Lambeth Life 10th issue (May/June 2019)

FREE

MAY-JUN 2019 /NO 10

www.lambethlife.com

info@lambethlife.com

IBRAHIM DOGUS IS NEW MAYOR OF LAMBETH AMID the chaos of the Westminster Bridge atrocity, as exhausted emergency teams tended scores of life-threatening injuries, one selfless act summed up the strength of community spirit.

Ignoring police warnings to evacuate for fear of further attacks, Ibrahim Dogus held open the doors of his restaurant, Troia, yards from the scene, and told staff to keep cooking for weary rescuers until every survivor had been treated.

It was close to midnight before the last of nearly 300 members of the police, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service accepted his hospitality on that harrowing night in 2017.

Yet for a father-of-two, whose beliefs are steadfastly rooted in hard work and public service, the hours worked and the personal cost were a small price to pay for giving something back to a country that had offered him so much. Arriving in London as a Kurdish refugee, aged just 14, in 1994 and able to speak barely any English, few could have predicted the remarkable path ahead of him.

From humble beginnings working long, gruelling hours in a Turkish restaurant, he began to salt away his modest earnings, with the dream of bigger things to come.

“It was really tough life at first”, Ibrahim fondly recalls. “I was working up to 16 hours a day for seven days a week.”

“But I was always aware that it was the only way to grow and give myself opportunities in the future.

I was working towards something.

There is no better incentive than knowing that.”

Harnessing the astonishing support shown to him by Londoners, Ibrahim managed to set up his own business.

From the founding acorns of his ambition, the striving, the long, arduous effort and the years of saving would finally bear fruit.

He now runs several successful small businesses and not for profit organisations including three restaurants in South London where more than 50 people are employed.

His act of selflessness during the Westminster attack was published

by The Independent and shared by readers across the globe.

The police were so struck by the restaurant owner’s actions that Lambeth’s Borough Commander Simon Messinger... PAGE 4-5

Distributed in the London Borough of Lambeth wards of Bishop’s, Clapham Town, Ferndale, Larkhall, Oval, Prince’s Stockwell, Brixton and Vassall

2

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

Lambeth locals join 1000’s from across the UK for international rebellion in central London against inaction on the climate and ecological crisis

‘Extinction Rebellion Lambeth’ numbers soar in run up to London blockade on April 15

Since the first Brixton based Extinction Rebellion talk ‘Heading for Extinction and What to do About it’ organised this February at the Dogstar by Bess Herbert, XR Lambeth has been officially founded by local volunteers, and gone from strength to strength.

Numbers have leapt from a few Coordinators to over 70 local people with wide ranging backgrounds; from artists, teachers, accountants, environmental academics, designers and students to parents and young people.

The majority are diving into activism for the very first time. The group have garnered the respect

T: 0207 1834272 facebook @ lambethlife

and support of much loved community hub Brixton Pound - a regular melting pot in the last few weeks for XR Lambeth, their talks and Non Violent Direct Action training. Here's what Brixton Pound had to say on social media: “...We are in awe of their organisational skills and collective effort in fighting against a government that is ignoring the imminent ecological breakdown! Solidarity with XR.” - Brixton Pound, Official Instagram Account, April 9, 2019 XR Lambeth take local action The group has been raising awareness about XR through civil disobedience across Lambeth, focusing on the international rebellion on April 15. There has been a particular surge in activity through March and April - with sticker bombing, leafletting, flyposting and tube map subvertising taking place alongside protests, most notably a solidarity protest against investment in fossil fuel projects at Barclays Bank on Brixton Road (organised by Bess Herbert).

Website www.lambethlife.com Advertising info@lambethlife.com Social Media Svetlana Yesilyurt

instagram @lambeth_life

So what’s triggered this much collective passion, energy and focus from such a wide range of volunteers in such a short time?

Here’s what one of the XR Lambeth Co-ordinators had to say: “I think people are feeling isolated and disempowered, with communities undermined by a world that values GDP, growth and profit above all else - this is expecially obvious in London. I see the climate crisis and the ecological destruction we have inflicted as a direct result of this unsustainable and dehumanising economic model.

I started to support coordination of XR Lambeth because I’ve felt an increasing sense of urgency about the climate crisis, observing its devastating impact in the UK and around the world during 2018, whilst knowing worse is to come.

I was drawn to XR’s advocation of honesty - they know the facts, speak the truth about how bad things are and act like it too. Their regenerative culture and grassro-

Publisher Lambeth Life Newspaper Ltd Editor Ayla Acar

ots way of working also resonated with me more than the approach of other organisations. They value people and empower them to take local, community based action which is really effective.

The XR members I've met in Brixton have such integrity, creativity and resilience - it gives me courage despite the challenging reality of tackling this global issue.

I have taken time off work to be in Marble Arch supporting the rebellion from April 15 with XR Lambeth, we want to send the message loud and clear to the Government and the people: we need to take much more serious measures to reduce our carbon emissions right now, before it’s too late.” - Eloise Smith-Foster, 27, XR Lambeth Coordinator, April 15, 2019 XR Lambeth is a voluntary run, non-profit branch of Extinction Rebellion that is inclusive and open to all. To find out more or join, get in touch with Coordinator Bells Davidson at: xrlambeth@protonmail.com

Sales Svetlana Yesilyurt

twitter@_LambethLife

Features Alexander Harris Charlie Blue Thomas

23 May European Elections!

An election for Members of the European Parliament for the London region is due to take place on Thursday 23 May. Don't forget to get out and vote!

Who is eligible to vote?

You must be registered to vote and also be the following: • 18 years of age or over on polling day •a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of the European Union • not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote

Designers

Olay Newspaper Photography

Ali Haydar Yesilyurt

LAMBETH LIFE • Toughest Global emission standard, operating 24 hours, seven days a week, launched in Central London in April to help reduce toxic air pollution • ULEZ is already having an impact: a 55 per cent increase in the proportion of vehicles driving into the Zone daily that meet the new emission standard • Mayor confirms 6,950 buses (75 per cent of all TfL buses) – including all buses operating in the ULEZ zone – now meet or exceed the emission standard • ULEZ has already led to a reduction of approximately 20 per cent in NO2 concentrations measured at roadside monitoring sites in the zone • Millions of Londoners will breathe cleaner air with NOx road transport emissions estimated to fall by 45 per cent in ULEZ zone On April 8th the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan introduced the world’s toughest vehicle emissions standard in central London to help reduce toxic air pollution and protect public health. The Central London ULEZ will operate in the same area as the current Congestion Charge zone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

It replaces the T-Charge and operates alongside the Congestion Charge.

Polluting vehicles account for around 50 per cent of London’s harmful NOx air emissions. Air pollution has an economic cost to the capital of up to £3.7 billion every year, and £20 billion cost to the country every year. The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will help address London’s toxic air health crisis that currently leads to thousands of premature deaths annually, and increases the risk of asthma, cancer and dementia.

Motorists who drive into the zone in a vehicle that does not meet the new emission standard (petrol vehicles that do not meet Euro 4

May / June 19

World’s first 24 hour Ultra Low Emission Zone starts in London standards and diesel vehicles that do not meet Euro 6) will have to pay a daily charge. Petrol vehicles that meet the standard have been widely available since 2006.

There will be two ULEZ charge levels: £12.50 a day for cars, vans and motorbikes and £100 a day for lorries, buses and coaches.

Thousands of motorists have already started to change their behaviour as they prepare for ULEZ by driving less polluting vehicles into the area, and using cleaner transport alternatives including walking or cycling, and public transport, it can be revealed today. A major awareness campaign has been underway for more than nine months to ensure drivers and businesses are ready for the ULEZ, with TfL’s online vehicle checker being used

more than 3.2 million times during this period.

Since February 2017, when the Mayor announced the introduction of the T-charge as a stepping stone for the ULEZ, there has been: • A reduction in the total number of vehicles seen in the Central London ULEZ zone (around 11,000 fewer vehicles per day) • A 38 per cent rise in the total number of compliant vehicles in the zone between February 2017 and March 2019 • An increase in the proportion of compliant vehicles in the Central London ULEZ zone from 39 per cent in February 2017 to 61 per cent in March 2019 This represents a 55 per cent increase in the proportion of compliant vehicles in the Central

London ULEZ zone since February 2017 and illustrates the impact that the ULEZ has already had on improving vehicle emissions standards in Central London.* The ULEZ is the centrepiece of a range of hard-hitting measures the Mayor has implemented to tackle London’s toxic air. From today 6,950 buses (75 per cent of all TfL buses) – including all buses operating in the ULEZ zone – meet or exceed the new emission standards. By October 2020 every bus in London - all 9,200 of TfL’s fleet - will meet or exceed the ULEZ standards – an unprecedented transformation to make London’s famous red buses go green.

The most recent data on air pollution in London reveals that more than two million Londoners still live in areas that exceed legal limits for NO2, 400,000 of whom are children under the age of 18.

King’s College London research has found that, if the Mayor had not implemented a series of hardhitting measures to tackle pollution, London’s air would not come into compliance with legal limits for another 193 years.

However, with the Mayor’s air pollution measures, King’s College analysis indicates that London’s air will reach legal limits in six years. The number of schools exceeding the legal limit for NO2 is expected to fall from over 450 in 2016 to 5 in 2020 and zero in 2025.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “This is a landmark day for our city. Our toxic air is an invisible killer responsible for one of the biggest national health emergencies of our generation. I simply refuse to be yet another politician who ignores it. The ULEZ is the centrepiece of our plans to clean up London’s air – the boldest plans of any city on the planet, and the eyes of the world are on us.

“This is also about social justice - people in the most deprived parts of London, who are least likely to

3

own a car, suffer the worst effects of harmful air pollution. I will not stand by and watch children grow up with under-developed lungs in our city. The ULEZ is a vital step towards helping combat London’s illegal air.”

The Mayor launched the ULEZ as he visited young patients and specialist doctors at Evelina London Children’s Hospital in Westminster. Evelina cares for 95,000 children and young people every year, with a range of illnesses, and is part of Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation. It is in the Central London ULEZ, off the busy Lambeth Palace Road. The Mayor is funding air quality monitors at the hospital, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.

Claire Lemer, Clinical Director, Evelina London said: “Sadly, there’s not a day that goes by when we don’t see a child with asthma on our wards. This initiative will help to improve the lives of children in the city, reducing unnecessary visits to hospital and helping them to lead healthier lives.”

Florence Eshalomi AM, London Assembly Member for Lambeth and Southwark said: “Today marks a major move forward in tackling the capital’s toxic air, which contributes to the early deaths of almost 10,000 Londoners per year and stunts children’s lungs.

“Toxic air is nothing less than a public health emergency and requires urgent and radical action.

“But City Hall is not only introducing the ULEZ, but also bringing in low emission bus zones and moving to zero emission taxis.

“At last, we are heading in the right direction to ensure that London reaches its target of zero emissions from road transport by 2050.

But we can’t solve our air pollution problem alone - we need the Government to come on board to further boost the Mayor’s £48 million scrappage fund”.

“Delicious Food, Beautiful Atmosphere” Steaks&Burgers

020 7928 1986

www.westminsterkitchen.com

House, Unit 3A, County Hall, Belvedere Rd, Lambeth, SE1 7GP

4

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

DOING THE LAMBETH WALK: A JOURNEY

Ibrahim receiving a special commendation from Lambeth’s Borough Commander Simon Messinger

Continued from page 1 awarded Ibrahim a special commendation.

