We will be celebrating the season of Black History and culture with an exhibition in our conference room. This exhibition showcases traditional and historical cultural memorabilia and explores modern-day Black activism. The exhibition will be open to the voluntary and community sector every Friday during Black History Season between 12pm to 2pm.

As part of the exhibition we are displaying some of the fascinating portraits taken at the Chats Lunch Club. The images were taken by Brian Whar, a local Hackney photographer.

Rachel King, Hackney CVS’s Lunch Clubs Coordinator, explains how the exhibition arose. “I met Brian at Chats Lunch Club’s special Windrush celebration in August,” says Rachel. “Brian is a photographer and film-maker based in Hackney and was taking professional portrait photos of the lunch club members, many of who are from the Windrush generation. It’s wonderful to have such beautiful photos of the lunch club members as a central part of our Black History Season exhibition. Chats members represent a very special generation in Hackney. Look out for a photo of Beatrice who started up the Chats Lunch Club in the early 1990s. Beatrice moved to Hackney from Jamaica in 1957 and has lived in the borough ever since.”