Labour Councillors representing the Cally neighbourhood in Islington

The Cally community and Councillors have expressed shock and sadness at the sudden death of the local campaigning journalist, David Lear, on Saturday 15th November.

David lived on Centurian Close and collapsed whilst recording events outside HMP Pentonville where a demonstration of pro-Palestinian campaigners had encountered a small counter protest. Friends say that David collapsed after seeing a young woman assaulted by a counter protestor and David attempted to video record the perpetrator. He suffered a heart attack and could not be resuscitated despite the efforts of police officers and paramedics.

David was a respected Cally and Islington community activist widely known across London for his journalism and videography coverage of protest movements and community action. David’s health had not been good having previously survived a heart attack. Friends have said he was determined to be present at a protest which passed right outside his home.

The Leader of Islington Council and Caledonian ward Councillor, Una O’Halloran said: “David was such a well known local activist who supported and documented a wide range of causes. He was a real community champion and citizen journalist. He was a regular for lunch in Kigi cafe and, anywhere he went, he had a camera in his hand. He was often described as a frontline witness to many events that never made it onto broadcast TV. He supported an eclectic mix of causes and he was a passionate advocate. But he presented his arguments with unfailing courtesy and kindness. My best wishes and condolences to his family and many friends and comrades.”

Floral tributes have been left on Caledonian Rd opposite the junction with Wheelwright Street at the spot where David passed away. A vigil in his memory is being organised.

The Cally will be saddened by the news that Fr Jim Kennedy, a long standing faith leader in our community, died on Saturday 16th August in Paphos on the island of Cyprus.

He was Parish Priest at Blessed Sacrament church in the heart of the Cally until 2009. He became the Catholic Borough Dean for Islington and he chaired Islington Council’s Standards Committee for many years. He was the first chair of Copenhagen Youth Project. He also helped to found the ex-servicemen’s association in the Borough and was a stalwart of the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies at Islington Green.

Fr Jim was ordained at St. John the Evangelist Church (Duncan Terrace) in 1980 and soon became the Priest at Blessed Sacrament where he served and led the community for almost a quarter of a century. After retiring from Blessed Sacrament, he left for an extended holiday on Cyprus and in his words at the time “simply decided to stay on” and he became Associate Priest in Paphos at St. Paul’s Catholic Parish, within the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The Council recognised Fr Jim’s outstanding service to Islington by awarding him Freedom of the Borough in 2010.

The Caledonian Ward Councillors wrote an account of his times in our neighbourhood and the circumstances which led him to leave and take up a ministry on Cyprus.

Cllr Paul Convery knew him well and says: “Few people called him ‘Father Kennedy’ because he was ‘Father Jim’ to everyone. He was a deeply committed Catholic and served the church well. But most of all he gave everything to his pastoral duties and was a continual presence in the community. He was always at peoples’ side at times of accident and tragedy, most particularly in 1987 when he opened the church for days to receive, minister and help the families and survivors of the awful fatal fire at Kings Cross underground station.

“He was particularly committed to youth work and, during the decade when our neighbourhood began to experience serious gang related violence, he was a man with great authority who mediated between some of the feuding families and groups of young people. And he was the community’s reassuarnce when times got tough too. It was only natural that Fr Jim was asked by the Kinsella family to celebrate the life of Ben Kinsella with a funeral mass.

“But Jim was perhaps too much of an activist priest for the (then) Cardinal. Jim had begun to make retirement plans and secure a good (Franciscan) succession at Blessed Sacrament. But the Diocesan hierarchy forced him out and merged the Parish.

“Jim also had a secret passion, scuba diving, and whilst on Cyprus in 2009 he offered to help out a relatively poor Catholic parish that mainly ministered to a retired ex pat community of many nationalities. Fr Jim had been an organiser of Papal visits to the UK and, on learning that Pope Benedict was due to visit Cyprus in June 2010, Jim’s stay on the island was settled.

