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Everybody has a story. New Islington Faces trustee Michael Keshani shares the places he loves in the borough. Q&A with Nicola Baird. Photos by Kimi Gill.
Now that Islington Faces is a charity (created in November 2019) Michael Keshani, from Highbury, is one of three trustees. © Kimi Gill for Islington Faces
Q: What’s your connection to Islington?
I was born and raised here and am deeply attached to the place, particularly Highbury (helped by being an Arsenal supporter as far back as I can remember). I’ve moved out and back a couple of times for a year at a go, once to Camden and once to Munich, but as a graduate and an adult I’ve been back permanently in Islington for a few years.
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Q: What’s your job?
At the moment I’m in the process of applying to do a Masters in Psychology, which I’ll hopefully be able to start in September 2020. Until then, I’m doing freelance translation to keep the bills paid and try to save to that end.
New Islington Faces trustee Michael Keshani has a lifelong connection with Islington. © Kimi Gill for Islington Faces
Q How are you involved with Islington Faces?
I really like the concept behind Islington Faces. Despite the best part of 24 years living here, it’s remarkable how little you find you know about the people around you. I’m a big supporter of the effort to encourage people to tell their stories. I’m a devotee of the borough and now I’m involved as a trustee of the charity. At 24, part of my role is to provide something of a youthful voice, and also use my experience working in modern media to help expand things.
New trustee Michael Keshani is a social media whizz. He also promises to think up options for fundraising. “There has to be some way of turning all the time I spend in the gym into something more useful!” © Kimi Gill for Islington Faces
5 places Michael Keshani loves in Islington
Highbury Stadium: This may be Arsenal-heavy in places! Arsenal and the old Highbury Stadium were such prominent features in my childhood, and the ground was the host to so many incredible and formative memories. I was lucky to be there for many special days in the club’s recent history, particularly the final home game against Wigan in 2006, and even now in its current state I’ll happily add a few minutes to my journeys to walk back over the only other place that means ‘home’ anywhere near as much as the house I grew up in.
Emirates Stadium: Will never quite have a place in my heart like Highbury does, but having attended over 300 matches there, starting aged 11 right through to my current standing at 24, and hopefully long beyond, it can’t be overlooked. What it lacks in Highbury’s history, and the momentous club moments to which it played host, it makes up for in the anticipation of what may come next, even if those times feel a little further away now than they used to…
The Bank of Friendship: One of the many perks of living in Islington is the sheer number of nice pubs in close vicinity. It was tough to pick just the one but – just edging out The World’s End at 23 Stroud Green Road in Finsbury Park – the Bank at 226 Blackstock Road stands out as one that’s been around long before I turned up. It was a favourite of my Mum’s right back into the ‘80s, and the scene of quite a few of her pre-motherhood tales. Once I was able to become part of its clientele myself, it became a place I’d visit with family and friends from areas local and wildly distant, covering almost all corners of my life simply through the people I’d see there.
Highbury Fields: The Fields have been an undeniable ever-present in my life, although over time have come to represent quite different things. In my youth they were where I played football and engaged in whatever other games and activities came to mind. Into the teenage years they became more of a congregation point with my friends from outside the borough. Around then I also used to run through it regularly, although I can’t say that stands as an especially fond memory! Now, I’d be lying if I said I spent an awful lot of time in the parks themselves, but still walk through at least once a week, often en route home in the evenings, each step a reminder of the comforts of home.
Yildiz Restaurant: In a somewhat similar vein to the Bank of Friendship, Yildiz at 163 Blackstock Road has made the migration from being an establishment I’d rarely consider with people outside of my family, to one that I now attend almost exclusively with friends. It’s probably my favourite restaurant in the local area, and one I can’t recommend enough.
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Islington Faces became a small charity in November 2019. Committee members are Paula Vandergert (chair), Ursula Yates (treasurer) and Michael Keshani – a big thank you to all of them for taking on this role. The plan is for trustees to meet each quarter, with a public meeting once a year (probably November 2020). Please see more info about the charity here.
Over to you
If you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via nicolabaird dot green at gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola
