of chilli and parsley.

This soft sauce with its hint of chilli heat coats the pasta to produce a taste and texture to treasure.

If you want a fresher sensation, but still with a serious depth of taste, try the ammuttunata – baby aubergines cooked with garlic, and mint, tomato sauce and seasoned ricotta, all cooked to a melting sauce. The sauce alone is also available as a

small plate.

For a fascinating flavour reflecting the many cooking cultures that have merged to create Sicily’s modern cuisine, go for the pesto trapanese.

It’s made from pachino tomatoes from the South Easy coast of Sicily which are covered by European Union PGI “protected geographical indications” as well as basil, mint, pistachios, almonds, ricotta salata cheese and chilli.

Gluten-free tagliatelle are available for a £2 supplement and were pronounced “excellent” by my GF dining companion.

Wine and beer are, naturally, from Sicily. You could easily pay more in Brixton for a lesser wine

than Franzina’s house red, a Nero D’Avola, at £5.70 for a small glass or £22.50 a bottle.

Franzina’s Birra Messina comes all the way from Sicily (although, like Brixton’s own, the brewery is owned

by Heineken). The lager was fine. I plan to return to sample the special Birra Messina with salt, however.

It contains Sicilian salt crystals, which are said to give it softness, roundness and finesse of taste.

Which leads to one small concern.

As a recovering salt addict, I found (with a guilty thrill) that there was more than enough salt in one or two of the dishes. Authentically Sicilian, no doubt and a necessity there to replace what is lost to sweat in its summer heat.

But with Franzina’s excellent service, and as everything is cooked in front of you, a simple request to go easy on the salt would no doubt see you right.

395 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LQ | 07802 473444 | info@franzinatrattoria.com | franzinatrattoria.com

Read the book?

Now you can drink the beer Brixton Brewery has launched two limited edition brews – its first alcohol-free beer and an “Indian sour”.

People Pale alcohol free beer celebrates the publication of People Person the new novel

by Queenie author, Candice Carty-Williams, which is a tribute to South London and the power of human connection.

The brewery says People Pale has the flavour of a pale ale, but none of the alcohol, and is light

in colour with an orange and tropical mango flavour.

Compulsive collectors should look out for the five different versions of can design for People Pale. Each focuses on a character from the book, with illustrations from the novel’s cover.

The limited edition run is

available from the Brixton Brewery taproom and webshop at £1.80 a can.

The brewery’s Pista Badam Indian Sour (4.6%) is inspired by the Indian sweet and features roasted pistachios and almonds, cardamom and rose water.

Alongside these it has lactose

to add sweetness and a silky texture. Lightly hopped with the Sabro variety to bring coconut and citrus notes, it has nutty undertones.

Described as “a delicate springtime beer”, the brewery says it is “great with food or by itself” and refreshing at any time.

brixtonblog.com

18 FOOD & DRINK

2022 MAY

NEWS: DINE LOCAL

Grants for independent Brixton food businesses Ten independent Brixton food are each to receive a £5,000 grant as part of the Dine Local programme, run

by Brixton Business Improvement District (BID) and the International Downtown Association (IDA) Foundation supported by American Express.

The programme is designed to provide financial support to a diverse range of culturally significant, independent businesses as they recover from the pandemic, and will enable the 10 Brixton venues to make critical improvements to drive their business forward.

Recipients include Lounge Brixton, which will support local artists by expanding its live performance space; Papa’s Café, the park-based community cafe serving local residents; and family-run Vietnam cuisine-based restaurant Banh Banh Café.

American Express said the support comes at a critical time for independent restaurants.

According to research it commissioned, more than half of people surveyed (56%) think independent hospitality businesses in their local area are struggling with staff shortages, while over two thirds (67%) believe the owners of these businesses are worried about their future.

Some 85% of respondents said they plan to support independent hospitality businesses this year by visiting more frequently or buying takeaway food and drink from them.

Dine Local is part of American Express’ global Backing International Small Restaurants grant programme, established to support culturally significant, independent restaurants owned by

individuals from under-represented groups in major cities across the globe.

The initiative seeks to highlight the importance of these venues to their local communities, providing valuable financial support as they recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Brixton BID director Gianluca Rizzo said: “Brixton is all about small and independent businesses.

With the hospitality industry being hit hard, Dine Local was the perfect programme for Brixton, coming at a critical time for some of our restaurants.

“The response from our community was great as always, and I would like to congratulate the winners and encourage everyone local and new to Brixton to discover all our amazing venues and businesses.”

David Downey, executive director of the IDA Foundation – a US based non-profit organisation dedicated to improving city centres – said it was pleased to support the recovery of these restaurants which “contribute to the identity and vitality” of their local community.

“We look forward to seeing these businesses thrive once again and are inspired by their resilience which enables them to bring people of the neighbourhood together.”

Dan Edelman, general manager, UK merchant services at American Express, said the company had a long history of backing small businesses.

“We’re proud to be supporting these fantastic venues through the Dine Local grants. I’m looking forward to seeing these businesses put their enterprising ideas into action and thriving into the future.”