Yet, not content with simply enjoying the financial gain his success has brought him, Ibrahim pledged himself to public service in a bid to better his community and improve the lives of those less fortunate.

It was the start of a journey which has today led to him becoming the Mayor of Lambeth.

As a teenager he personally witnessed the uncompromising commitment and skill of doctors and nurses working in the NHS. “They saved my life. I will be forever grateful to them and it made me realise just how fortunate we are to have the NHS,” said Ibrahim as he recalled the terrifying memory of being shot in the stomach as he tried to tackle the scourge of Turkish drug gangs in Haringey.

It remains to this day a traumatic moment in Ibrahim’s life etched on the father-of-two’s mind and further steeled his determination to mobilise his drive, contacts and influence into a force of good across Lambeth and London.

As a community leader for more than 20 years, he has worked to foster better integration, particularly among ethnic minorities.

He raised cash to set up and run football leagues with over 30 teams aimed at encouraging disadvantaged young people who, otherwise, could have easily found themselves sucked into the hopeless world of anti-social behaviour, knife crime and drug addiction.

His roots in proud Kurdish traditions and principles have

provided a solid core to his work.

While his family life with wife Raife Aytek and two young sons, Mirzan, 9, and Alan, 4, give him

reason to pursue a better future.

At the age of 19, Ibrahim was elected chair of Halkevi, one of the UK’s largest community centres serving 16,000 people, where he led a team of 30 staff working to integrate Turkish and Kurdish communities.

After a spell as the chair of a national Kurdish/Turkish charity, he is now the founder and director of the Centre for Turkish Studies (CEFTUS), Centre for Kurdish Progress, the founder of the Telgraf newspaper for Kurdish and Turkish Communities and the London Kurdish Film Festival and the publisher of this community newspaper, Lambeth Life.

The latest stage in that community work and public service saw Ibrahim elected as the Mayor of Lambeth. It is an office he will take over after working alongside the present incumbent, Councillor Christopher Wellbelove, as

Ibrahim with his family deputy over the past year.

“It was one of the proudest days of my life,” said Ibrahim.

“I love Lambeth and representing the place I live with my family and where my businesses are is a huge honour.”

That this civic recognition

cleaner, safer place to live and work and to tackle those key issues like the lack of affordable housing,” he says.

As well as employing dozens of local people, Ibrahim’s string of restaurants are fast earning him a reputation as one of the

Ibrahim was profiled in 2016 by the Evening Standard A feature in The Times in March last year

Ibrahim’s profile in the Financial Times

comes just a year after he was elected by Labour to represent Bishop’s Ward, where he lives with his family, is a clear sign that far more is still to be achieved.

However, Ibrahim, while unfazed by the task ahead, is under no illusions that in one of the capital’s most diverse boroughs, where housing, transport, air pollution and the need to protect public services are at the top of the newmayor’s priority list, many tougher challenges are yet to come.

The fifth-most densely populated English district faces uncertainty – with the outcome of Brexit set to play a major part in the local economy.

“There is no quick fix, but I will be doing everything I can as Mayor to try to make Lambeth a

rising stars of the capital’s restaurant industry.

In 2013, he set up the British Kebab Awards to celebrate the success of the many migrants who, like him, came to the UK and set up thriving small businesses.

The annual event has now become a firm fixture in the calendar for politicians of all parties.

Ibrahim even persuaded Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a staunch vegetarian, to attend this year’s event at the Park Plaza Hotel in March.

The other guests included Conservative mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, Conservative MP Bob Seeley and arch Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois. In previous years, gu-

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19 5

FROM REFUGEE TO MAYORAL ROBES. Ibrahim at a citizenship ceremony

The Independent’s story following the Westminster attack

A feature in the New Statesman describing Ibrahim as “the best-connected man in politics” ests have included London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Mischievously, Ibrahim also presented research for the event to show the average kebab eater was more likely to have voted Remain rather than Leave.

He has even created a new beer, bira london, specially brewed to be eaten with kebabs.

Perhaps aware that politics is no place for the shy, Ibrahim hit the headlines in January by warning of the dangers of Brexit as he printed a message on receipts in his restaurants in pro-Remain Lambeth.

It read: “Brexit is bad. Immigrants make Britain Great! They also cooked and served your food today.”

Despite getting death threats, Ibrahim refused to remove the message celebrating immigration which he felt compelled to write on the day MPs voted on Theresa May’s Brexit plan.

While he vows to work tire-

lessly for everyone in Lambeth, he is a first and foremost a Labour politician.

Ibrahim remains heartily convinced that Labour is the only party that can deliver for local residents and businesses.

As the Labour candidate in the 2017 General Election, he managed to turn the once-safe Tory seat of Cities of London and Westminster into a marginal seat with a 9% swing that saw Conservative MP Mark Field’s 10,000 majority slashed to just over 3,000.

In Lambeth, Ibrahim was previously the membership secretary for his ward before becoming a councillor and was the Fundraising Officer for Vauxhall Constituency Labour Party.

He set up SME4Labour – a group dedicated to building Labour’s support among small firms and the self-employed.

His efforts to promote small businesses and a positive message on the benefits of migration

have seen him featured by a host of publications and broadcasters including the Evening Standard, The Times, the New Statesman, the BBC and Sky News.

He has also been a major fundraiser for the party and organised successful events for senior figures including Mr Corbyn, Sadiq Khan and the late Tessa Jo-

well.

Representing the borough at events ranging from the Stockwell Festival and Remembrance Sunday to citizenship ceremonies at the Town Hall and charity fundraisers at Brockwell Lido he cuts a very recognisable figure.

He said: “I’m looking forward to an exciting year representing

Lambeth as its mayor. I’ll be doing all I can to support this fantastic and diverse community.

“I care passionately about Lambeth and would encourage everyone to get involved in helping make Lambeth an even better place to live and work.”

From the teenage refugee forced to flee the political turmoil of Turkey to the successful businessman, community leader, charity fundraiser and politician, Ibrahim remains humble about his achievements.

His pride of attaining the high office of Lambeth’s Mayor far outweighs the hardships he has faced.

Yet, clearly, as he is yet to celebrate his 40th birthday, this is a journey far from over.

It can only a matter of time before Ibrahim Dogus is opening doors on the other side of Westminster Bridge.

Read more about Lambeth’s new Mayor at ibrahimdogus.org and follow him on Twitter at @ Ibrahim_Dogus or on Facebook at @IbrahimDogusLabour

6

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

Delivering for the nation Order on the app tonight

fullpage.indd 3

12/12/2018 12:46

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19 Lambethbased artists Skengdo and AM

Met’s crackdown on youth violence takes aim at Lambeth’s musicians In mid-January, the Croydon Crown Court sentenced the Lambethbased artists Skengdo and AM to nine months in prison, to be carried out as a two-year suspended sentence.

Charlie Blue Thomas The sentence was reached after video evidence of the duo performing ‘Attempted 1.0’ in December 2018 at Koko was uploaded online. That leak meant they were found to be breaching an injunction issued to them by the Met police in August the same year that had banned them from live performances of the aforementioned song.

The Met accused the pair of ‘inciting violence’ in the song – a crime for which they haven’t been charged. The indictment can be seen as part of a wider campaign made by both the British media and Scotland Yard that seeks to place the brunt of blame for London’s recent spate of youth

violence and knife crime on the musical genre known as UK drill, which Skengdo and AM are associated with. The charge has been taken up by senior figures of the Met including its Commissioner, Cressida Dick, who cites lyrics that glamorise violence as the cause for the crackdown.

Drill, a sub-genre of rap, first emerged in 2010 from Chicago.

Its sound - characterised by bleak lyrics delivered in a baritone over sparse kickdrums and closely clustered trap snares – reflects the gang violence and poverty that blights Chicago’s South Side. It is not surprising that the genre resonated in south London, which is where its UK strain first took root. The parallels between the two cities are numerous. They certainly haven’t been lost on Skengdo and AM, who collaborated with the Chicago-born drill pioneer, Chief Keef, on the track ‘Pitbulls’ in 2018.

Chicago earnt the nickname “Chiraq” after the city’s homicide rate overtook the number of U.S military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Similarly, south-east London’s dist-

rict of Peckham has been given the alias “Pecknam”, after the Vietnam War. It begs the question of who the combatants in this urban warzone are. In London, the Met argue that it is drill musicians themselves, with Commander Jim Stockley going so far as to compare them to terrorists. The Met’s response has been to target drill musicians (such as Skengdo and AM). In May 2018, 30 drill music videos that were claimed to inspire gang violence were taken down from YouTube at the Met’s behest.

Censoring musicians has only been one of the weapons in the police force’s much wider arsenal being used to tackle knife crime and gang violence. The reduction in police numbers – 20,000 have been cut since the Tories came to power in 2010 – has been matched with an increase in powers. New measures include ‘tactical contact’ (in which escaping suspects on mopeds are rammed off their vehicles), the enhanced right to use stop-and-search (under the ‘sus’ laws), and plans to launch armed foot-patrols through residential ‘red’ zones. Police officers have expressed concern about

the repercussions of putting these draconian measures in to practice, not because they’re concerned about infringements on civil liberties, but more that they might face personal repercussions. Chairman of the Met Police Federation, Ken Marsh, claimed that “the public want this approach used and politicians tell them to do it, but it’s going to end up with my officers gripping the rail of the dock because they have stopped someone in this way.” These officers have found a friend in Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who assured an anxious crowd at the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Policing and Crime Commissioners that he would “reduce bureaucracy”. In essence, Javid was tacitly granting Met officers impunity from organisations such as the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct).

The roll-out of the Met’s new strategy will inevitably affect the working-class black community that they claim to protect. Evidence shows that even tactics which don’t have an inbuilt-racism incorporated within them, will be unevenly distributed by

7

the racist biases of those that wield them. Black people are four times more likely to have tasers and restraints used on them, and roughly eight times more likely to be stopped-and-searched – a figure which has doubled since 1999. However, the Met’s overt penalisation of black communities does not correlate to any violent crime figured. On the Met’s database for criminal organisations – known as the “gangs matrix” – Amnesty reports that “more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of them are black, a disproportionate number given the Met’s own figures show that only 27 per cent of those responsible for serious youth violence are black”.

Black people are not only excessively targeted, but their access to legally challenging the Met’s discriminatory nature is also being squeezed. 35% of black Londoner’s can be described as low-paid (compared to 19% of whites). After slashing legal aid by 40%, the Tory party have even further diminished the prospects of working-class black communities being able to ever hold the Met accountable for the injustices they face.

Drill music has been linked to knife crime. Drill artist M-Trap penned lyrics about Jermaine Goupall, a 15-year old boy, who he went on to fatally stab in Croydon.

Banning UK drill music, however, does not stop knife crime. What it does do is perpetuate a myth of “black criminality” that puts black lives in danger. Music can be used as one of two pieces of “verifiable evidence” that warrant individuals being put on the “gangs matrix” – possibly the reason that up to 1,500 people have ended up on the database who the police have “assessed as posing no danger of committing violence.” In 2018, armed police were called on a group of black men making a music video after a member of the public had reported seeing them with a firearm. Thankfully, none of them were arrested or hurt. However, militarising the police force does increase the prospects that someone will be. Commissioner Cressida Dick herself was embroiled in a situation in which someone was, in 2005, after an innocent man – Jean Paul de Menezes – was shot dead by a force under her command in Stockwell tube station after he was mistaken for a terrorist.

The optics of being “tough on crime” are alluring. But sentencing artists like Skengdo and AM is, at best, performative window-dressing in the battle to stop London’s violence. Instead, we need to be questioning the real culprit, Tory austerity, and the people who have implemented it.

8

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

It’s Freezing in LA! Guerilla Gardening and the Art of Plant-based Protest Alexander Harris

Gardening and cultivation have a rich history as forms of protest. In the 17th century, protocommunist groups like the Diggers set about growing fruit and vegetables on St George’s Hill in Surrey, less than 30 miles from Lambeth. Enthusiastically rejecting notions of private property, they set about building a more egalitarian order, rooted in the tending of the soil, as well as the soul. Continuing in this grand, if erratic, tradition, guerrilla gardeners are contemporary activists, who circumvent private property laws in order to plant and cultivate all manner of plant-based life in neglected urban areas.

Although undeniably a global movement, spanning L.A. to Melbourne, guerrilla gardening in Britain found its earliest and most enduring form of expression in Lambeth. Since beginning his blog, guerrillagardening.org, in 2004, Richard Reynolds of Elephant & Castle has often been regarded as spearheading the movement in the UK. Deliberately drawing attention to continuing privatisation in London’s ‘war against neglect and scarcity of public space’, it is perhaps unsurprising that Reynolds conducts much of his work in and around his home borough. That Elephant & Castle remains central in the debate around gentrification, with its ever growing number of luxury high-rises – gated communities in the sky – only serves to add a sense of urgency to the plant-based activism conducted in the area.

Whilst there are ample histories of the movement, in the form of books, blogs, and TED talks, exactly how it functions as a form of protest deserves closer attention. It is also worth exploring what guerrilla gardening positions itself against, and what it says about the current

The fruits of Richard Reynolds’ labour: lavender beds on the border of Lambeth and Southwark state of urban spaces – as places to be lived in and experienced both at an aesthetic and a political level. Emerging from a tradition that emphasizes the local, democratic, and ecological as fundamental aspects of a just society, guerilla gardening is both individualist and communalist, predicated on a firm belief that individuals can make a difference in altering their material conditions. Significantly, activists operate outside of both state and corporate control, advocating personal initiative, self-sufficiency, and cooperation, whilst blurring the lines between public and private activities.

To garden publicly – and illegally – is not just to render the private visible, but to turn a typically introverted act of leisure into a quietly resilient, cooperative form of protest. Guerilla gardening is saturated in the language of defiance, warfare, strategy. The very name is suggestive of its transgressive nature, organized along paramilitary lines, often in secrecy at night, by volunteers in the name of a greater cause. Indeed, Reynolds’ website

playfully gives those seeking ways to get involved the opportunity to ‘join an existing cell’. Yet, this is also indicative of the humour that lies at the heart of this deceptively gentle strain of activism.

Guerrilla gardening is perhaps best thought of as a form of organic graffiti, a civic expression of dissatisfaction with both the material and social conditions of the lived urban environment. Much graffiti draws its power from its ability to embody despair, apathy, and alienation, demanding to be acknowledged, refusing to be forgotten.

The floral markings left by guerrilla gardeners are instilled with an obvious hopefulness; if we are shocked by them, it is not out of discomfort or fear of their ugliness, as tags scrawled on neglected buildings are so often perceived. We are shocked by their incongruous beauty, their humour, their refusal to accept rage as the default position of protest.

Nevertheless guerrilla gardening remains powerful, serving to highlight the ways in which those with power continue to neglect, ig-

nore and profit off the hollowingout of public space. In the UK at least, guerrilla gardening can partly be seen as a reaction against a certain conception of how a city ought to look. This might be described as the ‘piazza-fication’ of civic space, and is largely based on a misplaced idealisation of the renaissance city, particularly as the silver bullet for solving problems of urban regeneration. This is a phenomenon whereby powerful corporate bodies, usually developers, acquire ownership of prominent sites and redevelop them – read: concrete over – along slick, private lines, whilst giving these areas the veneer of a public space.

Aesthetically, piazza-fication emerges through the use of an updated classical iconography.

Obelisks, statues, and columns, sometimes even given the illusion of centuries of wear, are implemented to create the impression of a renaissance square. Examples abound, but key sites include Paternoster Square, which surrounds St Paul’s, and is owned by the Mitsubishi Estate Co; the rather surre-

ally named More London Square, home of the Greater London Authority, is owned by More London Estates; and Granary Square, owned by the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership. All highly visible areas, apparently there to serve the public good, but only at the landowners’ leisure – one need only glance at how members of the Occupy movement were treated as trespassers, when protesting outside the churchyard of Wren’s cathedral, to understand what guerrilla gardeners are up against.

It is ironic that these places, professing the values of a modern public-spirited city, deliberately drawing on the architectural vocabularies of the Medici’s Florence, the Forum, and the Agora, should fail so utterly to live up to their supposed intentions when used for genuinely civic purposes. Indeed, nowhere is this more obvious than at St George’s Circus, on the Lambeth and Southwark border. Once awash with plant life – largely thanks to guerilla gardeners – this historic site has been transformed, completely paved over by developers. This has happened within five years. If you looked at original proposals from 2015, you would notice a striking difference to what lies there now: the promise of continued abundance has not been kept. Yet the developers seemed at pains to show that the much-loved flora would remain after completion, cynically acknowledging concerns of the community.

The work of guerrilla gardeners serves to highlight the janus-face of these places, exposing and refusing to accept such sterile and homogenized vistas, that are both aesthetically bland and politically toxic. In doing so, they cheerfully contest the idea that the urban environment should be owned, planned, and controlled by unaccountable interests, corporate or otherwise, gesturing to a possible future that is more ecologically and socially just. Refusing to descend into cynicism, prefering to stick out its tongue, this plant-based protest weaponises surprise, colour, and sheer fecundity, encouraging us to become active and confident participants in shaping urban life, without waiting for permission. Guerilla gardening implores us to ask more of our civic spaces, and to question those bodies that regulate them. The way forwards is obvious: we must cultivate our cities!

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

9

Brixton roads to be transformed for healthier travel The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) announced on 5 March that Lambeth Council has been successful in its multi-million bid to TfL’s ‘Liveable Neighbourhoods’ fund.

A Brixton liveable neighbourhood is the cornerstone of Lambeth’s ambitious new draft Transport Strategy that was launched before Christmas. The strategy looks to transform the way we think about transport, putting people before traffic, and enabling Lambeth residents to live healthier lives whilst creating better places for everyone to enjoy.

Low traffic neighbourhoods Improving Brixton town centre is at the heart of Lambeth’s bid, with the transformation of Atlantic Road being complemented with bold pro-

Guy’s and St Thomas’ have joined forces with the Metropolitan Police to encourage more staff to report violent and abusive behaviour by patients and visitors as part of Operation Cavell.

The move comes as the Trust revealed there had been 219 physical assaults on nurses and other frontline staff from April to September 2018.

It marks the next phase of the Keep our staff safe campaign which has seen Guy’s and St Thomas’ roll out body worn cameras for security staff earlier in 2018 after successfully trialling them throughout 2017.

Operation Cavell is supported by a pact which commits the two organisations to build trust among staff so they feel confident when reporting assaults, threats, or violence by patients and visitors.

Dame Eileen Sills, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “We want staff to feel safe and supported when they come to work.

Whilst I absolutely understand that coming to hospital can be a very stressful experience any unprovoked violence and aggression towards staff is unacceptable.

“We have made a commitment with Lambeth and Southwark police to work together to tackle violence and antisocial behaviour towards our staff and make sure any offenders are pursued through the courts if necessary.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Messinger is in charge of Lambeth and Southwark police

Artist impression of Atlantic Road

posals to create ‘low traffic neighbourhoods’ in adjacent residential areas.

This will reduce rat-running and traffic in local residential streets so that people can move around more safely, whilst also vastly improving the air quality.

Last week, Cllr Claire Holland, Cabinet Member for Environment and Clean Air, visited Waltham Forest who were the recipients of an earlier round of funding from the same scheme. She saw the impact

that reducing traffic in local neighbourhoods has had in allowing more children and families to travel from their homes to the park, to school and to the shops by making their local area more attractive and safer for them to do so.

Word from the Cabinet Cllr Holland said: “We are committed to making our roads safer for everyone – particularly our young people – to get around by walking and cycling, to improve both people’s health and our toxic air, so this funding from the Mayor of London and TfL is fantastic news.

“We have looked long and hard at how to improve Brixton’s transport system in a way that makes the roads safer and cleaner but also keeps things moving.

“Improving local neighbourhoods so that they are no longer dominated by car traffic, and enabling people to travel more safely and actively, is at the heart of this project.

Prioritising those that are wal-

Police help NHS to tackle violence and aggression and signed the pact for the Met. He said: “We do not tolerate violence against our own officers and staff – when they are threatened or assaulted, we are robust in pursuing the offenders and bringing them to justice.

“We are committed to providing the same protection under the law to our colleagues across healt-

hcare services. When NHS staff report an incident, we will put the victim first and take positive action.”

The latest figures from Guy’s and St Thomas’ show the number of physical assaults has decreased from 274 in the same period in 2017 to 219. This has been attributed to the increased use of body worn security cameras and the support

and guidance given to staff about de-escalating situations. Other statistics show that in the six months from April to September 2018: • 38 patients have been excluded from the Trust which means they will only be provided with emergency treatment – up from 29 in the same period in 2017 • 236 behaviour contracts have

king, cycling or using public transport address all of these things and will be beneficial for local residents and businesses and make the centre of Brixton a much healthier, more attractive destination.”

Leading the way on clean air The bid will supple me nt Lambeth’s ambitious green agenda, which has seen the council become a London leader on carbon reduction and clean air initiatives. Lambeth became the first London borough to declare a climate emergency in January this year and committed to bringing forward its target to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

The council is also already investing in young people’s health by installing green screens in our primary schools; trialing the School Streets timed road closure project; vastly upgrading the borough’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure and investing in safer cycling infrastructure to enable everyone to feel confident to cycle.

been issued – these explain why that person’s behaviour was unacceptable and that any repeat will mean they are excluded from the Trust – up from 140 in the same period in 2017.

Jayne King, Head of Security at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “Being attacked should never just be part of the job for our staff. Whilst the number of incidents is still far too high I’m pleased to see the body cameras worn by the security team are acting as a deterrent and helping us to issue more sanctions to offenders.”

The Keep our staff safe campaign includes: • posters in hospitals and community sites using anonymised real stories of staff who have been attacked or abused • an updated guide for managing challenging behaviour by patients and visitors, and a training film for staff • training courses in conflict resolution • working with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust on bespoke training for staff based in the community, such as health visitors.

In September 2018 a new law was passed that doubled the maximum sentence from six to 12 months in prison for assaulting an emergency worker, including healthcare workers. There is already a specific offence for assaulting a police officer, but for the first time similar protection was extended to anyone carrying out the work of an emergency service.

