Celebrating Black History Month in the London Borough of Richmond

We welcomed around 70 guests and representatives from 15 different organisations.

Spread across three rooms, guests had the opportunity to speak stalls hosted by local organisations. We also were lucky enough to have tables celebrating black literature hosted by Candid Cocoa, and BookLove, a travelling bookshop selling books by authors from ethnic minority backgrounds, and guests were able to browse and purchase books. 

Other organisations who hosted tables were Age UK in Richmond, Richmond Borough Mind, SPECTRA, METRO, Dose of Nature, Richmond Council, Africa Dyslexics United, Healthwatch Richmond, NHS Southwest London CCG,  and the Metropolitan Police. 

The evening also had a section dedicated to speeches, hosted by Maria Seale, with speeches from Kevin Searle (National Archives), Dr Nike Arowobusoye and Damilola Gbadebo (Public Health for Richmond & Wandsworth), and Sandra Vita (Africa Dyslexics United). The speeches were incredibly inspiring, and touched on black history and contributions in Richmond and the UK, as well as health inequalities among ethnic minority communities. 

Of course, the evening would not have been complete without delicious food catered by Carriburton, and wonderful musical performed by Layla Ley. 

Special thank you to the CCG and Richmond Council for their support with funding, Eel Pie Records for bringing the music together, Julie Renahan for the photography, and to Maria Seale for hosting the speeches and helping us bring this event together. 

Thanks to the success of this event, we hope we can continue to host several events like this throughout the year.