Papa’s Café

These are the Brixton beneficiaries: BANH BANH CAFÉ – A casual

family-run restaurant on Coldharbour Lane and in Peckham, serving Vietnamese fare in homage to their grandmother, will use the grant to install new kitchen equipment for dining in and increasing its takeaway offer

BEAST OF BRIXTON – An LGBTQIA+ friendly café and bar on Acre Lane, is planning to renovate its indoor and outdoor dining areas and introduce a wheelchair ramp BLACK AND WHITE CAFÉ – A community staple on Atlantic Road for decades, plans to use the grant funding to refresh its interior and buy equipment ahead of the summer trading period ETTA’S SEAFOOD KITCHEN – An early restaurant arrival to Brixton

market whose owner has lived in the area for over 40 years, plans to introduce a new click and collect service and electric scooter for delivery, as well as contribute to community health workshops

JALISCO – A family-run Latin American inspired restaurant in Brixton Village which employs staff from the local Latin-American community, plans to buy equipment ahead of the summer trading period KAMOME JAPANESE KITCHEN – A Pop Brixton casual diner, plans to update its ventilation system and purchase a new induction hob, as well as further support efforts to donate surplus food to local charities LOUNGE BRIXTON – The ever-popular laid-back bar, café and eatery on Atlantic Road, plans to expand its support for local talent

by installing a new speaker system, allowing local singers and spoken word artists to perform there

MAY FOODS – An African-Caribbean restaurant on Market Row which sponsors local support programmes, plans to refurbish its storefront and revitalise staff trainings PAPA’S CAFÉ – The community cafe serving in Papa’s Park and playground on Pulross Road, plans to buy tables and chairs to improve its dining area, allowing it to host more events for local children SHARE A SLICE – The Pop Brixton based pizzeria pop-up and social enterprise plans to restart its “pizza at home” delivery kits which it trialled during the pandemic, as well as introducing a part-time community manager to support outreach work.

Facelift for an East Dulwich veteran

Ideas of home via food and spices

After the good news of one near-to-Brixton pub, the Cambria in Loughborough Junction, re-opening, another has had a makeover rather than closure.

The Plough, the oldest pub in East Dulwich – open since 1791 – is now a “gastropub” serving classic British pub food.

General manager Sam Vaziri said: “We’ve been excited about our plans for the Plough for a long time and we are so happy to be back open to show everyone

A recipe book created by South London migrant students on an English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) course and others who work at a learning café was launched this month.

For us, to share is the result of a community-focused art project facilitated by students from the MA curating contemporary art programme at the Royal College of Art. It was created at the Bosco Centre in Southwark – a post-16 vocational college, nursery, youth club and

the potential this pub has always had.

“I’ve worked in the area for several years and Dulwich has always been short of pubs with beautiful outside space.

“We now have the best beer garden in Dulwich, arriving just in time for the great British summer – don’t worry, we have lots of covered space too!

“The whole of the pub has been given a facelift and we’re set for functions and celebrations too.”

football academy – by the students over four workshops as they explored ideas of home via food and spice with artist Saima Rasheed, herself a migrant woman of colour.

She worked with mother tongues, an interdisciplinary and research-led project applying decolonial, feminist and queer theory to explore language and identity.

“The recipe book is a way to illustrate lots of different cultures in one place,” says the college.

It will be available online.

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

19

WHAT’S ON

Walk your way round Brixton and Lambeth A year’s worth of walks complied by the Lambeth Local History Forum includes many in and near Brixton.

Most last between 90 minutes and two hours.

15 May Sunday 12.50pm

Guided Walk of Brixton Hill

15 May Sunday 2.30pm

Tulse Hill Led by Alan Piper of the Brixton Society

29 May Sunday 2.30pm

Brixton’s Blue Plaques Led by Bill Linskey of the Brixton Society

JUNE

5 June Sunday 2.30pm

JULY

3 July Sunday 2.30pm

West Norwood Cemetery tour

9 July Saturday 11am

Kennington Uncovered Organised by Lambeth tour Guides Association

9 July Saturday 2.30pm

Brixton Market heritage walk

10 July Sunday 12.50pm

Guided Walk of Brixton Hill

24 July Sunday 2.30pm

Stockwell Green Led by Bill Linskey of the Brixton Society

West Norwood Cemetery tour

11 June Saturday 2.30pm

Brixton Market heritage walk

12 June Sunday 12.50pm

31 July Sunday 2.30pm

Clapham Ghost Signs Led by Alyson Wilson of the Clapham Society

Guided Walk of Brixton Hill

19 June Sunday 2.30pm Myatt’s Fields Led by Alan Piper of the Brixton Society

22 June Wednesday 6pm

Clapham Common: Women of South Side Over 200 Years Led by Michael Tuffrey of the Clapham Society

22 June Wednesday 7pm

Midsummer Wild Flower Hunt, Brockwell Park Organised by South London Botanical Institute

A booklet with full details is available online. at lambethlocalhistoryforum.org.uk Many are free, but donations are welcome.

The walks until October include:

21 August Sunday 2.30pm Lansdowne Way and Larkhall Park Led by Alan Piper of the Brixton Society

SEPTEMBER

1 Sept Thursday 6pm

The History of Clapham Common Led by Tom Jansz of the Clapham Society

4 Sept Sunday 2.30pm

West Norwood Cemetery tour

10 Sept Saturday 2.30pm

Brixton Market heritage walk

10 Sept Saturday 10am

Herne Hill Heritage Trail: Central Led by Robert Holden of the Herne Hill Society

11 Sept Sunday 12.50pm

Guided Walk of Brixton Hill

AUGUST

7 August Sunday 2.30pm

West Norwood Cemetery tour

13 August Saturday 11am

Kennington Uncovered Organised by Lambeth tour Guides Association

13 August Saturday 2.30pm

Brixton Market heritage walk

18 Sept Sunday 2.30pm

Brixton West of the High Street Led by Alan Piper of the Brixton Society

24 Sept Saturday 10am

Herne Hill Heritage Trail: South Led by Robert Holden of the Herne Hill Society

14 August Sunday 12.50pm Guided Walk of Brixton Hill

SELF-GUIDED WALKS

Streatham Literary Walk North A stroll around the north of Streatham visiting locations connected to its famous literati Download the route: bit.ly/StreathamLitNorth The Streatham Festival & The Streatham Society Streatham Literary Walk South Discover the homes of famous authors and the places they visited Download the route: bit.ly/StreathamLitSouth The Streatham Festival & The Streatham Society West Norwood Town Centre A map to guide you to the location of 21 blue plaques Download the route: norwoodforum.org/blue-plaque-scheme Norwood Forum

REGULAR WALKS

GUIDED WALK OF BRIXTON HILL

Friends of Windmill Gardens A 90-MINUTE walk with a Blue Badge Guide, covering 19th- and 20th-century developments near Brixton Windmill, including the prison, waterworks, trams and telegraphy. All proceeds to Brixton Windmill Booking essential: brixtonwindmill.org/visit/ guided-walks

LAMBETH TOUR GUIDES ASSOCIATION WALKING TOURS All walks cost £12. Booking essential. Details of each are on the LTGA Eventbrite page.

