Local Events
Sean leads Kennington Park History Walk - 2005 Lambeth Riverside Festival © Sean Creighton 2005
Save Durning Library Campaign - press cutting. Thanks to Betty Severn
Project Vauxhall Proposal – extract from public consultation brochure
Spring Gardens looking towards Vauxhall City Farm and St Peter’s Church & Vauxhall St Peter’s Heritage Centre © RCDT 2005
KENNINGTON, OVAL & VAUXHALL
My history researches into Battersea, friendly societies and mutuality revealed a number of connections with the Kennington, Oval & Vauxhall areas of Lambeth. Since October 2003 I have been involved in contemporary community activity in the area which has brought me into more detailed involvement in the history of the area and the connection between that history and community action.
The Area
The area has sharp socio-economic contrasts, a very active community and voluntary sector, a wealth of activities, a lot of people with interesting skills and talents. But it is a non-man’s land between Waterloo and Brixton. To find out more about the area look at the web links on www.rcdt.org.
Riverside Community Development Trust
After undertaking project work for Lady Margaret Hall Settlement
from October 2003, I have worked at different times since May 2004
as Development Consultant and Development & Management Worker for
the Riverside Community Development Trust (RCDT). RCDT is a
community owned and led social and economic regeneration
organisation operating in Kennington and Vauxhall and co-ordinating
the Lambeth Riverside Festival (which also covers Oval).
• See www.rcdt.org
RCDT is a member of the Development Trusts Association:
www.dta.org.uk
I have undertaken a wide range of tasks for RCDT including:
• property management
• fundraising
• administration
• community development
• involvement in neighbourhood renewal and business development
• co-ordination of the Lambeth Riverside Festival July 2005 and July
2006
• establishment of local history/heritage, health and fitness, and
local artists networks
The following discussion papers I have written for the Trust as
contributions to local debate can be seen on
www.rcdt.org
• Towards a Community Plan. A discussion paper (November 2006)
• Young people as part of our community. Developing a strategy for
youth work by the community and voluntary sector in the Kennington,
Oval and Vauxhall area (written jointly with Tim Saunders of Alford
House youth centre – June 2006)
Lambeth Riverside Festival
As a personal contribution to the July 2005 Festival I:
• gave a talk about Paul Robeson in the UK
• ran an introductory session of Black History on the web at the
Trust’s computer training project Riverside IT
• led the Kennington Park History Walk
• launched the ‘Mother Seacole’ short story by Jason Young at a
Festival event
Kennington Common & Park History
I led the Kennington Park History Walk at short notice for Stefan Szczelkun who was ill. Stefan’s work on the history of the Park and Kennington Common and the importance of the latter in the struggle for democracy can be seen on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennington_Park
Passport to Kennington
This is the title of a talk I gave at the Public History Conference, Ruskin College, Oxford, 16–17 September 2005. Using examples from the Kennington and Vauxhall area I discussed the interlink between ‘heritage’ and community activity. It was a follow-up to the talk I gave to Ruskin Public History Discussion Group on ‘Labour and Public History in South London’ in January 2005 – see Public History page. I gave a revised version of the ‘Passport to Kennington’ talk to a meeting of the Friends of Durning Library on 20 March 2006. An explanation of the ‘Passport to Kennington’ talk is available on request by email. The photos below illustrate aspects of the talk. I also gave a talk on Kennington’s Local History for the re-opening event of Durning Library on 8 April. In I emphasised the radical history of the area.
Radical North Lambeth
On 22 July 2006 I gave a talk of ‘Radical North Lambeth’ at the
Local History Fair organisation by the area local history/heritage
network as part of Lambeth Riverside Festival. A radical and
community action based approach to the history of Kennington &
Vauxhall can also be seen on
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/localonline/d/0028phis.htm