10 LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

UPGRADE FOR LOUGHBOROUGH CHILDREN’S CENTRE

Schoolchildren visiting the building work in progress at Loughborough Children’s Centre can’t wait to use the new facilities once the £halfmillion building work is done.

Developments for delivery

Local children took a tour of the building works for the newlook Loughborough Children’s Centre in Brixton. The Centre has begun refurbishments costing nearly half a million pounds as part of Lambeth Early Action Partnership’s (LEAP) ongoing ‘Capital Project’ – the £4 million redevelopment project of 11 different early years spaces in Lambeth.

LEAP Director Laura McFarlane said: “It was fantastic to go down to Loughborough and see the work well under way.

These improvements are going to make a huge difference in terms of the activities Loughborough Children’s Centre can put on and to the long-term development of children. It was really nice to have the children here and they all were really excited to see the progress and can’t wait to use the new facilities.”

Word from the Cabinet Cllr Jennifer Brathwaite, the Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council, said: “This investment in Loughborough Children’s Centre builds on the important work being carried out in the borough to help young people get the best possible start in life.

I look forward to this refurbishment being completed as part of the LEAP Capital Project and to joining the local community for a celebratory re-opening.”

The work includes a new outdoor space for play, a buggy store, and a new entrance. Changes inside the building will: • improve space for the delivery of health services • refurbish spaces for the delivery of stay and play activities and groupwork.

Making progress

LEAP capital projects Works at Loughborough are carried out by PA Finlay & Company Ltd. LEAP’s Capital Project (supported by the National Lottery Community Fund) has been taking shape since November 2017 and has already seen improvements to the Mulberry Centre, Max Roach One O’clock Club and St Stephens Children’s Centre amongst others. All 11 sites should be completed by this Autumn.

For receiving securely or shipping safely Mail Boxes Etc has it covered As international packing and shipping specialists, Mail Boxes Etc. has the expertise to make it happen. Anything from important documents and samples to a new product line – MBE can pack it and ship it anywhere in the world.

WORLDWIDE PARCEL DELIVERY

• • •

Ship across the UK, Europe and the World Packaging Services & Supplies International customs clearence

MAILBOX SERVICES Important note: For two colour printing of both the logo and block logo, the logotype drop shadow is printed as 40% PW blueoverprintedon PW ed, r to give a‘dark red’ shadow effect, as with the CMYK version.

Powered by trusted worldwide delivery services We ship with UPS

Mail Boxes Etc., Vauxhall 334 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5HY 020 7735 3153 info@mbevauxhall.co.uk www.mbevauxhall.co.uk

Mail Boxes Etc., Clapham 101 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7TB 020 7622 3857 info@mbeclapham.co.uk www.mbeclapham.co.uk

• • • • • •

Base your business at our address Option to use us as your company registered office Mail forwarding to your home office Package acceptance from any carrier 24 hour access available Private & confidential service

• Worldwide Parcel Delivery • Mailbox Rental • Postal Services • Office Supplies and Stationery • Copy and Print

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19 11

Lambeth announces children’s centre plans cillors about Sunnyhill children’s centre, the council is now proposing to keep the service at Sunnyhill instead.

Coin Street family and children’s centre

Plans to protect 18 of Lambeth’s children centres despite a significant reduction in government funding have been announced

by Lambeth council. A report to the council’s Cabinet on Monday April 15 details how recent government cuts and changes to grant funding means there is £1.4million less available to spend on the centres.

The council has consulted widely with residents so they have been able to have their say in directing the remaining money with more than 1,000 people responding to the consultation, both online and at events.

The council has worked to minimise the impact of the cuts by protecting services in the borough’s most deprived areas and the proposals will ensure 11 core centres and 7 link centres will continue to provide early years services to families. Five centres will have their funding withdrawn as the council seeks to manage the impact of government grant changes.

The council has also looked at the wide range of other services in Lambeth for children who are under four-years-old and their families when proposing where the savings would be made, in a bid to minimise the impacts. This includes creating better links to health services to support young children, and new early years hubs on our most deprived estates.

Word from the Cabinet Councillor Jennifer Brathwaite, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “We are proud to have an excellent network of 23 children’s centres in Lambeth, and proud that we have kept these vital services for Lambeth families despite almost nine years of cuts from the government.

“This is not a saving we want to make, but one we now have to make. The council’s proposals will ensure that Lambeth retains 18 children’s centres, the third most in London, and will ensure the borough continues to have a comprehensive early years’ service for our residents.

“We have consulted on proposals to change some centres; there have been meetings with parents and carers across the borough, and the council has listened to all the feedback from the consultation before finalising these proposals.

“In response to feedback via the consultation the council proposes to keep the service at Sunnyhill Children’s Centre in Streatham.”

The council proposals will see children’s centres reorganised into six groups by area in the borough, with one centre being the lead for each area. The proposals come as the council has had to

save more than £230 million since 2010, with the need to another £38 million in savings over the next four years The proposed centres are: • Eleven core children’s centres offering a full programme of activities every morning and afternoon throughout the week. Services available will include health visiting services, stay and play, crèches, parenting support and adult learning activities such as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes.

• Seven link centres that will be open every morning or afternoon and offer a range of children’s centre activities, including stay and play sessions and support for parents and families.

• The 18 centres will be grouped into six cluster areas, and in each cluster area there will be one lead provider responsible for delivering the services across the children’s centres. The lead provider will employ a team of staff including Better Start workers who will provide one to one support for families living in the area who need additional help.

For the five remaining centres, the council is working with schools and communities try and ensure that no building actually closes and that as many services as possible continue there, such as free childcare for eligible twoyear-olds and free nursery places for three-year-olds.The council will run a further consultation, in the Streatham area, as a result of changes to the original proposals.

As a result of Woodmansterne school no longer seeking to run children’s centre services and the feedback from families and coun-

Coin Street is one of five children’s centres in Lambeth to have vital funding cut. Of the outcome, Coin Street’s Director of Community, David Hopkins, says: “Both parents and staff are devastated about Lambeth’s decision to pull the plug on their support for a local children’s centre for Waterloo families, after a proud 10 year history.

“Hundreds of families spoke up in defence of the life changing work which goes on at Coin Street family and children’s centre during the consultation, and highlighted Coin Street as a vital community resource for their children as they grow into young adults.

“The decision means Waterloo parents will now be expected to travel to Kennington or Oval to access their nearest Lambeth children’s centres, which are already oversubscribed. There will no longer be a local Children’s Centre within pram pushing distance, and inevitably children in our neighbourhood will be worse off in those crucial first five years of life.

“Our local MP Kate Hoey has pointed to the injustice of the situation, arguing that much more of the significant revenue Lambeth Council generates in Waterloo from development should stay in the area and be reinvested in vital facilities for the community such as Coin Street family and children’s centre.

“In the report which swung the axe on our children’s centre, Lambeth Council pledged to identify alternative sources of funding for children and families living in the Coin Street area. We hope these are not empty words and that council officers and councillors find a solution before September which keeps Coin Street open for Lambeth families” adds David.

Consultation feedback The largest response to the consultation from across the Borough related to Coin Street.

About Coin Street the report says: The primary concern raised through comments submitted via the survey and within consul-

tation meetings about proposals for the North Lambeth area was about proposed withdrawal of funding at Coin Street.

Coin Street children’s centre users and local stakeholders expressed concern about the withdrawal of services for Lambeth families, and the challenges of travelling to the nearest centre (Ethelred) to access services which were already oversubscribed.Over the 240 comments online around the withdrawal for funding for Coin Street 52% of these related to the need for local centres and accessibility and 49% praised the quality and variety of services offered. Around a quarter (27%) raised the impact closure would have on children and families while, 20% asked about other sources of funding. One in five (18%) asked us to keep all centres open.

In both the online consultation responses and in the consultation meeting held at Coin Street, current and previous children’s centres users spoke about the significant impact the centre had on their lives and those of the children in the early years and as they grew to adolescence.

There were strong views expressed that the children’s centre represented the only community resources available to children and families in the immediate area, and that it was a focal point in creating local community networks.

The fact that there is significant development happening in the north of the borough was raised, with questions as to how the council was investing the funding that it received as a result. Specific questions about the use of CIL funding arose in meetings with children’s centre users and with trustees.

Many respondents online and through the meeting felt that Coin Street or their local community was being unfairly targeted by the council under the proposals, and queried the relative proximity of Henry Fawcett and Ethelred Children’s centres. Concerns were also raised about proposals at Henry Fawscett, Ethelred and St Stephens. These concerns were typically the more generalised ones outlined above rather than in relation to those individual centres, which would all remain as core centres under these proposals. However parents and children’s centre users responding did also express significant concern about the impact on families currently using Coin Street and the distance they would have to travel.

12 LAMBETH LIFE

Lambeth Life paid a visit to the Migration Museum, newly selected as one of the Mayor of Lambeth Ibrahim Dogus’ chosen charities, which explores the movement of people to and from Britain.

May / June 19

THE WORLD ON Y

By James Willsher The Migration Museum opened in April, 2017, after previously developing as a roving and pop-up exhibition at venues including the Southbank Centre, Hackney Museum, National Maritime Museum and National Library of Scotland.

Inspired by Ellis Island in the US, it follows Britain’s story of migration from the Romans, AngloSaxons, Vikings and Normans through the age of empire to the modern era of two world wars, Windrush, the European Union (EU) and today’s refugee crisis.

High profile supporters include actors Riz Ahmed, Joanna Lumley, and Naomie Harris, as well as author Sir Salman Rushdie.

As you enter, on your right is a huge black and white photograph taken half a century ago, showing Asian and white children stood beneath part of an advertising billboard. Only the words ALL WELCOME are visible above, but chillingly there is also far right graffiti.

The children forever play on.

It’s not just about history - one of the museum’s first exhibitions after opening featured fake lifejackets sold to refugees by traffickers on the dangerous Mediterranean route to Europe by boat; remnants from the now-dismantled Calais Jungle were also displayed, as well as testimonies, sketches and filmed footage.

So far there have been 170,000 visitors, with 7,000 school pupils taking part in visits and an education programme, which has also helped to inform a new GCSE history syllabus.

But how can a museum, housed temporarily in a building awaiting redevelopment, convey the enormous impact of migration over the centuries without becoming overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the history and detail involved?

Matthew Plowright, the museum’s Head of Communications, explains how its latest exhibition Room to Breathe sees past the statistics to tell the stories of people.

He said: “Everywhere has migration stories, but Lambeth in particular resonates on many levels, going all the way back to the Thames and through the history of settlement – there can’t be a more appropriate setting for a migration museum.

“We wanted to put current migration in context. There’s a definite

perception that migration is a contemporary phenomenon, but there are lots of examples throughout history, though that’s not to say there are easy parallels.

“There are over 100 stories that we have collected from people who have arrived here, and we provided a platform for them to tell their own stories in their own words.”

Room to Breathe takes place across seven rooms, each with its own theme based on the real experiences of migrants.

The first thing you see is a wall of boxes, stamped with immigration jargon such as Leave to Remain, and Minimum Income Requirement, reflecting the bureaucratic and impersonal experience migrants have on first arriving.

Matthew says the rest of the exhibition seeks to progress beyond this, moving from legalistic and socio-economic officialdom to restore the highly personal and human heart of migrant stories. You’re encouraged to look in cupboards and open drawers to find hidden testimonies; sitting at a table or in an armchair will trigger audio and visual content – Room to Breathe is an interactive, personal experience.