Booking essential: eventbrite.co.uk/o/ lambeth-tour-guides-association-41091500013 West Norwood Cemetery Tours Friends of West Norwood Cemetery

Brixton Market Heritage Walks Brixton Society: A 75-minute walk taking in the street markets, covered arcades and high street. Starts 2.30pm from Brixton Station Road Cost £5 per person (includes a copy of the book of the walk) Booking essential: brixtonsociety.org.uk/events

Guided tours usually last 1½–2 hours on the first Sunday of the month. Highlights include the monuments of Sir Henry Doulton, Mrs Beeton, Baron de Reuter and Sir Henry Tate. Booking essential on Eventbrite via www.fownc.org/tickets

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu

Leading Black British women photo exhibition at the BCA Stories of Black Leadership III: Inspiring Legacies, is a portrait commission by award-winning photographer Misan Harriman.

On show at the Black Cultural archives on Windrush Square until 4 June, it makes visible the journeys of pioneering Black British women who, says the BCA, “have excelled beyond measure, inspired many and left a lasting legacy that builds up those around us”.

It is the final part of the BCA’s Stories of Black Leadership photographic and oral history series sponsored by JP Morgan, a three-year project to make visible the journeys of pioneering Black British women.

Inspiring Legacies presents the personal experiences of five women leaders:

● Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, health care ­administrator, lecturer, emeritus professor of nursing at the University of West London, and

vice-chairperson of the Mary Seacole memorial statue appeal ● Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin MBE, the first black woman to become a Church of England bishop and suffragan Bishop of Dover, deputising for the Archbishop of Canterbury ● Claire Ighodaro CBE, the first woman president of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and former financial director of BT Broadband ● Dame Donna Kinnair, former chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing ● Jacky Wright, chief digital officer and a corporate vice president at Microsoft US. Inspiring Legacies is presented alongside previous exhibits, Radiating Greatness and Breaking Barriers, that were unveiled in 2018 and 2019 respectively at the London headquarters of J P Morgan.

Domino club championship and entertainment in town hall Brixton Immortals domino club is organising a three-match championship combined with entertainment and a chance to discuss health and wellbeing.

The second and third of the six-hour matches will be in Lambeth town hall in Brixton.

The first will be in Bellenden Road, Peckham, at the ElimHouse Community

Association on Saturday 21 May. The Brixton matches will be on Saturday 28 May and Saturday 11 June.

All matches will run from 3.30 to 9.30pm and will be followed by entertainment with a popular local sound system until 1.30am.

The Immortals are running the events with three community organisations:

● MYcommunity Lambeth, part of Age UK Lambeth, providing support on health, housing and finances; ● Black Thrive Global, which evolved from the work of the Black Thrive Lambeth partnership, established in 2016 to address the inequalities that negatively impact the mental health and wellbeing of Black

people in the borough; ● Hills, Brooks & Dales primary

care network of GP practices in Tulse Hill and Herne Hill.

Participants will be invited to: ● Engage with local health and wellbeing teams ● Have a blood pressure check and seek advice on the results ● Talk to community link workers about any support needs ● Get information about local projects and services.

brixtonblog.com

20 WHAT’S ON

2022 MAY

Our selection of gigs and more in Brixton and nearby WED 4 @ POP BRIXTON

TUE 31 @ HOOTANANNY

4 May is International Sauvignon day. Who knew? Brixton’s Specialist Cellars presents a free TASTING of 25 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs – one of its fortnightly Wine Tribe events at Pop. 5.30–6.30pm. Free. Register at Eventbrite: wine-tribe-wednesdays.

Edgy Satsuma return with a night of UNDISCOVERED SOUNDS from violinist and vocalist Sloane Monroe who merges blues, classical, folk and jazz with live looping; soulful and powerful jazz vocalist Olympia Vitalis; and new rock boy-band Comforts. 7.30–11pm. £5.

THU 5 @ BRIXTON ORCHARD

JUNE

Join VOLUNTEERS at a weekly (long) lunchtime session with Urban Growth planting, mulching, weeding and learning. Children welcome, but must be supervised at all times. 1–2.30pm. Free. Register at Eventbrite: urban-growth-learning-gardens.

WED 1@ HERNE HILL VELODROME Singersongwriter Kevin Mark Trail helps you to learn to sing in different styles at Brixton House – see 6 June

FRI 6 @ POW Your chance to PERFORM at the Prince of Wales – either solo or in a group – at Mic’n Out urban karaoke. Bar tab for best performers – £50 for the winners. 7pm-12am. From £5.

SAT 7 @ JAMM Freedom – feel good HOUSE AND DISCO: day and night terrace party with Bondax. 5pm–4m. £15.

SUN 8 @ HOOTANANNY Mobius Loop with eccentric gypsy folk stories, fusing WORLD MUSIC and conscious rap with eruptions of free-form dance charged with a powerful and intense energetic performance.

Support by Xi fractal. 7pm–11pm. £10/12.

