New Cross Fire Foundation

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today awarded nearly £500,000 to support 28 projects across the capital to improve diversity in our public spaces.

 

New statues, artworks and walking tours across 17 boroughs will receive funding as part of a £1m programme from the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.

 

The grants offer communities the opportunity to develop ideas and share their stories in the public realm. Organisations applied for grants of up to £5,000 to develop a concept or idea, or up to £25,000 if the project is further developed.  

 

The Commission was created by the Mayor to help tell the full story of the capital, as the majority of London’s statues, street names and memorials largely reflect Victorian Britain.

 

The £1m Untold Stories programme aims to help community organisations celebrate those who have contributed to the success of our city and, in some cases, pay tribute to Londoners who have lost their lives.

 

This second round of funding includes a plaque, panel, memorial bench and 15 tree guards in Hackney Downs Park will tell the story of the devastating New Cross Fire in 1981 in which 14 people lost their lives.

 

It will also celebrate local activist Charles Collins aka Sir Collins who was one of the parents who fought for a permanent place for 14 memorial trees commemorating those who died, but for more to be done to remember the victims of that terrible tragedy and create a sustainable legacy for generations to come.

 

Gary Collins, Chair of the OGYG and Director of Operations/Chair of the New Cross Fire Foundation said "We are so happy to receive this help from the mayor to finalise this important story that devastated so many of us in the community this project began in 1992 and our founder and father would be so proud His vision is finally recognised”

 

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “It is vital that London’s public spaces are able to reflect the many different communities that make up our great city.

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I am proud that through the Untold Stories programme we are able to support projects that will tell many more stories of the people who have helped to build and shape our capital”.