Nominations are open for the 2026 Cally Awards
To celebrate the Cally and our strong community, the first annual Cally Awards ceremony will be held at the end of March. Nominations are now open for anyone to propose a great Cally hero for recognition.
We are looking to celebrate individuals, community organisations, and local partners who have made outstanding contributions to the Cally.
The Cally Awards will be presented by the Mayor of Islington, the Leader of the Council and Cally Councillors.
The following award categories will be featured:
🫶✨ Community Champion – For the everyday heroes who sprinkle kindness everywhere
🌟👟 Young Person of the Year – For young trailblazers making big waves
🛍️💼 Local Business Hero – For businesses that bring the buzz, the love, and the good vibes
🧘♀️💚 Health & Wellbeing Advocate – For people helping others feel good inside and out
🎨🎭 Creative & Cultural Impact Award – For the artistic magicians lighting up the Cally
🌱🌍 Environmental Champion – For the guardians who keep our neighbourhood clean and lovely
🤝💛 Volunteer of the Year – For the superstar helpers who never stop giving
🥇🌈 Lifetime Contribution Award – For a community titan whose impact is legendary
Cally Councillor (and Leader of the Council) Cllr Una O’Halloran says: “This is such a great community where everyone is pulling together to make our community stronger. We are a proud place with a great sense of identity. It’s now time to recognise all the great people and groups that have contributed to making the Cally great.”
The nomination form can be accessed by clicking here. Alternatively, there are paper forms and a voting box available at the reception desk at Jean Stokes Community Centre.
Cally Councillor, Sara Hyde, makes her first speech as a member of the House of Lords
Cally Councillor Sara Hyde made her first (“maiden”) speech in the House of Lords yesterday, Thursday 29th January. Sara gave one of the most memorable first speeches heard in Britain’s second legislative chamber. Sara recounted the influences and inspirations in her background, most of all the people of the Cally and Bemerton estate where she lived for many years.
She pledged to “always give my very best as I act justly, love mercy and walk humbly” as a member of the House of Lords.
In her speech, Sara recounted her 20+ years living and working around Caledonian Road and how she chose the title “Baroness Hyde of Bemerton” so that “I would never, ever forget where I came from nor lose sight of whom I am here to serve and to ensure a functioning democracy for.”
She recounted arriving in the Cally community through youth work, homeless night shelters and community organising. She was welcomed and adopted into the congregation of All Saints Church in Cally and she spoke in particular of “Kim, May, Feulah, Auntie Grace and Pat (who) took me in and treated me as one of their own.” She recounted how she saw in the Cally community that “even in the hardest circumstances, people still build connection, still love, still contribute.” She met and lived with people whose lives were “marked by poverty, addiction and struggle, (and they) changed me for ever through their grace, generosity and hospitality.”
Paul Convery adds: “Sara’s speech was truly moving. She spoke with passion about how living in Cally shaped her life, outlook and politics. She made one of the most thoughtful speeches I have heard in Parliament and it affirmed in my mind the skills and talent she brings. I’ve had the privilege over the past 8 years of serving alongside Sara on the Council representing the Cally and I’ve seen the many moments of empathy and understanding that characterise her. That personality is now serving the whole country.
“I also think this was the first time ever that a member of the House of Lords has name-checked the Cally! And Sara almost certainly gave the first ever House of Lords name-checks to musicians Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem) and Nick Cave. That’s truly what she’s like! I am certain that Sara is going to make such a big contribution to Britain’s public life over the coming years.“
A video recording of Sara’s speech can be seen by clicking here. The Hansard transcript of Sara’s speech is published here.
Labour’s 2026 candidates in Caledonian Ward
The three Labour candidates for Caledonian Ward at the May 2026 local elections have now been chosen.
Current Councillors Paul Convery and Una O’Halloran are now joined by Oliur Rahman. This follows Cllr Sara Hyde decision to step-down after 8 years representing the ward. Sara has been appointed to the House of Lords and is already a busy member of Labour’s team of “working peers”.
Oliur says: “I’ve received so many kind messages, calls, and emails from our MP, councillors, officers, and activists. I’m truly grateful for all the support. I’m excited to get out door-knocking and campaign together to get all our candidates elected in May.”
“Cally is a working class ward where most of our residents live in social rented housing. I know how the cost of living crisis continues to hit our community. We have to help families in housing need, increasing the number of Council homes by building new, buying-back ex right-to-buy properties, helping tenants to downsize and release more 3 and 4 bedroom homes.”
Oliur is going to be a great candidate and Councillor. He is committed to making Cally a safer, cleaner place where everyone feels proud to live. He wants to improve access to local health services, promote wellbeing, and ensure health equity across our diverse community. If elected he will push for safe streets, cleaner air and ways to improve the neighbourhood’s environment. He wants to boost Cally resident’s chances of getting and keeping good jobs with skills and training opportunities especially for young people and underrepresented communities.
Cllr Paul Convery adds: “I was so pleased when Oliur stepped forward to be considered as a Labour candidate. He was selected by a resounding majority by Cally Labour Party members. I’ve known Oliur and his family for 20 years, our eldest children were at Copenhagen Primary School together, and he’s been an activist serving our community with great dedication. And, like Cllr Una O’Halloran, he is a Council tenant.”
Keep in touch with Labour’s candidates: in addition to this microsite, Labour’s candidates in Cally have social media pages where they post further news and information:
Cllr Sara Hyde appointed to House of Lords
It has been announced that Cllr Sara Hyde has been appointed by the King as a new member of the House of Lords. A Cally councillor since 2018, Sara will be an active “working peer” fully participating in the Lords legislative and scrutiny functions. She will therefore step down as an Islington councillor at the May 2026 elections.
Sara has always had a very busy public life in addition to her roles in the Council. She is a prison reform activist and criminal justice policy expert after a first career in theatre. She has had 10 years of first-hand practical experience supporting the rehabilitation and resettlement of women who have served sentences, both in prison and in the community. She received a doctorate in criminology from Nottingham University in 2025.
She is currently Islington Council’s Executive member for health and social care and is current Chair and former Vice-Chair of the Fabian Society. Sara started volunteering in Cally in 2003 as a youth worker and helping run a homeless night shelter. She lived on the Delhi Outram and then Bemerton Estate almost 15 years. She was a member of All Saints Church for 17 years and served as a governor at Blessed Sacrament primary school.
Sara says: “I am surprised and delighted to have been asked to serve in this way. The love and support of the community in Cally shaped me as a young adult and changed the course of my life. Although my new role is no longer as a representative for Cally, I will be working every day to make sure our country works for people in live in Cally and areas like it. I’m looking forward to listening, learning and doing my best for our communities in this new job.”
Una O’Halloran, Leader of the Council and Cally ward Councillor adds: “Sara’s appointment to the Lords is a great credit to her and all that’s she’s done in Islington and the national political scene. I am so grateful to her for 8 years as a Cally Councillor where she has been such an active representative for our neighbourhood. We shall miss her good sense, empathy and sheer hard work in our community”.
Sara has chosen the title “Baroness Hyde of Bemerton, of King’s Cross in the London Borough of Islington” and her choice of title is a reminder that the 737 homes on the Bemerton estate are a central place to the Cally community.
The Prime Minister nominated two dozen peers. The list contains many people who are eminent in business, public and academic life. The list is here. The latest working peers will help to reduce the in-built Tory majority in the Lords which has resisted measures passed by the House of Commons including legislation that was in Labour’s manifesto such as the Employment Bill which gives new protection to people in the increasingly casualised labour market.
Sudden death of Cally community activist David Lear
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.
Remembering Father Jim Kennedy
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).
Cally gets a big boost from pavement renewals
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 Bus” comes to Cally on 12th May
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.
Parks in Cally will continue to be securely locked at night
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.
Labour Councillors representing the Cally neighbourhood in Islington 