MON 9 @ WINDMILL BRIXTON With two sold out shows under their belt, Vocal Girls are back with their SUMMER PARTY and special guest headliner Pixey. 7.30pm. £10.

TUE 10 @ WINDMILL BRIXTON Brooklyn-based Momma led by singers/ guitarists Allegra Weingarten and Etta Friedman is back at the Windmill. The RISING BAND signed to tastemakers Lucky Number at the end of 2021. 7.30pm. £8.

WED 11 @ JAMM Open Decks is a welcoming outdoor space for LOCAL DJs of any level to come and play some tunes in front of an intimate crowd as well as anyone who wants to listen to new talent. To be considered for a slot, simply fill details on a Google form on the Jamm website [brixtonjamm.org]. 6–11.30pm. Free.

THU 12 @ JAMM Jamm’s new PAINT & PINOT event is led by a London artist who will talk you through painting the faces of the people you’re with.

Art supplies and canvas supplied. An exclusive wine menu on offer. No experience necessary.

7–10pm. £17.50 from website.

FRI 13 @ WINDMILL EUROVISION fan or hater? The release party for Junodef’s new single Eurovision 2004, inspired by that year’s winner Wild Dancer, is for you, with an emotional roller coaster of Eurovision DJs and live bands. Moody, sometimes electronic, mostly alternative pop music. Support from Mathilde Bataille and more. 8pm. £5.

SAT 14 @ BRIXTON One of the Brixton Society’s monthly HERITAGE WALKS. This one shows how Brixton grew from nothing to become South London’s biggest shopping centre by the 1920s – a vital part of its history. A copy of Brixton Markets – a heritage walk, is included. 2.30pm. £5. Limited places; booking essential: Eventbrite Brixton Society.

Round 9 of the 2022 Azeus Convene CYCLING track league is at the velodrome. You’ll see multiple race disciplines, watch experienced racers, as well as riders of all ages getting their first taste of the racing experience. Jan’s Cafe is open throughout the event with hot food, Volcano coffee and Canopy beers. Youth racing starts at 6pm with adults from 7 to 9pm. Free, no need to book.

THU 2 @ BROCKWELL PARK SUN 15 @ BLUES KITCHEN

Live music from 8.30pm from the Blues Kitchen house band. Free.

MON 16 @ WINDMILL BRIXTON

Grace Cummings, performing with her band, is a contemporary FOLK musician from Melbourne, Australia, with a strong connection to that country’s landscape.

Her debut album, Refuge Cove, won critical acclaim from Pitchfork and Allmusic, among others. 730pm. £11.

TUE 17 @ BRIXTON HOUSE

First of a six-night run for Patricia Gets Ready ( for a date with the man that used to hit her) at Brixton’s new THEATRE. Patricia has spent a year crafting a kick-ass speech while recovering from an abusive relationship. Join her as she gets ready for the date; tells stories of her past, how it has affected her present; and looks honestly at her future. 8pm. £21, Concessions and students £17.

WED 18 @ HOOTANANNY

Join British producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Bienvenue for a night of ELECTRONIC FUNK AND PUNK. Inspired by London’s jam scenes and their fusion of genres, Bienvenue is making waves. 8pm. £6 advance.

THU 19 @ QUEEN’S HEAD

Stand-up COMEDY on Stockwell Road with 10 acts hosted by Alfie Evers. 8pm. Free.

FRI 20 @ DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY

Part of the Dulwich Festival, Gramophone Award winning Ensemble Plus Ultra – “a crack squad of the finest British EARLY MUSIC singers” and one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Renaissance Spain – in their first London performance since before the pandemic with a programme of secular works in the stunning gallery.

7.30pm. £27, includes glass of wine.

SAT 21 @ POW

Utopia celebrate their eighth birthday with a 12-hour HOUSE AND GARAGE party on the POW rooftop and inside if necessary. 3pm–3am.

Advance: £11.30. £6 before 5pm.

SUN 22 @ HOOTANANNY

Salsa and CUBAN SON specialists Sarabanda bring their improvised jam session to the Hootananny once more. Listen and dance.

7–11pm. Free.

MON 23 @ BLUES KITCHEN

Regular Monday night LIVE BLUES and soul.

From 9.30pm. Free.

TUE 24 @ CROWN & ANCHOR

Tuesday night is QUIZ NIGHT hosted by Dave at the Crown & Anchor. Cash prizes foe first two teams, a bottle of wine for the third.

7.30pm. £2 per person.

WED 25 @ HOOTANANNY

OMAR – UK King of Soul and Godfather of Neo-Soul – collaborator with Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and D’Angelo. Support from Karl Benjamin. Book now for an enigmatic and soulful show. 8–11pm. £16.50.

THU 26 @ ELECTRIC BRIXTON

Formed in 2003 by a group of friends in BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, Dubioza Kolektiv blend Balkan sounds, ska and a lot more.

Catchy and confrontational, they have worked with Benjamin Zephaniah and sing in English, Spanish, Italian and Punjabi.

A band for Brixton. Plus a set from Mista Trick, the DJ behind Hootananny club night Swing & Bass. 7pm. £26.43.

FRI 27 @ POW

Supa Dupa Fly with nineties, noughties and now HIP HOP and R&B. Hip hop: expect 2Pac, Biggie, Lil Kim, DMX, Jay-Z, Busta, Kanye and Ludacris. R&B: Beyonce, Aaliyah, TLC, Missy, Usher, Destiny’s Child, J.T, Rihanna and Chris Brown. Plus Afrobeats and dancehall. 9pm–4am. £15.

SAT 28 @ JAMM

That’s DRAG BINGO – hosted by the sensational queens, Orange Gina, Ariel Bold and Magik – is unlike any other as they bringing their special bingo machine: the smoking hot DRAG-on. Doors 6pm. Show 7pm. £17.50.

