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UPDATE OCTOBER 2026
We are delighted to introduce our new chair of trustees, Angelo Weekes (far right in photo above). His first task was to chair our AGM on 20 October 2026, which was held at the Highbury Library, N5. We were delighted when Angelo said he wanted to be our chair! That said it’s always sad seeing chairs move on but Ernie Jegorovas-Armstrong, who took on the role from 2022-2026) needed to leave us after moving away from Islington with his growing family. He’s now in Devon. It’s been a busy year with us reporting on a 2025 Make It Happen grant that saw litterpicking from paddleboards with Islington Boat Club. We also tried a pilot in 2026 with a Make It Happen grant seeing how much people used and loved Cally Park and the clock tower. Called Love Letters to Cally Park we spent a lot of time with those park users, creating a mobile post card exhibition and capturing the love people feel for that beautiful N7 green space. Thank you to three volunteers who helped us do this: Barbora, Evie and Zoe.

 

UPDATE JANUARY 2026
Introducing our new trustee Zoe Pearson who joined the committee in November 2025.

NEWS FLASH OCTOBER 2025
Here’s an update about our paddle and pick sessions for the community from August-December 2025 which is helping people meet, offering a fun new skill (paddleboarding) and most importantly cleaning up Regent’s Canal in Islington. Read all about it here. Thank you to Islington Giving/Cripplegate for the Make it Happen grant 2024.

UPDATE JUNE 2024
Here’s an interview with our current chair Ernestas Jegorovas-Armstrong.

We plan to celebrate the publication of Islington Faces’ 365th interview on Monday 15 July at Islington Ecology Centre. All friends of Islington Faces are very welcome. This event is held thanks to the support of a Make A Difference grant. Read all about it here.

UPDATE JANUARY 2020
Islington Faces blog began in 2012 as a way of sharing stories about the amazing people who live in the borough. Over the past years everyone involved – founder and main interviewer Nicola Baird, interviewees and volunteers – have discovered that talking about themselves and places important to them has had positive knock on effects. It’s made a friendly community seem friendlier, it’s led to collaborations and friendships. It’s brought conversation, laughter, memories and the chance to plan. You can read more in the About. But in the end, www.islingtonfacesblog.com was just a library of interviews where “everyone has a story”. We felt it could play a bigger role in developing community links…

That’s why change is afoot to help build on these positive community impacts. In November 2019 Islington Faces became a small charity. Working with three trustees – Dr Paula Vandergert (chair), Ursula Yates (treasurer) and Michael Keshani – Islington Faces’ aim is “to strengthen community cohesion and community development in Islington and surrounding areas.” We also have a Lloyds bank account and an equal opportunities policy.

Next move is to organise projects for 2020 onward that will help meet our charitable purposes. During 2020 the trustees want to prioritise links between generations. We’ve got off to a flying start by creating a trustee team with two 59-year-olds and one 25-year-old.

The trustees’ focus for 2020-25 will revolve around three workstreams/projects that aim to enrich the life of people living or working in Islington. These projects are:

#1 UP MY STREET
Summary: Up My Street is a classic Islington Faces Blog interview, this project helps a street to share stories which can inspire action and/or may also help people talk together more and strengthen the “glue” of their community.

How do we do this?Using chatty, easy-to-read interviews and beautiful photo portraits Islington Faces would like to share the stories of people who are making impactful change in the borough one street at a time. This might include people who are good neighbours, run play streets, set up or part of a men’s shed, champion plants/solar/neighbourhood etc; run or collaborate on a sharing scheme (eg, babysitting circles/food boxes), offer friendship – to refugees, hidden homeless, care for the environment (eg beekeepers, help with ways of reducing home energy) etc.

USP: Focus on one street’s positive energy to encourage people nearby to copy cat behaviours or join in.

#2 TAKE TEN
Summary: Using publication on Islington Faces Blog as a goal, this project aims to empower people who live or work in Islington to write their own stories.

How do we do this? In a workshop (eg, via collaboration) or well-loved Islington space (eg, Chapel Market), participants will be encouraged to learn the skills and confidence to write their own interviews or to swap interviewing/photography skills with another member of the group. The workshop writing/photography sessions will be led by Islington Faces.

USP: As a bonus this story-sharing enables people to connect with each other, in a deep and personal way about people and place, even before their interviews are written up and published on www.islingtonfacesblog.com

#3 MEET UPS
Summary: Get-togethers (over a cuppa and cake) of people who live or work in Islington to share their experiences in the borough and build local connectivity and can-do community enterprise.

How do we do this? Using the familiar Islington Faces format (eg, asking about the 5 places people love best in the borough and why), we hope meet ups will help combat loneliness and encourage collaboration. We hope it will develop bonds between people who might not otherwise meet, and/or build better links between the many villages and villagers of Islington.

USP: The meet ups are a way for people to dismantle prejudice, discover shared passions and ambitions and strengthen community participation.

2019 REVIEWED
Founder and chief interviewer Nicola Baird working closely with photographer Kimi Gill:

• In total there are 300+published interviews on the blog. During 2019 Nicola and Kimi – both working voluntarily – created 16 interviews on Islington Faces (ie, publishing more than one interview a month) between Jan-Dec. We normally aim for one new interview on the blog a week, but the workload of creating a fabulous touring exhibition including PR, publicity, launches and myriad events reduced the number of published interviews.
• Organised a free-to-view 18-portrait exhibition, Inspiring Islington, which was on display at Islington Museum, EC1 from 5 April – 3 June; Ringcross Community Centre, N7 from 30 July – 14 October and Space4, 113 Fonthill Road, N4 from 13 November 2019 – January TBC 2020.
• Highlights Islington Mayor Dave Poyser’s lovely speech at Islington Museum celebrating Islington Faces in front of a packed room of Islington Faces’ fans including Assembly Member Caroline Russell. We will also never forget the fantastic performances by Inspiring Islington Faces’ stars – Joan William’s poem, Stanley Smart’s songs and Hanisha Solomon’s acoustic performance at Ringcross Community centre.
• Press pieces: Islington Gazette, Islington Tribune.

Thank you to Roz Currie, Savvas Panas and Polly Robbins for help hosting the Inspiring Islington exhibition. A special thank you to all the interviewees and also for the exhibition help from volunteer Netta Hakak (Islington Faces young people rep). We’d also like to thank West Creative for gifting us such a fab logo.

2020 REVIEWED

• Last chance to see the Inspiring Islington photo exhibition with beautiful portraits by Kimi Gill featuring 18 of the 20 people who’ve starred on Islington Faces. It’s currently at Space4, 113 Fonthill Road, N4 from 13 November 2019 – January TBC 2020.
• Islington Faces joined Voluntary Action Islington’s skills workshop in autumn 2019. This offers occasional workshops over nine months to help build local capacity.
• Press pieces: EC1 mag #2

2021 REVIEWED
This was of course the main pandemic year and so many interviews were done via Zoom, but we kept publishing. The highlight was discovering so many people in Islington who are working to help cut fossil fuels and tackle the climate crisis.

• Energy Stories – 13 were published between, see https://www.islingtonfacesblog.com/energy-story/
• We ran two Let’s Chat style events at the Blackstock Kitchen during Islington Council’s Greener Together festival in October. The festival aimed to help local people tackle climate change.

Thank you to everyone who supported our Crowdfunder for the Energy Stories. Not everyone wanted to be named but it was such a boost to know you value Islington Faces interviews and local community action.

2022 REVIEWED
In April our founding chair, Paula Vandergert, handed over to a new chair, Ernestas Jegorovas-Armstrong. Ernie has long been a supporter of Islington Faces, he was even interviewed on stage at the King’s Head event celebrating our 100th interview in 2014.

• We continued publishing Energy Stories showcasing the knowledge Islington people have about tackling the climate crisis, see https://www.islingtonfacesblog.com/energy-story/
• Projects: Our Let’s Chat events to help tackle loneliness locally included some lovely collaborations with Elizabeth House including their older tea group and the food bank users.
• Sharing our work: We created a report that offers idea to beat loneliness and get local people talking which was widely shared. See the summary here.
• Press pieces: We were honoured that our Let’s Chat work was included in a special issue on loneliness, Lonely in London, run by the Islington Tribune. https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/sit-down-and-lets-have-a-chat-together

Thank you to Rohan Naik at Blackstock Kitchen, Roshni Shah at Elizabeth House Community Centre and Jenny Pengilly at Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art.

2023 REVIEWED
2023 has been a year sharing our existing resources. It was wonderful to see the Inspiring Islington photos on show again. Events and activities included:

• On 6 July we were invited to display some of the Inspiring Islington photos taken by Kimi Gill and first displayed at Islington Museum from 5 April – 3 June 2019 at the Islington Community Chest Event at Islington Assembly Hall.
• This inspired us to take 16 of the 20 portraits to Islington Climate Centre where they were displayed in that group’s pop-up space at Angel shopping centre from 27 September to October, later extended right into December. On 18 October Nicola and Kimi invited everyone and Islington Faces guests to drop in for a chat about the images. Report is here. The co-ordinator of Islington Climate Centre, Bel Jacobs, said, “They resonate so well with what we’re trying to do – community!”
• In November chief interviewer, Nicola was invited to help a community group Elthorne Pride, near Archway in N19 create a book of their community memories to celebrate the end of a 10 year funding phase. Their book is due to be published in 2024. Our photographer Kimi Gill was also invited to take the photos.
• We secured a Make it Happen grant from Islington Giving to run a celebration in 2024 for publishing 365 interviews.
• In total 13 interviews with people who live or work in Islington were published.

Thank you to Islington Community Chest, Islington Climate Centre and all the people who have voluntarily given time or skills to Islington Faces this year.

2024 REVIEWED
In addition to publishing interviews we held a celebration for publishing 365 interviews on www.islingtonfacesblog.com which brought together nearly 100 guests, including the Mayor, at the Islington Ecology Centre on 15 July 2024. There were also some wonderful performances by Islington Faces friends and lots of laughter. Here’s the write up.

You can also read about our 365 Celebration in the Islington Tribune (26/07/24).

There have been less interviews published in 2024. This is because Nicola spent the start of the year helping Elthorne Pride in N19 to create a book of their community memories. Their book is due to be published in November 2024.

• To date 10 interviews with people who live or work in Islington have been published (oct 2024)

Thank you to Islington Giving for the Make it Happen grant which funded our 365 Celebration. Also thank you to nearly 20 people who gave their time voluntarily this year to help Islington Faces with interviews and creating the big celebration in particular Mojo, Stanley and Joan.

 

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SAFEGUARDING POLICY (established Nov 2020, updated Nov 2022)
Islington Faces has appointed a trained safeguarding person who is responsible for dealing with any concerns about the protection of children/ young people and vulnerable adults within each project.

The designated safeguarding policy lead is: Nicola Baird on nicolabaird.green@gmail.com or islingtonfaces@gmail.com . This person will be supervised and supported by the Chair of Trustees Ernestas Jegorovas-Armstrong ejegorovas@hotmail.com

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CONTACT DETAILS
If you have a particular question about the charity Islington Faces or idea for an interview with someone who lives or works in Islington please can you contact Nicola on nicolabaird.green@gmail.com or islingtonfaces@gmail.com