“We have missed him for fifteen years and now mourn his passing.”

Father Jim’s funeral arrangements:

This year’s Cally Festival was another fantastic day for our community. On Sunday 6th July, over 10,000 people came to celebrate “The Cally” – a distinctive place with a strong sense of community and renewed optimism. Now into its 15th year, the Festival has become the largest community event in Islington.

We closed a stretch of Caledonian Road from Offord Rd to Cally Pool to accommodate the festival. We had 3 music stages, performance areas, numerous activities for children and young people, sports, arts and crafts and a large street market. This year, all the traders were local businesses from the Cally and nearby in Islington.

Local Councillors were there all day on a stall near Bridgeman Road meeting residents, listening, talking and spotlighting our campaign alongside BetKnowMore to stop betting shops and 24 hr slots shops on high streets like Cally.

Speaking on the main stage with local Cllrs, the Leader of Islington and MP Emily Thornberry, we had pride of place for this year’s Mayor of Islington, Cllr Jason Jackson. He said: “In a time of increasing division and conflict across the world, what we have in Cally is all about different people getting on, living together in harmony.”

The Caledonian Ward Councillors, Una O’Halloran, Sarah Hyde and Paul Convery, are the ‘custodians’ of the Festival.

Cally Councillor and Leader of the Council, Una O’ Halloran, said: “We are proud to ensure the Cally Festival happens every year and is run to an amazing standard by our production team and accountable body, Copenhagen Youth Project. In Cally we’re a community that’s pulling together. The Festival saw thousands of local people enjoying the best we have to offer in Cally.“

Cllr Sara Hyde added “A huge number of people and organisations contributed to this year’s Festival. I particularly want to thank the scores of volunteers who helped alongside the many Council staff from the highways, refuse, licensing, community development and local economy teams. We could not run the Festival without its production team of Joana, Russell and Simon led by Barry Causton, and the support of the accountable body, Copenhagen Youth Project. We are so lucky in Cally to have a wonderful community group, the Al-Asharaf Community Welfare Association, who cooked over 300 hot meals at the Jean Stokes Centre serving all the festival performers and volunteers. Sandwiches were also kindly provided by Sunflour Bakery.”

If you attended the Festival, please let the organisers know what you thought. This will help plan for the next year’s festival which will be held on Sunday 5th July 2026. There’s a simple online survey of just 9 questions that takes about 45 seconds to complete. It’s at: http://thecallyfestival.co.uk/survey

The Cally Festival is financially supported by Islington Council and other sponsors. Income and expenditure is published in the Festival’s most recent annual evaluation report.

Here’s a gallery of pictures showing the great diversity of culture, science, dance, play, food and exercise showcased by the Cally Festival (main credit: Susannah Fields and others).

Pavements and side streets throughout Cally are being upgraded as part of the Cally Liveable Neighbourhood project. In Cally, ward Councillors have decided to make pavements and walking space the main priority of our “Liveable Neighbourhood” plan.

On the east side of the High Street we are already fixing a notorious section of pavement which has been collapsing for many years. Between Bridgeman Rd and Richmonmd Avenue, most of the pavement width is not actually public highway but is private land. New drainage has been installed and the public highway has been re-paved along with repairs to some sections of private land where necessary.

By 5th July, these works will be paused outside 312 Caledonian Rd and the work site vacated for the Cally Festival on 6th July. Most of the bollards which line the kerb have been kept (and repainted) because these prevent illegal parking on the wide pavement. Vehicle parking is the main reason why so many of the undercrofts have collapsed in recent years.

Work to properly pedestrianise Freeling Street at its Caledonian Rd junction has been underway for some weeks. The main construction work is almost finished (see below) and will complete just in time for the Cally Festival on 6th July. Some of the area has a temporary hardcore surface ahead of the Cally Festival. New bollards will then be positioned on Carnoustie Drive to make a safe walking route from Caledonian Rd, through Freeling Street into the Bemerton estate. Then, in late Summer, bushes and trees will be planted in the hardcore covered areas.