SUN 29 @ UPSTAIRS AT THE RITZY

Soca Social LDN is an interactive social experience centred around GAMES AND SOCA MUSIC. Look forward to taking part in icebreakers, table and audience participation games, and competitions, including charades and name that tune. From 6pm. Free before 7pm, £8 after. Last entry 9.30pm.

MON 30 @ JAMM

Straight Pocket – Brixton’s great JAZZ IMPROVISATION night – hosted every Monday

by Renato Paris. 6–11pm. Free before 8pm. £3 advance. £5 door.

MADNESS perform at a bank holiday event with Supergrass, Mike Skinner, Crazy P, Norman Jay, the London African Gospel Choir, Dennis Bovell, Dub Pistols, Big Fish Little Fish, Guilty Pleasures, Old Dirty Brasstards, Squeeze, Mystery Jets and Tippa Irie. Tickets (from madness.co.uk) £46.75, £33 for entry before 2.30pm.

FRI 3 @ DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY Bring the whole family along and get playful at one of the gallery’s free Family Fridays.

Activities are aimed at 7–12-year-olds and their families, but siblings and families of all ages are welcome. Artists Paloma Tendero and Gaby Sahhar guide workshops inspired by the Reframed Woman in the Window exhibition, and exploring NEW ART-MAKING IDEAS, materials and possibilities. No experience is needed, all materials provided. 10am–noon or 2–4pm. Free, advance booking essential.

SAT 4 @ POW Shabba Party host the official London launch party for the Rototom Festival, Europe’s largest international REGGAE/DANCEHALL festival. 4pm – 4am. £12.50.

SUN 5 @ ELECTRIC BRIXTON Brazilian DRAG QUEEN and singer-songwriter Pabllo Vittar, whose music is seen as “unofficial anthems for Brazil’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community”. Doors 7pm. £31.

MON 6 @ BRIXTON HOUSE With the Brixton House Choir, you can LEARN TO SING styles from gospel to reggae. Guests for this season are Kevin Mark Trail, who has had solo releases with EMI and Warner, and Rachel Huggins, a singer and songwriter who specialises in gospel, soul and jazz, and twotime finalist on BBC’s Gospel Choir of the Year.

7–9pm. £8/6.

TUE 7 @ POW Sara Barron plus support at POW’s regular Tuesday night COMEDY event Upstairs. Each event features at least two acts presenting new work-in-progress shows in preparation for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Doors 7pm. Show 8pm. £10 advance, £12 door. Students: £5.50/£6.

WED 8 @ HOOTANANNY London Astrobeat Orchestra perform songs from iconic Talking Heads albums with a “razor-sharp, liquid FUNK and jaw-droppingly tight” African twist. 7pm. £13.24.

Organising an event? Send details to listing@brixtonblog.com

brixtonblog.com

22 WHAT’S ON

Film festival celebrates in-person screenings The Herne Hill Free Film Festival will celebrate a return to in-person screenings with a local mini-festival.

It runs from 10 to 20 May in venues including a pub, a craft brewery, a Baptist church and the Herne Hill velodrome. All events are free and no booking is required.

The diverse programme begins with the return of the festival’s popular Short Film Night, upstairs at The Prince Regent on Dulwich Road.

Thomas Vinterberg’s acclaimed comedy drama, Another Round follows on 12 May at the Canopy Beer Company.

This year’s big outdoor screening will be at Herne Hill velodrome on Sunday 15 May with Tron, Steven Lisberger’s 1982 sci-fi epic.

On 17 May the festival moves to Herne Hill Baptist Church, for The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman; followed by a live Q&A with co-producer David Parfitt.

Wrapping up the festival, the 2021 documentary I Am Belmaya will be screened at Effra Space on 20 May. An inspirational tale of rebellion, courage and hope in patriarchal Nepal, the screening includes a live Q&A with the film’s director Sue Carpenter after the screening.

The festival will support the Norwood and Brixton Foodbank with fundraising and food donations collected at the screenings.

The festival is a volunteer-led community event made possible by the support of Pedder Property.

Regeneration and awakening in Dulwich After three years, Dulwich Festival is back to celebrate the arts and rebuild community connections.

Taking as its themes Regeneration and Awakening, the festival offers a diverse range of events, many of them free, which include art, music, literature, comedy, walks and talks.

For lovers of art there is the chance to visit some 400 local artists in their homes or studios. For lovers of music there is classical, jazz, choral and pop. There is also plenty of comedy on offer – from a bicyclepowered production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to previews of shows going to this summer’s Edinburgh Fringe. Festival walks and talks cover aspects of local history and well-known authors talk about their latest books.

Families can enjoy plenty of free events including an orchard family day in Dulwich Village, the Dulwich Park Fair, Love West Dulwich Spring Fair, and The Goose Green Fair with the return of its much-loved donkeys.

A For further information and details of all the events which take place from 13 to 22 May, visit dulwichfestival.co.uk.

2022 MAY

This is Silly … and it’s getting sillier Audience-wide custard pie battles

Brixton’s Club Silly – an offshoot of the Bureau of Silly Ideas – returned with rollicking success last month at a relaunch event showcasing Brixton arts and culture of the most ridiculous variety.

A mermaid toilet attendant delivered sage advice from inside a wheelbarrow, there was a silly look at the news and current events, an audience-wide custard pie battle, and a clown’s take on the rehabilitation of a service monkey.

The night delivered not only on what it promised: “Acts of the silliest sort”, but also on reigniting community spirit at a grass-roots level in Brixton.

