I found a link to this video: http://www.vimeo.com/19363639 which is all about the community in Haverstock (next to Kentish Town). Admittedly the execution isn't amazing and it is about a different area, but I just thought it is really worth watching as it gives an overview of a sense of community. I think this idea of community is something we should really focus on, because that to me is what an area like this is built around. Also in today's world I think this positivity is something interesting to show. David Cameron is always talking about creating a 'Big Society' but what about all the little societies right under our noses? It is easy to jump to the conclusion that all is wrong with the world but from looking around Kentish Town I would say that strong communities are still there if you look for them.
This community centre is a hub of activity. There is a community breakfast and lunch club where they do 3 course meals for £3 for locals and there are also lots of groups / clubs etc for young people and the elderly.
This was your standard greasy spoon café but I just liked that it was 'Marco's' café - tied in with my thoughts about the people of Kentish Town.
This looks a really good scheme in the area (have a leaflet with full details) that helps the elderly - people visit and help isolated elderly people in Camden and organises social events as well as helping with practical problems. Due to government cuts this scheme is at risk - just like other schemes for young people that I found going on in the area... I thought this was an interesting issue to think about : David Cameron talks about creating a Big Society (as mentioned earlier) yet cutting schemes like these seems completely contradictory to this. It also made me think that there is actually so much good going on in communities that we don't really know or hear about (like this scheme) so is everything really as bad as it is often portrayed? Or is it just likely to end up that way if schemes like these suffer? How will government cuts affect Kentish Town? We obviously all went to the protest about cuts to higher education and that is the perspective we have on government cuts but is this really the most important issue? What are the issues that really matter to the average person on the streets of Kentish Town?
In this vein I found details of council meetings where locals can come to voice issues they have with the area - thought it might be an idea to contact the local council about coming along and taking notes at a meeting to see what people are really concerned about here.
I walked past lots of adverts for recording spaces and music venues and thought this was an interesting side to Kentish Town. Music is obviously a really important part of the community here. I saw an advert for this award ceremony for the unsung heroes of Camden's music scene - I know it's not specifically Kentish Town but as Camden is the borough I thought it could still be relevant? I thought we could get in contact with the organisers of this award ceremony and have someone from the group go there on Monday 28th March and then interview the winner?
This isn't your twee London market - it is very much a working market used by normal people. It was a real assortment of bits and bobs - could maybe do something about the weird and wonderful things you can find here? What is the most unusual thing you can buy here? Also along the street there are lots of shops selling all kinds of bits and bobs - could tie those in too.
Also - the pub crawl. How about a pub crawl with a difference? What is it like to do a pub crawl sober? Do people sound as interesting? Are jokes as funny? Do the pubs seems as nice? Could have two different people write a thing about their evening - one who really goes for it and one who drinks nothing, then compare and contrast. Or just something silly like writing about the experience of doing a pub crawl as a three legged race. Again just ideas but basically I liked the idea of traditional with a twist.
Walking around Kentish Town I stumbled across (and by stumbled I mean spotted then walked in to pretending to be lost..!) lots of Tv studios. Thought this tied in well with the music industry that seems very important in Kentish Town. I have since researched some of the companies and there are some really interesting ones...
PVM - Prison Video Magazine see http://www.londonshakespeare.org.uk/Othello2/pvm.htm
This company specialises in creating videos about life in prisons to distribute to prison workers and members of the government to raise awareness about the issues of prison life. Please do look at the website and read through their history and the things they have done as I think it is a really interesting company and something off the wall and controversial so could therefore be a really interesting company to profile.
Wall to Wall see http://www.walltowall.co.uk/index.aspx
Ten Alps see http://www.tenalps.com/locations.php?cid=34
Ten Alps is a company specialising in factual media and the Kentish Town location is home to three of their companies that deal with factual content for TV and radio. They are described as "Producers of major documentaries and docu-dramas for UK and International markets, as well as educational and other digital programming." :
Brook Lapping - http://www.brooklapping.com/
Blakeway - http://www.blakeway.co.uk/
Films of Record - http://www.filmsofrecord.com/ (this company specialises in investigative, difficult programmes such as Panorama)
- all of these companies have produced some really high profile and interesting programmes.
Why is Kentish Town home to so many TV studios? How does this form part of the fingerprint of the area itself?
Also on my visit I went to:
Map Café
This is a really cute café off a quiet side street in Kentish Town. A jazz café in the evening they also hold art exhibitions. At the moment this was of the work of Andrew Pegram (see http://ajpegramartist.blogspot.com/) His work had a really strong graphic feel that I thought would work well in a magazine. It made me interested to talk to him and see him at work / see his studio - think this is something that would have good visual impact.
The woman who seemed in charge at the cafe was French and walking around Kentish Town I noted lots of French voices - is this an important part of the community? Where do the people who live here largely come from?
Other companies whose offices / bases I stumbled across in Kentish Town
British Somali Community - http://www.britishsomali.org/ This is a company that was set up here in Kentish Town that is run by women and aims to improve the education of children in Somali
The Anne Frank Trust Uk - see http://www.annefrank.org.uk/
Healthprom - see http://healthprom.org/ a charity working with communities in Eastern Europe and Asia to improve healthcare. They are very much about local communities and I thought this was interesting in terms of us looking at the local community in Kentish Town - made me think about the twinning of towns etc.
Spring Projects - see http://www.springprojects.co.uk/flash.html
This is a really, really interesting looking gallery in Kentish Town. Unfortunately it wasn't open when I visited but I will go back soon - from the outside the building is really inconspicuous but looking on their website the work displayed looks really interesting and really high profile.
Annroy - see http://www.artrabbit.com/venues/venue/2778/annroy_gallery Rankin's new gallery - currently showing the work of an avant-garde make up artist called Alex Box. Didn't get a chance to go inside but will definitely go back as it sounds really interesting.
Fitness
It could be interesting to do something about fitness in Kentish Town, but something with a twist, talking about the weird and wonderful classes there are on offer.
I saw advertised (and have noted contact details for): Gypsy belly dancing, Aqua jogging, Nia dance (a simple 'feel good dance experience') and hot yoga and I'm sure we could find others too.
We could do it from the angle of 21st Century exercise - how we have moved on from the more traditonal sports or could do it from the perspective of a fitnessphobe - someone who hates exercise could go along to one of each of the classes and write a review about them - it could be quite amusing - 'diary of a fitnessphobe' or something like that!
Right, I think that's all for now, sorry for the massive load of information in one go but just brainstorming at the moment!
Libby
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