Our Stories: The First Ten Projects Announced

We are delighted to announce the first ten projects in Our Stories, a programme that looks for the hidden, untold narratives throughout the borough that make up the rich tapestry of Havering’s heritage. Together, these projects celebrate the everyday places and the people of Havering, past and present, who imbue those places with meaning. Across ten awards totalling £45,000, the stories below champion voices from across the borough.

Raphael Park, awarded to Eastside Community Heritage

Raphael Park has anchored Havering life for over a century, and this project captures its personal significance through the voices of local residents. Led by Eastside Community Heritage in partnership with Friends of Raphael Park, the project will gather oral history interviews and vox pops capturing memories. Residents will co-design collages printed onto an eco banner, displayed across the park railing alongside a pop-up exhibition and downloadable audio trail.

Trevor’s Stall, awarded to Rufus Boothe, Poppy Boothe and Sam Goodey

Trevor’s Stall tells the story of Trevor Boothe, a second-generation Windrush descendant, aspiring photographer turned market trader, and a beloved figure on Romford Market from the late 1970s through the 1990s. A family-led documentary directed by his grandchildren, the film traces Trevor’s Jamaican roots, his family’s arrival on the Empire Windrush, and the vibrant market culture that shaped a generation of Havering’s working-class young men. With contributions from playwright David Eldridge, who once worked on Trevor’s stall himself, and an original score by local musicians, the project culminates in a public screening at Lumiere Cinema.

Choral Traditions in Havering, awarded to Rebecca Amissah-Taylor

Havering has been singing for over a century. From St Edward’s Church Choir, founded in 1915 and affiliated with the Royal School of Church Music since 1946, to gospel groups, hospital staff choirs and community sing-alongs, the borough has a rich and largely untold choral tradition. Professional singer and choir leader Rebecca Amissah-Taylor is bringing these voices together for the first time. Drawing on decades of community music-making across Romford, she will unite five choirs including Gospel Essence, BHRUT Choir, St Edward’s Choir, The Big Sing and Havering Singers in a mass choral performance at St Edward’s Church, where Havering’s choral story began.

Pixels and Pioneers, awarded to Frances Bardsley Academy for Girls

Frances Bardsley Academy is the second oldest secondary school in Havering. As it approaches its 120th birthday in 2026, ten of its current students are going on a journey into its past. Working in partnership with Eastside Community Heritage and photographer Hannah Davies, the students will dig into FBA’s archive to uncover stories that have never been told. Students will research in archives, interview former pupils and staff, and use digital and creative skills to reimagine historical material in new ways. The stories gathered will be brought to life in an interactive exhibition at the Appleby Gallery, with a digital archive as its legacy.

Stories That Stay, awarded to Arts Outburst

Harold Hill was built as a post-war overspill estate, bringing families from inner London into a new suburban landscape. The everyday stories of the people who arrived, adapted and built a community are largely untold. Centred on Hilldene Shopping Centre and the surrounding Farnham Road area, this project will uncover and celebrate the lived histories of Harold Hill through the voices of the people who made it home. Over generations, Hilldene has been where people shopped, met, worked, grew up and built relationships. It is a place of continuity, familiarity and shared experience. Five to eight audio portraits will explore themes of arrival, identity and resilience in a moment of change as the area undergoes regeneration.

Village Voices, awarded to the National Trust at Rainham Hall

The project builds on Rainham Hall’s existing oral history programme, which has already gathered over 110 interviews, and will work in close partnership with Rainham Muslim Women’s Circle to document new communities arriving, settling and making Rainham their home. Village Voices will see the creation of oral history recordings and life-size photographic portraits platforming experiences of belonging across generations. The work will be launched as part of the Global Village event, supported by Essex Diversity Project.

Shout Book, awarded to Open Sound Music and Research

Over two and a half years, the Romford Ceilidh Band has delivered more than 150 free, open-access sessions built on the belief that folk should be accessible, feminist and anti-racist in practice. Anyone can attend, learn and join in regardless of experience. The weekly sessions close with a Shout, an hour of communal singing where songs are shared, debated and reshaped collectively, blending Essex traditions with global influences that reflect Havering’s evolving identity. This project will preserve that living tradition in a Shout Book: a vibrant community songbook featuring around 100 songs, each with lyrics, chords and a short narrative drawn from contributor interviews revealing the origins and meaning behind every piece.

The Stag at the Bus Stop, awarded to Jon Bilbrough

At 1am, an artist came face-to-face with a stag in the middle of the road. Elegantly poised beneath the streetlights of an East London bus stop – an image that has inspired this story. Havering is a gateway between the city and the forest, and nowhere is that more powerfully felt than at Dagnam Park. This project will see the creation of an original music composition drawing on the sounds of the forest and the recorded stories of the community that surrounds Dagnam Park. In partnership with the Friends of Dagnam Park, Deer Aid, the park ranger and local residents, the project will also co-create an audio trail led by renowned nature expert and storyteller Chris Salisbury.

Life is Like a Dice, awarded to Ahava Community

For fourteen years, Ahava Community has sheltered over 2,100 people experiencing homelessness in Havering. This project honours that journey by inviting twenty-one past and present community members to share their stories through art and music. At its heart is a gold-leafed rotating dice sculpture, its six sides bearing 3D-printed impressions of participants, a symbol of fortune, fragility, and resilience. Each participant receives a miniature resin replica to keep. An exhibition at Hope Cafe will document the shelter’s history through the commissioned artworks.

Havering’s Hair Story, awarded to Lucy Pitman-Wallace

Havering’s hair salons are more than places to get a trim. They are spaces of belonging, confession and community. Through the facilitation of an experienced theatre director, this project will document memories of local residents’ hair journeys, gathering stories that span race, gender and age to transform this social history into a piece of theatre performed by five Havering residents at The Other Stage at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

Havering Unearthed is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, Romford BID, Arts Council England and London Borough of Havering.

Our Stories is not finished yet. We are now inviting applications for ten further projects, each awarded up to £4,500, to uncover the stories that remain untold across Havering’s communities.

Whether your story is rooted in a place, a practice, a shared identity, or a community that has never quite seen itself reflected, this opportunity is for you. Film, poetry, sculpture, cookbooks, performance: the form is yours to choose.

Every selected story will become part of a permanent digital heritage map of the borough.