“Club Silly is back, and we’re growing,” says The Bureau of Silly Ideas (BOSI) a leading UK outdoor arts company that has been bringing its particular brand of arts engagement to the public realm from Brixton for almost 20 years.

“Our mission has always been to make art accessible and bring unexpected acts of silliness

to audiences all over the world.

“But we also cherish our home here in Brixton and know that there’s a community who wants art here too.

“That’s why we’ve brought Club Silly back, as a place for people to gather together in the spirit of silliness, to support new work made by fantastic local artists, and to get to connect and have fun together.”

Offering a diverse programme of events and workshops, Club Silly is free to join, and signing up is easy.

Visit bit.ly/Club-Silly-Sign-Up to become a member and get the first news of events, workshops, and more silliness; including an upcoming workshop with Laura Cao from Mojo Bodywork on basic self and partner massage.

BOSI knows better than most of the toll that seriousness can take on the mind and the body, which is why Club Silly is the first arts night

– that they know of – that has their very own in-theatre masseuse.

During Club Silly: The Relaunch, audience members were able to sign up to receive a 10-minute massage while watching the show.

“But why leave it at that?” BOSI thought – the next workshop on offer as part of the new Club Silly programme is one to learn how to massage yourself and your friends.

Over 90 minutes you will learn hands-on techniques for melting the stress away; perfect for people who spend a long-time in front of the computer, or even those who just want to have something good to exchange for favours.

The workshop will take place at Silly Towers, BOSI’s Valentia Place home in Brixton, on Wednesday 18 May from 6 to 7:30pm. Tickets are £15 and places are limited.

A Visit bit.ly/Club-Silly-Massage-Workshop to book your spot.

Late night kung fu classics at Whirled cinema Nobody who experienced a kung fu night at Brixton’s Ace Cinema – now Electric Brixton – could ever forget it. Audience participation was total, loud and active.

Fortunately for Loughborough Junction’s Whirled Cinema, most of those old enough to have been at the Ace are probably now too old to jump up and demonstrate their moves mid-movie.

But all kung fu film lovers can rejoice that late-night kung fu is back in South London with screenings at Whirled beginning on Friday 13 May, kicking off at 8pm and continuing to 2am – proper Brixton kung fu night timing.

It’s a double-bill starting with an old-skool classic: Hand of Death (18) from 1976 … A young Shaolin monk must train to defeat a dangerous Manchu warlord (James Tien) who is intent on wiping out the Shaolin once and for all.

It features early performances

Hand of Death from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung (both also handled the film’s stunts, along with third “brother” Yuen Biao).

“Hand of Death is an exquisitely stylish example of old school kung fu filmmaking,” says Marlon Palmer, founder of Drunken Scorpion Promotions who are staging the screenings, This showing will be a 2K HD restoration release.

Following Hand of Death will be the 1981 film Dreadnaught (15), directed by legendary action choreo­ grapher Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), expertly blending majestic action sequences with superb physical comedy, courtesy of stars Yuen Biao, Bryan Leung Kar-yan, and Yuen Shun-yee.

A violent criminal known only as “White Tiger” (Yuen Shun-yee; Iron

Monkey) is hiding among members of a theatre troop, murdering anyone who discovers his identity, as well as anyone who happens to annoy him.

Mousy, a timid laundry man (Yuen Biao; Project A), crosses paths with White Tiger several times but always manages to escape.

But when the killer targets his friend (Bryan “Beardy” Leung; Warriors Two), Mousy must overcome his cowardly nature and acquire the skills necessary to defeat the White Tiger.

Notable for being the final film in which Kwan Tak-hing portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung, and with its famous laundry scene directly referenced in Batman Forever, Dreadnaught is a cult favourite amongst martial arts fans.

It will also be shown from a new 2K restoration.

A Tickets: £20 from Eventbrite: kungfucinema south london

brixtonblog.com

MAY 2022

BOOKS 23

How Cressingham Gardens images inspired a novel What’s going on? Not one, but two book launches on the same night in Brixton.

A novel at Book Mongers, and, at International House, a practical look at how to revolutionise work experience.

Alan Slingsby reports Book Mongers may have been a vital part of Brixton’s literary scene for getting on for 30 years, but novelist Howard Cunnell was the first to launch a book there – the paperback edition of his novel The Painter’s Friend.

It was an appropriate setting.

His novel was inspired by an Howard Cunnell reads intervention in one of the great local from The Painter’s Friend controversies: Lambeth council’s plan to demolish and rebuild the Cressingham Gardens estate. finds himself in an island community Photographer Mark Aitken’s threatened by a rent increase and three-metre portraits of estate wants to use his art to show its fight residents were originally meant to for survival. be on its walls for a few weeks in Explaining why he created the July 2017 as part of an Arts Council photographs, Mark said: “I realised England funded project, but they are that being angry with the council still there. is not only unproductive, it’s When Howard Cunnell very upsetting; it’s kind of saw them on one of wasted energy really. the tours of the “So then I came photographs that across this idea of Mark conducted, taking photographs they gave him the of people on the idea for a novel estate. I thought, and he asked the well, I have to be photographer if he careful that this could use it. work doesn’t get “Seeing Mark’s subsumed in the Mark Aitken introduces photos on the walls campaign, which is a Howard Cunnell outside Cressingham different thing.

Gardens that day was the “I’m not an activist, but moment where I think the book I really admire people who do kind of came together in my mind,” that. We need activists and we need said Howard. campaigns and campaigners, but The book is about a painter who they have to be quite simple and

straightforward,” Mark said.

“One thing I thought about was that all of our lives on this estate are very complex.

“You hear somebody’s life story and you think, well, you can’t reduce them to a victim – more gentrification from a Labour council. So I really wanted to keep that separate.

“I made five applications to the Arts Council. I needed the money, but I also wanted the Arts Council name on it.”

