Golborne Road, North Kensington
At the heart of North Kensington, Golborne Road has a style of its own, capturing the essence of a diverse and vibrant community. The eclectic market culture gives Golborne Road an authenticity that is a rarity nowadays. Hailed by Jamie Oliver as his favourite fish and chip shop, George’s fish bar has been serving the locals since the 1960s. While it is since the 1970s that Golborne Road has been known as ‘Little Morocco with a bit of Lisbon thrown in’. Home to the largest Moroccan and Portuguese communities in the UK, the cuisine on offer is outstanding and the backdrop of colour is reminiscent of the Marrakesh souks. The Lisboa patisserie and the Moroccan food stalls have been drawing people in for decades. Standing proudly above it is Erno Goldfinger’s Grade II listed Trellick Tower which was opened in 1972 and dominates the landscape with its Brutalist style. In an age where antiques are being traded online more and more, it is a joy to be able to spend hours browsing in amazing shops like Les Couilles du Chien, 88 Antiques, Arbon Interiors and Phoenix on Golborne. Naturally there is room for young blood in the village and the arrival of Thomas Straker’s first restaurant Straker, Caia and The Counter are testament to the reality that the community is constantly evolving and diversifying to meet the demands of the local residents. The best days to visit Golborne Road are Fridays and Saturdays when the market is in full flow with stalls selling food, antiques, bric-a-brac, furniture, plants and flowers.
George’s Portobello Fish Bar
Lisboa Patisserie
The Playground Theatr opened on Latimer Road 5 years ago, giving North Kensington a creative space for innovative theatre artists of all disciplines to come and ‘play’ with their imagination.
This gem of a theatre is a registered charity and relies on kind donations and funding to remain open. After a challenging time during the pandemic The Playground Theatre pulled through and is still committed to serving as a haven for artists and allowing our community to come together to re-engage, heal, and recover. They were active behind the scenes during the past lockdowns and remained deeply engaged with their local community. Not only did they re-open for live performances whenever possible, the theatre also transformed its café area into a food bank to provide thousands of meals for those impacted, as well as hosting a programme to support the mental health of local residents.
The Playground continues to develop and expand its outreach programmes to strengthen the social, emotional and mental resilience of the community through creative engagement. This is why we were so drawn to support them in one of their current projects.
The money we donate will support ‘The Trojan Women Project’ which aims to help refugees in the area to overcome their feelings of isolation, depression and trauma and give them a platform to tell their stories to the world. They have been hosting weekly Drama Workshops for Ukrainian, Syrian and Afghan refugees, working towards creating a new production of The Trojan Women by Euripides where the participants’ stories will be woven in to the original.
Creating a platform for refugees to tell their own stories through drama.
The workshops provide a hot meal, a creche for participants’ children and other opportunities, such as a hairdressing service provided by a top stylist from Kiev. The multi-lingual workshops help the participants learn English and all sessions are monitored by a psychotherapist. This has given those taking part the chance to build links with others and try to provide new professional and personal opportunities.
As part of the Kensington & Chelsea Festival there will be a preview/showing of the new Trojans UK 22 play at the Playground Theatre, Latimer Road, London W10 on 10th August 2022 with a full showing in the autumn.
Find out more about the project here
The second charity we are proudly sponsoring is Bay 20 community centre and home of Dale Youth Boxing Club which is on St Marks Road. Bay 20 was built by BBC’s ‘DIY SOS’ team and opened in 2018 to provide an affordable space for locals after the Grenfell disaster to use and improve their health and wellbeing.
The community in and around Grenfell has always been very strong and close-knit and this space provides a range of activities which, with the help of Westway Trust are accessible and affordable for everyone.
‘There are so many different people, from different walks of life, ages and cultures here. It’s brought people and the community together. We are more alike than we think we are.’ says Deborah at Bay20.
Throughout the pandemic, Fiona, Deborah and the team at Bay20 gave incredible support to the homeless and vulnerable members of W10. Even though the centre was closed to the public, local organisations continued to run initiatives outside. These organisations are desperately needed as Kensington and Chelsea has the second highest level of homelessness in London. According to Shelter this equates to 1 in 29 people.
Bay 20 host a community kitchen from food donations providing up to 180 meals a day
What does Bay 20 do?
- They host a community kitchen from food donations providing up to 180 meals a day
- Assist homeless individuals with food and basic care packages, warm clothes and blankets
- Support vulnerable adults going into their first homesAssist women coming out of refuge, again in their first homes, supporting their children on their own
- Individuals in assisted living with homeware, clothing donations and non-perishable food items
- The centre hosts a variety of different creative activities for members each day e.g. photography, creative writing and art lessons
A new project at Bay 20 is due to start later this year and our donation will help towards getting this started. They will be partnering with Unity Grove CIC and Dale Youth Amateur Boxing Club to provide a weekly session for youths to train in the gym with boxing coaches as well as older members of the community. After each session Bay 20 will provide a cooked meal and the youths will have the freedom to be themselves, make friends and build self-esteem. The programme will provide a valuable and consistent touchpoint in their lives and give them access to fun activities as well as support from older mentors from their own community. Where relevant they can be introduced to health workers and, when appropriate, any wellbeing or addiction support can be tailored to their individual needs.
To find out more you can visit www.bay20.org
To donate to Bay 20, people can visit the centre between 10am and 5pm and bring any donations along or ring on: 020 3579 0384.