Raising funds to put up a historic plaque celebrating the contribution of the migrant people who have come to live in Tooting, south London.
by rgbsimmons182 in London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Any additional funds will be used to promote 'Planet Tooting' in various ways - producing material for further talks and guided tours, promoting awareness of what we have done and encouraging other communities to do similar projects.
I'm Geoff of the Summerstown182 Community History project and as you might know, we like to put up plaques in our area to celebrate our incredible history. Part of that has been due to migration and the contribution of people from all over the world who have come to Tooting, helping make it such a vibrant community. We want to celebrate that by putting up a plaque later this year and have organised a competition among local schools to add a message.
This will be an amazing opportunity for a young person to have their words up on a Tooting wall forever! Its been incredible to visit these schools, talk about our history and see the pride they have in our local area. They know they are growing up somewhere very special!
According to the last census in 2011, half of us living around here weren't born in this country, we are truly a mixed-up 'Planet Tooting' coming from all over the world. And of course migrants have been adding their magic for generations before that...
Whether it's the care at mighty St George's Hospital, the magnificent Markets, the extraordinary range of restaurants, cafes and shops, the charities and faith groups supporting the vulnerable, we can see all around us the value brought to this wonderful community.
Going back ever further, our area is known for its Huguenot connections and welcoming refugees fleeing persecution, many of whom set up businesses in the Tooting and Wandsworth area.
The winner of our 'Planet Tooting' competition was Edward Mears from Fircroft Primary School whose inspirational words will be included on our plaque. We now need to get it made up and installed in a prominent position on the world famous Tooting Market and would appreciate your support to help make this happen. Once we get enough funding, look out for a special ceremony later in the year when the winning wordsmith will be invited to unveil it!
If you want to know more about 'Planet Tooting' or discover aspects of this area's incredible migrant history, I'll be doing more Guided Walks over the next months. There's one on Friday 3 June, starting at 6pm outside Tooting Broadway station. Another takes place at the Tooting Community Fun Day - meet 2pm at the Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees stand on Broadwater Road. If you can't make either of those, there's a self-guided one you can download here. If you haven't seen it, you might like to have a look at this amazing film about migration to south west London which involved local charities, residents and schoolchildren. You might also consider a visit to the brilliant Migration Museum (now based in Lewisham).