Mark remembers Cressingham Gardens on the day the images were revealed and a “fantastic moment” as people walked around saying: “Oh, I know that guy. Oh, she lives next door to me.”

“It just said ‘We exist’. Nothing more than that: ‘We exist’.

“So it wasn’t about that we were victims of gentrification or that we were angry or we were in any kind of big struggle just ‘We are here’. This is it.

“I love the modesty of that and it’s very powerful. And also, I think, it’s political.

“It’s also complex. It’s not simple, so maybe it could assist the campaign, but I don’t think you could have something like that central to the campaign.”

Anger and grief

Howard said his book was born out of anger and grief.

“Seeing Mark’s photos on the walls outside Cressingham Gardens that day was the moment I think the book came together in my mind in a way that I’d been struggling to make happen,” he said.

“It just fell into place for me. I then needed to pluck up the courage and say to Mark: Could I nick his idea? He was very generous about it.”

Howard read the stunning opening of The Painter’s Friend and then discussed the problems of working class artists like himself.

Access to Brixton’s brightest teenagers Young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are not being equipped for the world of work according to a book by Abigail Melville, founder of Brixton social enterprise, We Rise. She says that the modern workplace demands modern skills, so employees must be creative, entrepreneurial and flexible.

But, she points out, outdated systems of education force young people into compliance with “linear thinking”, concentrating on exam skills and university.

We Rise developed an innovative approach to work experience, giving young people the opportunity to develop skills they are unlikely to learn from school.

It focuses support on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are less likely to have access to professional networks, inspiration and mentoring.

In The Work Experience Revolution, launched in Brixton’s International House, Abigail Melville explains how We Rise used imagination and collaboration to find new ways to give young people the exposure and experience they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world of work. She calls for: ● Opening up learning places – identifying more spaces where young people can collaborate and learn in professional working environments.

● (Re)discovering a mentoring habit – making sure every teenager has access to good quality, sustained mentoring to help them develop their talent and build connections with the world of work. ● Creating opportunities for real work and platforms for young people to showcase their talent – providing more real world projects to give young people 21st century work experience.

“We Rise is now able to offer organisations access to the minds of Brixton’s brightest teenagers,” Abigail Melville said.

The launch event also saw the unveiling of the We Rise Edit Box – an editing suite on wheels. We Rise partnered with Clapham Film Unit, a collective of local film-makers, to improve its media output by building the box, with funding from the LHC Community Benefit Fund.

We Rise in-house architect and chief operating officer Polly Waterworth designed the three-metre-square box from salvaged materials. It can be moved around and partially opened for screenings. The box provides on-site editing for the Clapham Film Unit and for members of the community, especially young Lambeth residents.

A The Work Experience Revolution is available online at £8.99 in paperback and £0.77 in ebook.

The We Rise Edit Box in International House

Answering questions, he said: “The problem with the publishing industry in this country starts with Caxton and the development of the printing press.

“As soon as you develop a printing press, you marginalise or ignore all of the oral storytelling cultures that we’ve had for centuries in this country.

“You’re not interested in that at all, because if you’ve got a printing press, you need to print something.

“And if you’re going to print something, you need people to read it.

“When the printing press is established, only a very small number of people can read and have the leisure time to read and have the money to buy the products that are then produced.

“So the publishing industry kind of begins and develops as an industry run by and for middle class people to read stories about themselves.”

He said the great American writer Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, had called in that book for “time, cash and patience”, adding: “If you don’t have those things, it’s a struggle to make art.

“The publishing industry will accommodate certain kinds of working class narratives.

“They tend to be narratives that are about escaping from the working class into something else – Dickens, right?

“If you are a working class writer, if you want your work to be known and to be out there, you have to be engage with the publishing industry, which is essentially – hostile might be a bit strong – but alien, certainly.”

A Mark Aitken’s images are available in his book Sanctum Ephemeral, with words by Howard Cunnell, available in Book Mongers at £19.

A The Painter’s Friend is available from bookshops and online at £9.99.

Grass roots show Premier League how it’s done

BRIXTON

Bugle

Ollie Goodwin watches history being made at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill stadium

SPORT

Brockwell Park’s Swans reclaim beauty of football

By Ollie Goodwin

Football is a simple game. It’s a ball that you kick about an open space and try to put in the goal. However, for one of the, oldest and most easily understood games, it manages to surround itself with hurdles to overcome before you can even kick the damn ball.

Brockwell United, or The Swans as they are affectionately known, are hoping to be the catalyst for positive change for people who find themselves under-represented and unable to get involved. Their mission: to empower women and non-binary players by inspiring a love of football.

They want to make it fun again.

Founded in 2017, the (mighty) Swans have gone from strength to strength. To celebrate their approaching fifth birthday, they have launched a new kit. Every aspect, colour, stitch and accent of it has been thought through in the context of the club’s roots in Brockwell Park.

It was designed by local illustrator Donatella Esposito. She said: “The Swans’ focus on participation in football made me rediscover the sport and drove me to create images of movement, positivity and togetherness. With minimal use of bold lines and colours, we wanted to capture the joy within the act of playing football.”

With its inspired illustrations, muted natural tones and orange, black and white colourway, the shirt is a modern twist on classic strips of the past. It’s absolutely lovely and also has the same colours as a swan. Coincidence? Probably not.

The team celebrated the launch at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill stadium, supported by the East Dulwich branch of Yard Sale Pizza. The shirt sponsor is MOMA Foods, which launched 15 years ago at a breakfast stall in Waterloo East station and now sells award-winning oat drinks in Waitrose.

Brockwell United chair Ellie Levitt said: “For us, football is about community and providing a safe space, something which women and non-binary people don’t always experience in football.