Construction work has also finished at the Pembroke Street entrance into Bingfield Park at Freeling Street (West)’s junction with Pembroke Street. There is now a widened pavement and an area ready for planting alongside the Crumbles Adventure Playground building (once known as Sparkplug). Bingfield Park has had a major upgrade in the past 18 months and is now very popular and busy with children and families.

The Cally Liveable Neighbourhood investment plan contains a number of other projects which will begin soon. See here for details of the other schemes in the area. These include complete redesign of the other three entrances into Bingfield Park; installing a cycle path from Caledonian Rd to York Way; and finally fully pedestrianising Tilloch Street and Story Street. The plan includes a possible traffic “filter” on Blundell Street but htis has been put on hold for a while; and turning York Way Gardens into a pleasant park with better facilities for businesses operating there.

Cally Councillor Paul Convery says “The Cally Liveable Neighbourhood has taken a lot of thinking and listening through public consultations and we’ve come up with improvements that will make Cally safer and easier to walk. When we asked residents what they thought, a large majority said ‘fix the pavements’ and we agreed. The scheme finally properly pedestrianises the three “stub” streets off Cally Rd, will take cyclists off pavements and really make Bingfield Park a landmark place especially for children and families. There will be more projects in the pipeline too as we bring new public and private investment into the neighbourhood.”

The Zen Project is bringing its big yellow bus to Cally on Monday 12th May. The visit of the Zen Bus coincides with the start of Mental Health Awareness Week 2025. The Zen Project helps communities with improved mental wellbeing at a time when so many places have experienced a general worsening of stress and anxiety.

The Bus will be on Carnoustie Drive (outside Bemerton Children’s Centre and the Jean Stokes Community Centre) from 9am to 4pm on Monday 12th May. The bus is visiting Cally with the help of developer Delancey, the company that will soon begin constructing a science and technology centre on York Way.

Cllr Paul Convery says: “Zen Bus sounds a bit zany but this is a serious business. Cost of living pressures continue to cause stress to so many people and we’re all still recovering from the aftermath of the Covid global pandemic. The Zen Bus is just one of many new initiatives underway and planned in Cally to help people de-stress, help us with more positive outlook and ease anxieties. The Zen Project is one of many groups helping with simple tips and techniques to support our mental wellbeing.”

The Zen Project is a social enterprise, offering a range of wellbeing event services and mental health support. They are on a mission to offer a mobile sanctuary, bringing the benefits of our Zen Sessions (a range of simple activities to improve mental health. See their Instagram pages here.

Islington Council has announced it will continue to securely lock parks and gardens at night. Following public consultation, Councillors have dropped a risky plan that would have left parks unlocked throughout the night.

Of the parks and open spaces in our neighbourhood, the following were on the list to be left unlocked: Caledonian Park, Grimaldi Park, Thornhill Bridge Garden and Thornhill Crescent.

The decision means that, each evening, there will continue to be a security sweep and locking of these parks.

The Council had consulted on a plan to stop locking parks every evening and leave them open all night. Over 1,700 people responded to the consultation, and the overwhelming majority said no.

Cllr Paul Convery comments: “The Council has had to find £14 million of savings this year to make our budget balance. But the parks proposal represented less than 1% of that £14 million package. It was a high risk, high impact proposal that saved very little money. Decisions in Islington are made by Councillors and we have decided the saving must be found elsewhere in the budget. This was always a risky proposal and we wanted to check what residents thought. We listened to what 1,700 people said.”

Islington has 122 parks and gardens of which 92 have gates which can be locked. In 2015 the Council decided to keep 50 of these parks locked at night. All of these will now continue to be locked.