A bedroom, a wardrobe, a chair; photographs, postcards. They are presented with typed memories from real migrants, telling of how items like a toy, a mirror and a hairbrush can be important as reassuring symbols of the familiar amid a rush of new and unfamiliar experiences.

The nurse who arrived in 1969 from Trinidad and Tobago, who works exhausting hours but lives for getting ready and going out

dancing with her friends; the workplace canteen which offers stodgy, mid-20th century British fare only; the West Indian migrant who served in the RAF and latterly worked on the railways, writing hundreds of letters home to friends and family.

Stand near a display of photographs mounted on the wall and they will spring to life, as personal stories filmed: a young woman’s arriving recollections were of won-

dering why British homes have fewer windows than those in Brazil, and of the unending, oppressive darkness of winter.

Through a door is a bright, spacious kitchen. Recipes are pinned to noticeboards, with stories attached: the husband and wife from Galicia who opened a café in Oxford, and their son who grew up on full English breakfasts. Visitors can contribute their own recipes, but remember to sit at the table – a

LAMBETH LIFE

YOUR DOORSTEP surprise video begins, taking you through real memories.

On shelves are utensils, ingredients and condiments imported from around the world, the contents of the migrant kitchen, each with their own little biography attached: the tea set from a grandmother back home; a pan for making byrek Albanian pastry.

Cookery classes, most recently in Ethiopian cuisine, also take place regularly in the kitchen – check the website for details on how you can take part, but book early as places tend to fill up fast.

From the kitchen on into an art studio, used by a series of migrant artists in residence who host workshops for visitors of all ages and backgrounds, as well as other migrants themselves, and you can admire their works on display; art as a form of therapy and exploration, to reflect experiences both positive and negative.

The fifth room is dedicated to the traditional high street of towns and cities across the land, where so many migrants end up working in shops or restaurants or setting up their own businesses.

A delicatessen is opened, once rare in the UK but now almost ubiquitous thanks to migration; a half-

Pakistani, half-English optometrist ends up learning Spanish and Portuguese in order to better understand her new migrant customers.

Staying with the high street,

Welcome to Italo, Also known as Charlie’s Also known as Jake’s Also known as Lao Tse’s Continental Stores Also known as The Saudi Consulate Also known as Bonnington Square

you move on into a barbershop, and a beauty salon, places where migrants also go to work, to meet and to talk. If you sit in the chairs in front of the mirrors, films of real

ITALO DELICATESSEN

Welcome.

At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow!

What else did John Donne say about us? Not much, but in the shadow of Fire nightclub we learnt to say it for ourselves!

Blow you citizens of South London.

Stand tall you Walking Statues of Liberty all.

Sing your poems and songs you minstrels and whales of the air.

Who does not love it here?

Florence Welch loves it here Kate Tempest loves it here.

Rita Keegan, the Empress of Bonnington Square, loves it here.

And Emrys Baird, wizard of guitar, he loves it here Marie Johnstone, snd Sandra Roe, fizzy lighthouses of the South love it here.

Paul de Freitas, St Ambrose of the square, loves it here Lord Marcus Hills, he loves it here And Lady Tomoko, the beautiful soul, she loves it here Lily Paine, daughter of Tom, daughter of Kirsty, loves it here. and Victoria Conran, the grace incarnate, she loves it here Eve, daughter of Nick and Karen, and her entire family love It here.

Tom and Kirsty, parents of Lily, Beacon of Love’s Kindness, they love it here The late Mary Jean Pierre, founder of freedoms, she loved it here.

Big Martin, late of Strangeways, he loved it here Ruth Morgan, flower of the valleys, she loves it here Marcel, Fatu and Fleur, just arrived, they love it here Rachel et Sophie, les mères de la monde, they love it here Louise Schofield, the Indiana Jones of Bonnington Square, she loves it here Arrow Benjamin et toute famille, they love it here George Samuda, smiling keeper of Heaven’s ear and friend of Shamless the Brave, he loves it here Lewis Khan, Gabriel Pluckrose, Francis Foord Brown, Hugo Dudley, Rory Milanes, nippers of the neighbourhood, now grown to man’s estate, they love it here..

discussions between hairdressers and customers begin to play; it is also hoped to open up the installation as a real barbershop.

Now a desk, displays on the walls, exercise books, little tables and chairs – a school classroom; remember to open the drawers in the tables to find hidden surprises.

Take a seat, and read the stories of migrant pupils’ early memories of school. Maths proves a universal language, transcending as-yet limited English: a student excels at this, and goes on to become a physicist.

A girl arrives in the UK knowing only how to say yes and no. She works hard, becomes a teacher, and then a pioneering headteacher in a struggling east London secondary school, turning it around to success, and is ultimately awarded a CBE. Next, you stop at an extraordinary sight: hundreds of little paper parcels hang suspended from above, all of them handwritten notes of thanks from migrants, addressed to those who helped them through those first, difficult times in the UK. It’s a simple, but arresting installation, and Matthew says these were all written by migrant visitors

May / June 19 13 to the museum, some of whom returned with those benefactors to show them their contribution to the display.

Lastly, there is a café, art gallery and shop filled with intriguing books on migration, including the bestselling Bloody Foreigners: The Story Of Immigration To Britain, by Robert Winder, who is also a trustee of the museum.

There are also t-shirts for sale, featuring a black and white print of Paddington Bear and emblazoned with the legend Immigration Is Not A Crime, which is surely a social media celebrity fashion thing waiting to happen.

Events such as film screenings, book launches, knitting sessions and lectures take place every few days, so make sure to have a look at the museum’s website for the latest information.

As Britain prepares to leave the EU, there has never been a more appropriate time to pay a visit to this highly engaging and meticulously well researched exhibition.

You could spend all day here, and still not read, watch and hear everyone’s stories, which perhaps reflects the very nature of migration itself: endlessly diverse, fascinating, challenging.

The Migration Museum is free to enter, and open from Thursday to Sunday until July – for more information, visit migrationmuseum.org

Dame Chantal Coady and James Booth esquire, our Adam and Eve, they love it here Miss Natalie Hassely, worker divine, loves it here.

Sweet Baby Otis, when he’s here he loves it here.

Dr Christian Carrit, sister to David, mother to Luke, loves it here And Luke her son, who teaches the world what it forgot of love, he loves it here And Primo the prince, he too, he loves it here Swami Jake, Dr Gianinna, Medical Orderly Hacine, Sister in charge of ward operations Eline, Chalet girl Emily, schoolgirl Tennis Champ Diana Hambira , Schoolboy Brain Surgeon Suvera Hambira , Ria, Bryan, Jeff, and all of you love it here.

OPEN MONDAYS TO FRIDAYS 9.30 am - 3.00 pm

ADRESS 13 Bonnington Square, SW8 1TE

SATURDAYS 10.00 am - 4.00 pm

CONTACT NUMBER 0207 450 3773

SUNDAYS 10.00 am - 4.00 pm

EMAIL italo.delicatessen@gmail.com

14 LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS AND RUNNERSUP: Just Eat Best Delivery Winner: Batman Grill Highly Recommended: Wallington Express Customer Satisfaction Winner: Uni Kebab Best Value Restaurant Winner: Veyso’s Romford Highly Recommended: Ruyam Fine Dining Restaurant Winner: Skewd Kitchen Best Kebab Restaurant in North and West London Winner: Testi Restaurant Highly Recommended: Best Kebab Restaurant in South and East London Winner: Lara Grill Best Kebab Restaurant Regional Winner: Alim-Et Restaurant Highly Recommended: Turknaz Restaurant Best Takeaway in London Winner: Archway Kebab Best Takeaway Regional Winner: Master Kebabs Kebab Van of the Year Winner: Ahmed’s Bar-B-Q

7TH BRITISH KEBAB AWARDS WINNERS 2019 The kings and queens of the kebab industry were crowned on 18 March at a glittering ceremony to celebrate their £2.8billion contribution to the British economy.

The 7th Lambeth-based British Kebab Awards took place in the ballroom of the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in front of more than 1,200 guests including more than 110 MPs and members of the House of Lords.

Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, attended and addressed the event. Amongst over 100 MPs and Lords, were Shadow Secretary of State for Education Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development Dan

Carden and Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Andrew Gwynne.

Also in attendance were Conservative candidate for the London Mayoralty, Shaun Bailey, Joanne McCartney AM, Leonie Cooper AM, and Amjad Bashir MEP. Winners took to the stage triumphing in 16 categories, ranging from Chef of the Year, to Fine Dining, to Kebab Van of the Year, as well as eight regional awards for the best kebab restaurants across the UK. Tens of thousands of members of the public had voted for more than 5,000 local restaurants and takeaways in the competition, around one in four of the estimated 20,000 throughout the UK. The winners were taken from a shortlist of 155 entries judged by a panel including Labour MP Jonat-

han Reynolds; Assistant General Secretary of Unite, Steve Turner; Chief Political Correspondent of the Financial Times, Jim Pickard; and Cobra Beer Sales Director, Samson Sohail.

The annual event is the only one to recognise the contribution made by the kebab industry to the British economy - worth more than £2.8 billion a year, supporting around 200,000 jobs across restaurants, suppliers and the food industry.

Graham Corfield, UK Managing Director of awards sponsor Just Eat, said: “There are so many brilliant finalists in this year’s 16 categories, all of which have been nominated due to their significant contribution to the industry. It’s incredibly important to celebrate the thousands of kebab restaurants across the UK and we’re delighted that we’re able to sponsor

the British Kebab Awards for another year.”

Ibrahim Dogus, Lambeth-based restaurateur and founder of the British Kebab Awards, said: “The kebab is an unsung cornerstone of high streets across the country, and the simply superb quality of this year’s entries shows that British small businesses can more than compete on a world stage of cuisine. What is also just as important is that we must not let Brexit hinder the UK’s flourishing restaurant and takeaway industries, which employ so many people often from migrant backgrounds.”

Every day, more than 1.3m kebabs are sold across Britain from over 20,000 kebab outlets selling 2,500 tonnes of lamb and chicken doner each week, while 200 doner kebab manufacturers see a combined turnover in excess of £750m.

Best Newcomer Restaurant Winner: Doner & Gyros Aylesbury Highly Recommended: Usta Highly Recommended: Antep Kitchen Oxford Best Kebab House in Scotland Winner: Ada Restaurant Highly Recommended: Verdo BBQ Restaurant Best Kebab House in Northern Ireland Winner: Chaska Enniskillen Best Kebab House in Wales Winner: Golden BBQ Winner: Wales Kebab Chef of the Year Winner: Ahmet Kabayel / Pircio Young Chef of the Year Winner: Bekzod Khamrakulov / Hazev Sustainability Award Winner: I Am Doner

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19 15

Residents rally to oppose proposed Kennington Stage development On Monday 8th April more than 150 local residents joined a public meeting at the Cinema Museum to voice their concerns over a proposed private residential development on the site of the former “Woodlands” nursing home. Plans include a 29 storey tower block and a four storey ‘mansion’ block.

Organised and chaired by Harminder Brainch from community action group Stop the Blocks, the meeting brought residents together with Neil Sams, Development Director for the developer, Anthology; Lambeth Labour councillors Jon Davies and David Amos; and Southwark Liberal Democrat councillor Graham Neale.

Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall and Sarah Lewis, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Vauxhall were also present at the meeting. Kicking off the meeting, Brainch said: “We absolutely recognise the need for redevelopment, more affordable housing, protection of conservation areas and protection of community assets. But we also want to have a proper consultation and that’s why we’re here today.”

Sams, representing Anthology, commented: “We’re very fortunate in that this is a very pleasant area of Kennington, adjacent to a Zone 1 station. I think the existing development proposals are the right

solution for the site.”

Residents then took the floor, asking questions of both the developer and Lambeth Council.

Concerns were expressed over the height and density of the development (including likely wind tunnel effects), the extent to which it will comply with the social, economic and environmental parameters laid out in the Lambeth Local Plan, and the rationale for the £21.8m loan received by Anthology from the Greater London Assembly’s Land Fund. Many residents also expressed concern about the development’s absence

of social housing.

Councillor Jon Davies, who is also a trustee of the Cinema Museum (whose future security has been cited as a key benefit of the proposed plans) said: “Both councillor David Amos and I are as one on this. We think the development is too big and the massing is too great.”

Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall, asked Sams: “How did you come up with your density definitions?

You have defined this as a ‘central’ area. The definition of ‘urban’ would be much more this area. Your proposed density should be much

Lambeth shares learning lessons with Myanmar Lambeth council hosted a two day visit from the Myanmar Ministry of Education, sharing information on adult learning with representatives of the Southeast Asian nation. The Directors from the Ministry of Education were in borough at the end of January and hosted by council staff from the Lambeth Adult Learning Service.

Myanmar formed a Department of Alternative Education in 2016 to lead on developing an equivalent

to the adult learning sector in the UK. Three directors from the new department visited three adult learning providers across the UK as part of their wider visit.

Their aim was to learn about building the capacity of their staff to develop their new education plans,

and how to run them outside the school system in Myanmar.

Cllr Jenny Brathwaite, Deputy Leader of the Council, said: “We were happy to share our expertise when asked. We hugely value adult learning in Lambeth and hope that sharing good practise with the rep-

much less. You have to be sensitive to the area.”

Sams confirmed that the area had been classified as ‘central’, deeming the proposed development appropriate for the chosen site: “We are 800m from a major town centre at Elephant and Castle. We believe this to be a central site.

This site lends itself to a dense development.”

Sarah Lewis, prospective parliamentary candidate for Vauxhall directed her question to Lambeth councillors present: “As of May last year you’d managed to build only nine [new social ho-

mes in Lambeth], while perfectly good council housing is destroyed across estates elsewhere in the borough. If you’d your powers to use this Woodlands site to build new council homes, how many net new homes with a secure council tenancy could you have built?” Councillor Davies said 70 council homes had been built at Lollard Street with more planned at Knight’s Walk.

Anthology will submit their application for ‘Kennington Stage’ at the end of April. Full record of the public meeting can be found here.

Myanmar delegates with Lambeth council’s Head of Lambeth Adult Learning Lesley Robinson, Lambeth Adult Learning Quality Manager Tara Roudiani, Lambeth’s Director of Education Cathy Twist and staff from Lambeth learning provider Mi Computsolutions.

in Lambeth such a good experience for learners and took part in lesson observations.

Director General Dr Zaw Win, one of the visiting officials, said: “We really enjoyed our visit. There was a lot to learn, watching the interactive teaching methods and understanding how lesson observations are used to improve the quality of learner experiences. It was a pleasure to meet such friendly and helpful staff.”

“Our new department is currently developing quality and assessment tools so it was very useful to see how these are used in Lambeth to benefit learners. We were very interested in the range of non-accredited courses, especially those used to promote social inclusion, and we were impressed by how learners were given advice and guidance to progress on to further stages of their learning.”

The visitors noted how diverse a community the Lambeth learners represented and the importance Lambeth learning providers place on safeguarding their learners.

Both Lambeth Adult Learning Service and the Myanmar Ministry of Education hope to continue sharing experiences and working together in partnership in the future.

resentatives from Myanmar can help benefit people in their developing economy.”

The visitors were also taken to visit MI ComputSolutions in Brixton, one of the council’s partner training providers. There they learned about what makes learning

16 LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

Publisher’s Letter...

dustries, also have a high proportion of EU workers.

• While eight per cent of the current UK construction workforce comes from the EU, on some Lambeth contracts this figure is up to 60 per cent. A shortfall of workers in one industry today could put at risk the houses of our residents tomorrow.

And you can add to all of this the £581m received by London over six years from the EU’s programmes to support small businesses and those people furthest from the labour market.

There is now a clear case for exploring ideas beyond the Prime Minister’s deal which has repeatedly been rejected by Parliament. I want to see a confirmatory public vote on any final deal. Brexit must be delayed – and I hope it can ultimately be averted. Lambeth and London will always have the potential to succeed – but let’s hold a People’s Vote to save this borough, our capital city and our country from an act of national self-harm.

IBRAHIM DOGUS Publisher info@lambethlife.com This issue of Lambeth Life is very special to me as it sees in my first term as Mayor of Lambeth.

However, it also comes at a most crucial and challenging time for our country, our city, and our borough. While we are living with the omnipresent uncertainty of Brexit, we are also dealing with the daily reality of knife crime on the streets of London. I want to use this opportunity to draw attention to these issues facing our community and to present my vision for a Lambeth which takes a progressive and proactive approach toward them.

Brexit I’m proud to say my family and I made up a few of the estimated one million people who marched to show our support for the EU – and a People’s Vote to stay in the bloc – in March.

The consequences of leaving the EU would be bad under any administration. Thanks to the slow-motion crisis which has engulfed Parliament over the past months, however, there is now a risk they will be downright catastrophic for our economy, our country and our values. This is even more the case if Britain crashes out without a deal.

In Lambeth, the borough I am proud to have served as councillor and now as mayor, the consequences of Brexit – never mind a no-deal scenario – could be severe.

Of course, as elected representatives we are working every day to defend jobs and our community ethos from Brexit, as well as campaigning for the vote that is thirsted for by millions of London residents.

In the meantime, however, my council has published research showing the potential impact locally of leaving the world’s largest trading bloc.

At the time of writing, little has changed in Lambeth. It is a borough loved by the people who live here and adored by all those who visit – they know it is an open and cosmopolitan com-

Knife Crime

munity. Workers have travelled from all four corners of the globe to live here.

There are signs, however, that life in Lambeth has already subtly changed in the nearly three years since the EU referendum: • Inflation is pushing up prices in shops, hitting south Londoners’ spending power, while the local authority’s ability to generate revenue is under pressure.

• Falling migration from the rest of the EU is affecting employment, the capacity to grow for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the sense of community.

As a restauranteur, I see every day the skills, dedication and work ethos brought to Lambeth by migrants from across Europe.

People running other types of business, from corner shops to corporates, often tell me they have witnessed the same.

Lambeth is still a great place

K BOO NOW

to live, work, eat and have fun but it is clear to me how the borough has been able to thrive because of the EU rather than in spite of it.

As such, the economic and culture impact of the bloc is entwined with our borough. To pick just a few examples: • Some 42,500 Lambeth residents were born in EU nations other than Britain.

• There are around 7,000 people each from Portugal and Poland living in our borough, as well as thousands more from Ireland, France, Italy and Germany and Spain. There are also smaller numbers from Lithuania, Romania and Turkey and Kurdish regions.

• Key sectors such as health, business admin, science and food and accommodation rely on EU workers to staff their businesses.

• Other sectors in which the council is seeking to grow, such as digital and the creative in-

No Londoner – or indeed, anyone living in Britain – can claim to be unaffected by knife crime.

Those who have died in this type of brutal assault are, of course, the people whose names we see wreathed in sadness almost every week in our newspapers.

Some 285 people were killed by a knife or sharp instrument in 2017/18 – the highest number since records began. Every one of these victims is a story of a life lost, the potential to achieve stolen and of immeasurable grief inflicted on friends and family.

And it is London, sadly, that has captured the greatest share of the headlines, with 14,769 crimes involving knives recorded here in 2017/18.

It is a grim phenomenon and one that affects all of us beyond the immediate victims. Knife crime changes the way we live, how we judge individual threats and sometimes even the decisions we make on the places we feel comfortable to go to when travelling on our own.

The causes are too many to be considered in detail here and have already filled countless books and pamphlets from groups as varied as academics, police

chiefs, MPs or councillors, of which I am one.

Issues such as poverty, drugs, gang culture, and education and life opportunities have all been legitimately advanced to explain why knife crime is on the rise.

What is also clear, however, is that crime – and especially violent crime – rises when police numbers fall.

Look at the number of officers has tumbled since 2010. There total size of police forces fell by 20,000 in England and Wales in the eight years to last March.

At the same time, youth services – which used to provide a safe and fun place for children after school, at weekends and over the summer – have been cut. It is no surprise that more people are coming to harm on streets across the country.

I would like to see perpetrators brought together with the parents of victims so the criminals who menace our children can be confronted with the impact of their wrongdoing. Yes, this is unorthodox but, if used early on in the life of an offender, it has been shown to steer them away from pursuing a life of violence.

Similarly I would like to see more investment into youth services, our schools and more support provided to parents who are struggling to provide a stable home for their children, young people who could be tempted into gang life, after school activities, sports clubs, music clubs and encourage local businesses to provide more internships/apprenticeships and local charities to provide more voluntary work opportunities so that young people can find ways of developing their lifes.

This is not about “new” tactics to tackle knife crime versus old methods. It is simply a recognition that the obvious need to reverse police cuts must be accompanied by strategies to change the culture, particularly in inner cities, where deprivation and varying school standards mean children are often put at risk.

Teachers, police, parents and community leaders can all play a part in lowering the shocking levels of knife crime. It is a problem that affects us all – so let’s all play a part in delivering the solution.

Serving fine Italian food in a sleek, modern setting, Cucina is just yards from the Thames

020 7921 9352 www.cucina-restaurant.co.uk 3J and 3K Belvedere Road, Waterloo, London, SE1 7GQ

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19 17

A NEW GARDEN ADVENTURE Volunteers are working on a project to combine a lively Stockwell adventure playground with new growing spaces.

group and we plan to invite local schools to include growing food as part of their curriculum. The big picture includes a grass-roofed community centre and a commercial café featuring the vegetables grown here.”

Working together “We hope to have users from all over the local area working together to create beautiful, wild, productive areas where all ages can relax, learn, interact, grow, and eat food grown on site. One neighbour is designing a gate at the Chelsea Flower show, so there’s already a bed dedicated to bee-friendly planting.”

Local social enterprise Urban Growth are working with the community in Slade Gardens to add a community food-growing space INSIDE the hugely popular Adventure Playground.

Welcome space Robin Langton of Slade Gardens says: “The Urban Growth planting replaces old allotments. The raised beds are a far more efficient growing space, but it’s still within our busy adventure playground.

We’ve always encouraged young people to treat the adventure playground as their own space.