“The new kit is hugely important to the club and represents the community spirit and empowerment as well as our growth – from starting as a small group of friends to celebrating our fifth birthday.”

“Our old kit was bland!” Sophie Page, Club Secretary told the Bugle. “We really wanted a kit that represents us, our personalities and the team ethos. That’s why we wanted the illustrator to be local so it all ties in together. It came out so well!”

The club strips away all the nonsense from football. There’s a simple beauty to what they do.

There are no trials, no competition for places and no inductions based on ability. It’s all about being part of the team, the community.

“We’ve got the ‘removing barriers’ policies.”

Sophie explained. “Basically, if anyone’s on Universal Credit, they’re able to just train and play with us for free. We have a buddy system to make sure everyone’s included. Sometimes it’s scary coming into a new team, so that’s one of the ways we try to be as welcoming as possible.

“We’re always thinking about how to be more diverse, what we can do to continue progressing, and making sure we are progressive as possible.”

With this simple ethos of being very nice and welcoming, membership is through the roof.

“There’s about 80 people on our WhatsApp group!” Sophie told us.

The Swans might not have the glitz and glam of Champions League football, or the magic of the cup – it’s far more important than that.

It’s a safe space for people. People who might otherwise not get the chance to be involved in this brilliant game To me, that’s absolutely priceless.

Football doesn’t do enough to support the LGBT+ community .The Premier League continues its empty gestures like the rainbow laces campaign, but when it comes to genuine, tangible action there’s often much to be desired.

Then there’s Newcastle United’s takeover by the investment fund of Saudi Arabia and its repressive regime, as well as the Qatar World Cup. The powerful stuff both Dulwich Hamlet and TRUK FC – a team made up entirely of transgender women – do both on and off the pitch with a fraction of the resources has far more substance than bodies at the top of the game.

History was made at Champion Hill as Dulwich Hamlet Women hosted TRUK FC to mark this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility.

The match was raising money and awareness for the trans community as well as celebrating inclusivity in football.

TRUK was formed in January 2021, an offshoot of Trans Radio UK, a station set up to support and connect people in the trans community.

The text-based service acts as a safe space where people from different backgrounds can connect and feel welcomed, something football struggles to do at the best of times.

“There’s never been a team of trans women. So I was thinking – this could be pretty historic. So we got the team together and things just continued.

We thought: let’s go make history and show trans women can play football and football is for everyone,” Lucy Clark told

the Bugle.

Both the radio and football team were set up by Lucy. She quickly realised there was a huge amount of interest from the community in playing football and the club has gone from strength to strength.

She’s an extraordinary person. From setting up Trans Radio UK … to Truk Listens … the formation of TRUK United FC … the first openly trans referee – she’s done some incredible stuff and this was just another chapter in the story.

“People obviously knew that I was involved in football.” Lucy told us.

“So I had lots of people saying: ‘Oh, I’d love to play football, but there isn’t a team for me.’ And I’d say: ‘Well, there really is, you know, trans people do play football.

“I thought, you know what, I’ll just set a team up. If we just set a team up, they know that there is a team for them. So we created the club, just like that.”

The match was under the floodlights at Champion Hill. TRUK had tough opposition for the occasion. Dulwich are a semi-professional side from the fifth tier of the English game taking on teams like Fulham and Millwall Lionesses.

Dulwich were even donning limited edition jerseys just for the occasion that were raffled off with all proceeds going to Trans Radio UK. There were 410 people in the main stand.

“Oh the crowd, they were

amazing! They spurred us on, they kept us going.

Every time we got the ball, granted it wasn’t very often, or if we made it into Dulwich’s half the noise levels just went up,” said Lucy.

There was even an appearance from a tall fella by the name of Peter Crouch who is currently on the board at Dulwich.

The big man had some words of advice for the TRUK players.

“He had some inspirational words, some words of wisdom. We welcomed him into the changing room before the game and at half time.

We appreciated him being there and supporting us and for the players, it just made the day even more special; having an iconic England international there.”

Dulwich put on a great display, showing why they’re a club looking to climb the women’s leagues.

They were ruthless and won 7:0.

But the result was almost irrelevant.

The TRUK fans continued chanting long after the result was decided and the scenes in the clubhouse afterwards were heartwarming.

As TRUK and Dulwich continue to fight for equality, representation and visibility for everyone involved in the game, clubs higher up the pyramid could look and learn from events like this at Champion Hill.

Besides, if you ask me, TRUK just had an off day …

BMX: Brixton – and South London – impress South London’s BMX clubs from Brixton, Peckham and Merton made the short journey to the Cyclopark track, near Gravesend in Kent for the second in the south region series, writes Mike Woof.

The event benefited from good racing weather, with not too much wind, though it was cool for spectators.

In all, an impressive 530 riders turned up to compete in the event, with Brixton, Merton and Peckham BMX clubs making an impressive showing, competing in age classes from male 6 and under right up to 50+.

Riders from other London clubs Hackney and Hayes were present, as well as riders from the Andover, Bournemouth, Gosport, Gravesend, Knightwood and Runnymede clubs.

Of note too was that some riders also came

from other regions, getting in practice for the National Series race at the notoriously challenging Cyclopark track.

Without listing all the many riders from the three clubs who competed, special mentions must go to four riders who stood out.

Brixton and Peckham coach Dean Reeves came third in the ultra-competitive payback class, riding for Peckham.

Oscar Chambers from Brixton came first in a strong field in male 10 class.

Highly impressive was the first place for Brixton’s Lukah McKenzie, riding up a year in the very competitive male 17-29 class, instead of the 16 class that he would normally be riding in.

And there was special appreciation for “daddy” Nigel Whyte, father of Olympic silver medallist Kye Whyte, who came second in grand veterans.