More than a hundred people attended the funeral on Friday 10th January of Jean Willson, a renowned community activist who died in early December, aged 82. The service at St Lukes Church on Hillmarton Road was led by Rev Paul Adlington with friends, family and colleagues paying tribute to Jean’s exceptional life. Dozens also followed the service by online video stream.

Jean died asleep in her own bed after an evening out viewing the Christmas lights in London’s West End. Her husband Norman and daughter Tara had written that Jean “had been in hospital for a week late October but came out and was rallying round. Her wish was to pass away peacefully in her own bed in her own house. This she accomplished. Jean was a true organiser to the end. Her wishes were for a full and colourful service at St Lukes with all her family, friends and anyone that knew her.” Tara and Norman have also spoken movingly of the “wonderful help of St Lukes congregation, neighbours and friends” following Jean’s passing.

True to her famously colourful appearance and life outlook, her coffin was bright crimson. There will be a private cremation on Monday 13th January.

Former Islington Councillor, Carol O’Brien, spoke of Jean’s early struggles and campaigns as the mother of a severely disabled daughter, Victoria, who pre-deceased her by 14 years. Carol recalled Jean’s “infectious laugh, bright colours, her down to earth approach to life and her friendship”. She paid tribute to Tara and Norman who was “her rock and comfort”.

Dave Tomlinson, formerly a Minister at St Lukes, spoke warmly of Jean’s personality and her faith: “churches only thrive by action and Jean had that in spades; faith is ultimately about concern for others, she had goodness, passion and kindness and Jean had that ‘spiritual intelligence'”. Other speakers described her as a “formidable and fierce campaigner … always practical and well versed in tactics … feisty, articulate, always well informed, she was a crusader for change”.

Jean’s daughter, Tara, said: “mum was of humble working class origins in Islington, she had more chutzpah than anyone I’ve met, she was a prolific reader but her family couldn’t send her to university.” Jean became a qualified social worker but never moved from her roots and community. Born in Islington during the war, she lived on Cornelia Street and was proud to say she had never moved anywhere outside the same 300 yards in her whole life. Norman and Jean were a devoted couple who married in 1963.

She has been a prolific campaigner and writer, making films and speaking at conferences – giving a voice for many and improving the lives for children and people with learning disabilities. In 1995, she co-authored with Carol O’Brien and Pat Fitton “Home at Last” a book recounting the challenges of people living independently alongside 24 hr care and support. Her most recent work with NHS England, after the death of Victoria, was to improve the End-of-Life experience for those with learning disabilities.

Her community activism started in 1968. With support of other parents, Jean helped establish the Martin Luther King adventure playground which still flourishes today adjacent to Paradise Park and the Freightliners City Farm.

Jean was voted a Woman of the Year in 2010 and awarded an MBE the following year.

Tracy Seymour, acting CEO of Centre 404, has said that Jean was a “remarkable figure in the field of learning disabilities advocacy” having been the long-serving Chair and President of the organisation. Her journey with Centre 404 had spanned over five decades, during which she profoundly transformed the lives of countless individuals with learning disabilities and their families.

Tracey has recounted how Jean, in the 1970s as a young parent carer, sought support for her daughter, Victoria: “Her initial connection to the charity, borne out of her own challenges and experiences, marked the beginning of a lifelong commitment to advocacy, fundraising and community building. Over the years, Jean became a cornerstone of Centre 404, serving in various roles as a volunteer, advocate, and campaigner, before ascending to the role of Chair and later President.” Jean stepped-down as president of Centre 404 in 2021 but continued to champion their vital work. Tracey says: “Jean leaves behind a legacy of hope, transformation, and enduring love for our community and beyond.”

Jean herself wrote a very moving account of her first encounters with Centre 404 and her role in the journey which has established it as an anchor Islington institution for people with learning disabilities. Her story was recognised in a 2008 documentary which highlighted the positive achievements of disabled people.

Daughter, Tara, says that her mum wrote an autobiography through a University of the Third Age creative writing class and the family hopes to publish it soon. That will be an inspiring read.