But there’s evidence that working with plants, seeing them grow in an outdoor environment, helps young people’s self-respect and self-confidence – this aims to in-

vite them in to get involved’ Creating the garden Orsetta Hosquet, Urban Growth project manager, explains plans for the garden: “The refurbishment includes new raised beds, installing a Polytunnel, creating a pond for wildlife, fixing existing

fences, new compost bins and more. It’s a unique opportunity to integrate food growing and wildlife with a thriving adventure playground – it’s in between lots of high rise homes, new and old, surrounded by A-roads. Getting out in the fresh air, bringing the community together and teaching kids where

food comes from are all great reasons to do something.”

Continuing growth For Robin, it’s part of a longterm plan for Slade Gardens: “We’ve been offered fruit trees for a new mini-orchard. We already have an autistic children’s

EXTRA £1M TO TACKLE SERIOUS YOUTH VIOLENCE Lambeth Council has outlined its final budget proposals, which include an extra £1m targeted to deal with serious youth violence in the borough.

As well as protecting children’s mental health services, the programme to tackle Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) and the libraries budget, the budget reflects the council’s commitment to the public health approach to serious youth violence.

The proposals also outline a

plan to give a business rate discount for businesses that commit to paying the London Living Wage and £131m of investment over two years in the borough’s roads and pavements, parks and homes.

Proposals for the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) – the budget for the next

four years – were consulted on over December and January, with over 4,000 responses.

Lambeth faced a budget gap of £43m due to the ongoing cuts to its funding from central government.

Word from the Cabinet Cllr Andy Wilson, Lambeth’s

Networking Orsetta says: “The new garden will be part of a bigger network of sustainable growth. It will act as a mini nursery for Urban Growth’s projects around the borough, reducing our reliance on plants shipped in from outside M25 – with corresponding reduced environmental impact.”

Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We are determined to set a budget that is fair for all, protects the most vulnerable and helps us address the most pressing issues in our borough.

“Due to repeated cuts to local authority budgets from central government, we’ve had to cut more than £238m since 2010 – that’s more than 50% cut from our government grant.

“It has been tough, we’ve had to cut our workforce dramatically and change the way we deliver many services. But we continue to work hard, think imaginatively and find new areas of funding t continue to deliver for our residents.

“We listened to more than 4,000 people that have responded to our budget consultation and I’m delighted to have produced these proposals collaboratively with our residents.”

Broad support The consultation responses showed a broad support for the council’s proposals, understanding of the council’s financial challenge due to austerity and support for focusing extra resources where possible on young people and protecting them from violence.

The final budget proposals, due to be debated at a Full Council meeting on 13 February, show the council’s reflection on consultation responses, by protecting children’s mental health, VAWG and libraries, where the council has reversed the planned savings over the next three years.

NEWS MayNews / June 19

18 LAMBETH LIFE OCTOBER 2018

TAS Restaurants is proud to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Registered charity no.1160024

LUNCHMENU

£ 12.95 Per Person

MEZE PLATTER

CHOICE OF MAIN COURSE KOF TE

Minced lamb, onion and green pepper patties, seasoned with parsley and herbs, served with coucous

[ served with homemade bread ]

HEL L IML I ISPANAK

HUMUS

Pureed chickpeas with tahini, garlic, lemon and olive oil

TABULE

Spinach sauteed with chickpeas tomatoes and hellim cheese

SOMONLU PASTA

Salad of chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions, cracked wheat, olive oil and lemon juice

Pasta with salmon, fresh tomatoes and spring onions

Filo pastry filled with feta cheese and spinach

Chicken casserole withmushrooms, onions, tomatoes, ginger and coriander, served with couscous

BOREK

DOLMA

Homemade stuffed vine leaves with rice and walnuts

/tasrestaurants

/tasrestaurantsuk

/tasrestaurantsuk

TAVUK GUVEC KALAMAR

Marinated squid, lightly battered and fried, served with rose sour sauce and salad

020 7928 2111 • 020 7928 1444 • 33 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LF • www.tasrestaurants.co.uk • thecut@ tasrestaurants.co.uk

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

19

Colourful cushions from a young Lambeth entrepreneur Anya Alexandra is an enterprising 11 year-old who has recently started her own business personalising and designing cushions.

“I have a great passion for fashion and in my spare time I enjoy sewing and making clothes designs and cushions. I started sewing at age five and my passion and inspiration has developed since then.

Now that I’m in secondary school I thought it would be a good idea to start my own business as I started to realise the flood of interest in my work from my family and

friends.

I am from Lambeth and attend many Lambeth events in the community. My sales increase each time at these events and my business has started to bloom! I’m delighted! “ Many of Anya’s cushions come in a variety of different colours and sizes. She designs bespoke cushions according to the desires of her customers! She personalises the cushions with initials and uses a variety of materials from lace to diamanté’s to the different

type of fabric wanted. Many of her customers enjoy ordering my cushions to add a touch of style to their bedrooms. Anya tells us “The feedback has been great and all my customers have been happy and satisfied. This makes me feel really pleased and enjoy watching ‘Cushions by Anya Alexandra grow’ as a business.“ You can see Anya’s work at www.anyaalexandra.co.uk; email all enquires and orders to Cushions@anyaalexandra.co.uk.

DEL LAGRACE VOLCANO Robyn Cold Store Romance, London,

LUCIANO CASTELLI Lucille' self portrait, 1973

ZANELE MUHOLI Phila I, Parktown, 2016

the politics, histories and aesthetics of queer space in their video installation Something for the Boys (2018); and in an unsettling series of photographs entitled Crime Scene (2012), Zanele Muholi draws attention to the violence suffered by South Africa’s lesbian and transgender communities.

Kiss My Genders will feature a number of new works and site-specific commissions. In the upper galleries, Jenkin van Zyl, the youngest artist in the exhibition, will present a new, expanded video work, Looners (2019), while Brooklyn-based visual artist Chitra Ganesh – whose work deals with representations of femininity, sexuality and power – will create a site-specific wall drawing.

Taking place across the entire Hayward Gallery, Kiss My Genders also extends beyond the gallery walls, with two new commissions that will transform elements of the

Southbank Centre site.

Ad Minoliti, an Argentinian artist who uses brightly coloured geometric designs to represent a trans-human utopia, will design Southbank Centre’s Riverside Stage, while a series of flags designed by Minoliti will also adorn the roof of Royal Festival Hall. Elsewhere on site, South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga will transform the windows of Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery foyer into a striking display of ‘stained glass’ featuring avatars designed by the artist, and a poem by Tarek Lakhrissi – ‘Glory’ – will greet visitors as they approach the stairs leading to Southbank Centre’s Mandela Walk.

Kiss My Genders is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue featuring original essays by Amrou Al-Kadhi, Paul Clinton, Charlie Fox, Jack Halberstam, Manuel Segade and Susan Stryker, as well as

an excerpt from Renate Lorenz’s influential Queer Art: A Freak Theory, and poetry by Travis Alabanza, Jay Bernard, Nat Raha and Tarek Lakhrissi. Also featured in the exhibition catalogue is a roundtable discussion between a number of the artists and exhibition curator Vincent Honoré.

The exhibition’s title is taken from the song ‘Transome’ by Bolton-born, Berlin-based singersongwriter, Planningtorock, who will also perform as part of the exhibition’s public programme.

Vincent Honoré, Guest Curator said: "Kiss My Genders brings together a leading group of international artists who explore and engage with gender identities. Conveyed through a wide range of mediums, this exhibition intends to be a wonderful celebration welcoming the brilliant differences and the rich spectra of genders within our society."

Kiss My Genders 12 June–8 September 2019 Hayward Gallery This summer, Hayward Gallery presents Kiss My Genders, a group exhibition celebrating more than 30 international artists whose work explores and engages with gender identity.

Spanning the past 50 years, Kiss My Genders brings together over 100 artworks by different generations of artists from around the world. Employing a wide range of approaches, these artists share an interest in articulating and engaging with gender fluidity, as well as with non-binary, trans and intersex identities.

While the artists in Kiss My Genders work across a wide variety of media – including installation, video, painting, sculpture and wall drawings – the exhibition places a particular emphasis on works that revisit the tradition of photographic portraiture. A number of artists in the exhibition treat the body itself as sculpture, and in doing so open up new possibilities for gender, beauty and representations of the human form.

Participating artists include: Ajamu, Travis Alabanza, Amrou Al-Kadhi & Holly Falconer, Lyle Ashton Harris, Sadie Benning, Nayland Blake, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Flo Brooks, Luciano Castelli, Jimmy DeSana, Jes Fan, Chitra Ganesh, Martine Gutierrez, Nicholas Hlobo, Peter Hujar, Juliana Huxtable, Joan Jett Blakk, Tarek Lakhrissi, Zoe Leonard, Ad Minoliti, Pierre Molinier, Kent Monkman, Zanele Muholi, Catherine Opie, Planningtorock, Christina Quarles, Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings, Hunter Reynolds, Athi-Patra Ruga,

Tejal Shah, Victoria Sin, Jenkin van Zyl, Del LaGrace Volcano.

Kiss My Genders plays host to a number of artists who explore gender expression through performance, drag and masquerade.

These include Ajamu, a Londonbased visual activist whose work challenges conventional understanding of sexuality, desire, pleasure and cultural production within contemporary Britain; Brooklynbased performance artist Martine Gutierrez, who characterises identity as something ‘alien or unfamiliar’ in her ambitious photographic series Masking and Demons (both 2018); and Amrou Al-Kadhi, a British-Iraqi writer, drag performer and filmmaker, whose photographic self-portrait Glamrou (2016) was created using a triple exposure to communicate the experience of being in drag as a person of Muslim heritage.

A number of the artworks in this exhibition address the broader social and political questions and contexts that intersect with gender identity. Concerned with the way that marginalised groups are ‘forced to be their own saints’, Juliana Huxtable portrays herself as a mythological character or superhero in a series of powerful self-portraits or ‘self-imaginings’.

In The Memorial Dress (1993) – a black ball gown printed with the names of 25,000 individuals known to have died of AIDS-related illnesses – artist and AIDS activist Hunter Reynolds uses art as a tool to process trauma as well as transform it. London-based artist duo Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings explore

20 LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19

EVELINA LONDON NAMED CENTRE OF CLINICAL EXCELLENCE Evelina London Children’s Hospital has been recognised for providing outstanding care for children and young people with muscle-wasting conditions.

The hospital’s neuromuscular service was awarded Centre of Clinical Excellence status by Muscular Dystrophy UK, alongside 16 other centres across the UK, by a panel of experts and patients. Muscle-wasting conditions, such as muscular dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and myopathies, cause muscles and nerves to weaken and waste over time, leading to increasingly severe disability. More than 70,000 children and adults in the UK have a muscle-wasting condition.

Dr Elizabeth Wraige, consultant paediatric neurologist at Evelina London, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this award. Our team are

SOUTHBANK CHARCOAL KEBAB KITCHEN

extremely committed to providing our patients with the best care possible so it’s really lovely to be recognised in this way.

“Muscle-wasting conditions require a range of expertise to treat and manage, so every member of our team, including our doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and specialist nurses, play a key role in caring for our patients. Our secretarial team also provide an essential role in supporting our service.

“At Evelina London we are very fortunate to have on-site access to a wide range of specialist services that children with neuromuscular disorders need. We are also able to offer our patients the opportunity to take part in clinical trials. We are very proud of our service and constantly strive to provide the very best for our patients.”

The Evelina London neuro-

muscular service cares for around 800 children with all types of muscle-wasting conditions from across the south east of England.

Rob Burley, director of campaigns at Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: “We would like to congratulate Evelina London, which has deservedly been awarded Centre of Clinical Excellence status.

“The hospital’s neuromuscular team provides a comprehensive service for people with muscle-wasting conditions and promotes best practice, ensuring patients have access to the best possible healthcare near where they live. Improved clinical care means faster access to treatments and potential cures.”

The Centres of Excellence awards recognise excellence across a range of criteria, including the care received by patients, and help to drive up the standards of clinical support for

people with muscle-wasting conditions.

The awards review process began in 2012 and takes place every three years. It involves a rigorous assessment of services

Warm atmosphere Friendly staff Delicious food

020 7633 9309 www.troia-restaurant.co.uk

by experts, with a panel of health professionals and patient representatives developing the criteria for the awards. Patients’ views were also gathered as part of the review process.

SOUTHBANK CHARCOAL KEBAB KITCHEN

Troia Charcoal Kebab Kitchen 3F Belvedere Road County Hall London, SE1 7GQ

LAMBETH LIFE Car owners in Streatham have shown they are one of the quickest London boroughs to adopt the sharing economy movement. With the average car in the UK sitting idle for up to 23 hours a day, savvy Streathamites have realised they could be earning up to £1,000 extra a month, just by renting out their idle cars to a friendly neighbour.

Hiyacar, the peer-to-peer car sharing app revealed that Streatham residents earnt over £20,000 in the last year alone, making it one of London’s most popular areas for sharing. Stats from the company show a huge demand and reveal that residents could in fact be sitting on a collective £100,000 worth of untapped earning potential.

But it’s not just about the money. The wider impact for community conscious residents also proved an even bigger attraction. For every hiyacar driven, up to 11 vehicles are taken off the road. Within a 10-15 minute walk of the SW16 area, there are over 250,000 qualified drivers yet only half as many cars available to rent. These extra

May / June 19 21

Savvy Streathamites rake in over £20,000 just by sharing their idle cars 125,000 drivers that don’t own a car have a wealth of options available through hiyacar - from fuel efficient models, such as the Fusion Zetec and the Prius, which topped the most popular hires to the most in demand car brands, Ford and Mercedes.

Hiyacar announced its focus on Streatham is increasing meaning many local streets will have ambassadors offering special discounts for people living in the area who become involved with the initiative.

Graeme Risby, co-founder and CEO of hiyacar, says “We chose Streatham as our spotlight area as its one of the most progressive neighbourhoods in London when it comes to the Sharing Economy.

We want to work with the residents to offer a smarter and more sustainable way for people to get around.

Car sharing makes much better use of the vehicles that already exist,

helping owners make money, drivers save money, and all of us benefit as a community.”

With over 70,000 members nati-

onwide, hiyacar is the only genuine peer-to-peer car sharing company in the UK with a truly keyless technology (QuickStart) which removes the hassle of a key handover.

The UK has approximately 32m cars, with 3m in London alone, yet they are idle 95% of the time.

Hiyacar’s mission is to change the way people own and use cars. The hiyacar website and app allows car owners to rent their cars to vetted drivers, saving time, money and hassle. All bookings are also covered by full insurance from AXA and AA roadside assistance.

For those looking for a bargain, download the free hiyacar app and use the code Hiyapcx30 for £30 off your first booking or £30 extra income for your first share.

Megan’s Story

After seeing an advert on Instagram in March, Megan decided

Tony’s Last Tape Based on the diaries of Tony Benn

By Andy Barrett. Directed by Giles Croft 2– 20 Apr 2019 “There is no final victory, there is no final defeat.

Just the same battles which have to be fought over and over and over again. “ An old man sits in a room faced with a collection of recording devices that he has collected over his long and eventful life. He opens a drawer, takes out a pipe, unscrews his flask and pours himself the first cup of tea of the day. For more than fifty years he has been recording everything that has happened to and around him, but today he has decided to make his last tape.

Award-winning playwright Andy Barrett and director Giles Croft (THE KITE RUNNER) revive a timely play based on the diaries of one of Britain’s most respected, divisive and celebrated politicians. After a

Philip Bretherton plays Tony Benn. sold-out run at Nottingham Playhouse Philip Bretherton reprises his much-celebrated role as Tony

Photo credit: Robert Day Benn, revealing the struggle of a man who – having found himself no longer ‘the most dangerous man in

Britain’ but something of a national treasure – realises that it is time to gracefully withdraw from the fight.

to find out more information on hiyacar and registered her car on the platform. Since then she has earnt over £1,500 by renting her car out every other week.

Working as an Events Coordinator at Imperial College London, Megan’s car regularly sits idle on her drive. With hiyacar she’s been able to earn extra income which she has put towards travelling.

Megan’s also been lucky enough to receive flowers and ribbons after her car was used as a bridal carriage!

Never one to sit still, she’s already got adventures planned to the Peak District and Sheffield – both funded by other people’s trips in her car with hiyacar. Through sharing her car, Megan can now afford to travel more and enjoy adventures in and outside of the UK. She’s currently spending her earnings in Thailand!

If only it was that easy.

Andy Barrett said:“The timing feels right to bring Tony Benn’s story back to life. With a national debate about the kind of society that might be shaped ready to be unleashed once the Brexit dust settles, and the Labour party using the word socialism with increasing confidence, it’s clear that Benn’s time as a political thinker has come again. He’s as relevant now as he’s ever been.”

Accompanying Exhibition - Power: Missiles, Miners & Monarchy Tony Benn’s unique voice portraits (Sonograms) by socio-political artist and activist Tracey Moberly was also displayed in The Common Room at Omnibus Theatre. Exhibited back in 2005, this is the first time that these large voice portraits celebrating his life work have been on public view since. Sonograms have been used by scientists involved in audio analysis, in areas such as voice recognition and bird song. Tracey worked closely with Tony Benn and used the same technique to capture her favourite key moments from his words and rendered them as sonic visual artworks on canvas.

Excavate presents the Nottingham Playhouse production of Tony’s Last Tape Directed by Giles Croft Designed by Rachel Jacks Sound & Lighting Designer Martin Curtis Starring Philip Bretherton as Tony Benn

LAMBETHLIFE LIFEOCTOBER 2018 22 LAMBETH 22

FOLLOWING RECENT SALES SUCCESS

News

May / June 19

NEW PHASE APARTMENTS

NOW SELLING! WITH HELP TO BUY FROM

£299,995 1>>

JESSICA HOUSE SW18 • Buy into Galliard’s latest growth zone.

• High spec studio and 1 & 2 bed apartments.

• Daytime concierge & secure parking.* • Little over 10 minutes walk from mainline and tube connections.

• 20 minutes from Knightsbridge and the heart of the West End.

!

E S A E L E R N O T U O D L O S % 0 5 FROM WANDSWORTH TOWN • Clapham Junction 3 mins • Waterloo 15 mins

FROM EAST PUTNEY • South Kensington 16 mins • Knightsbridge 20 mins • Victoria 24 mins

MARKETING SUITE NOW OPEN 7 DAYS

MARKETING SUITE 191 WANDSWORTH HIGH STREET SW18 4LS

020 7620 1500 galliardhomes.com

*Secure parking at additional cost. Price correct at time of going to press.

Official letting and managing agent

LAMBETH LIFE

May / June 19 23

Guy’s and St Thomas’ doctor appointed first female President of royal college Dr Katherine Henderson, a consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, has been elected by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine as its next President.

150,000 attendances a year or 420 patients every day. It remained open as normal, 24 hours a day, whilst being completely rebuilt.

Dr Henderson said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been elected by the fellows of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. It is a huge privilege to become RCEM’s next President.”

She has been an emergency medicine consultant for over 20 years and has worked at Guy’s and St Thomas since 2006.

The President’s term of office is three years and Dr Henderson will continue to work at Guy’s and St Thomas’ during this time. She replaces Taj Hassan who will finish his three-year set term.

The other candidates in the election were vice president Chris Moulton, a consultant at the Royal Bolton Hospital, and Carole Gavin, a consultant at Salford Royal Infirmary.

She becomes the College’s first female President and will formally take up her post in October.

Dr Henderson, a consultant in emergency medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital, was instrumental in the redevelopment of its new emergency department which was officially opened by The Princess Royal last year.

The emergency department (A&E) at St Thomas’ sees around

SOUTH BANK BID STRATEGIC PARTNER IN £1.4M LONDON MARKETING DRIVE • Investment sees South Bank Business Improvement District as the only BID Strategic Partner south of the river • Two major national campaigns planned, which will feature South Bank as one of London’s most desirable neighbourhoods for domestic tourism Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced on March 13 at London & Partners’ Tourism Means Business event, that through the support of the Greater London Authority and a number of strategic partners, £1.4m has been raised to invest in a major domestic marketing programme through London & Partners, to make London as attractive as possible to domestic audiences.

South Bank BID is one of nine investment partners in this programme and has worked with its levy paying members to secure contributions towards the required investment that secures Stra-

Chief Executive of South Bank BID Nic Durston

tegic Partner status in this programme. The other confirmed partners in the consortium are: the Greater London Authority (GLA), Transport for London (TfL), New West End Company, Heart of London Business Alliance, City of Lon-

don Corporation, Visit Greenwich, Shaftesbury and Capital & Counties (Covent Garden).

Nic Durston, Chief Executive of South Bank BID, says: “Domestic tourism delivers high economic value for London – 13% greater

than the spend of international tourists. However, domestic tourism growth has been falling. This consortium will deliver a substantial investment in a major domestic marketing campaign, designed to bring the people of England

back to our amazing capital city.

By investing in this programme, through South Bank BID, we can deliver strong domestic visitor growth to support the independent hotels, unique retailers, globally-famous cultural institutions and major tourist attractions that give South Bank our unique identity as the cultural heart of London.”

The campaign will run for two seasons – summer 2019 and winter 2019/2020. South Bank BID’s investment will be dependent upon it securing a second five-year term when it ballots its levy payers to continue its work in summer 2019.

“We hope our businesses can see the huge opportunity this brings when we go to ballot”, adds Durston. “This is just the first year of what could be a three-year investment in a major domestic tourism marketing programme, funded through South Bank BID. With Illuminated River launching in summer 2020 in South Bank and Time Out Market arriving in 2021, these are exciting times for our neighbourhood, and the BID’s investment in destination marketing through this programme and through Southbanklondon.com will mean residents, businesses and visitors can all benefit from the opportunity this brings to South Bank.”

-20%

24

OLAY 25 Nisan 2017 Salı

RY EE FR LIVE 14 DE der £ us E M di or HO mum ile ra i m min n a 3 i with

DISCOUNT on all collection orders over £20

EXQUISITE SUNDAY BUFFET

Popodums and mix starters served at the table.

A selection of 3 main, 2 side dishes and Pilau rice (self service) Nan breads served fresh at the table.

£9.95 (Adult)

£5.95 (Children)

Every Sunday from 1pm - 5pm Different menu every week

VERY GOOD

Call us now on

020 7820 1231 020 7582 9569

OPENING HOURS:

Monday - Saturday: 12pm - 2.30pm & 5.30pm - 11.00pm Sunday: All day from 1.00pm - 11.00pm (Open on all bank holidays)

The Coriander 332 Kennington Lane | Vauxhall | London | SE11 5HY | www.thecoriander.com