Royal Docks History Meal Club

This project will host year-long, 6 thematic events combining storytelling, communal meals, and cultural programming to document resident perspectives on regeneration and heritage, each event aligned with significant cultural celebrations such as Lunar New Year,  International Women’s Day, Easter, Diwali, Halloween, Christmas, and Black History Month. These gatherings will centre around free or low-cost communal meals themed to the occasion, creating informal opportunities for residents to share personal stories and oral histories related to the Royal Docks. Each event will incorporate creative activities, such as collaborative art or storytelling workshops, designed to collect memories in an accessible and engaging way.

A key output of the project will be a permanent digital archive. This online resource will preserve all collected stories, photographs, and recorded memories, making them freely accessible to residents, researchers, and future projects. Additionally, all recipes from the communal meals will be documented and shared digitally. This archive will serve as a legacy, enabling the community to explore their heritage remotely and providing a resource that can be used for self-guided learning at home or to inspire and inform future local events and initiatives.

The project directly addresses a clearly identified need for creative community engagement in the Royal Docks. By teaming up with Marieta Evans, one of the founders of The Royal Docks History Club (active since 2017), we've gained access to a rich repository of historical content and a pre-existing network of engaged residents. This ensures our events are grounded in authentic local history.

We will also be leveraging the audience and participants from FeastFest activities (since 2022), drawing on our proven track record in delivering community-focused cultural programming. Our partnerships with UCL have further highlighted a critical gap in accessible, creative historical projects.

This initiative is specifically designed to bridge these gaps. It will combine rigorous historical research with an innovative, theatrical presentation to create memorable experiences that bring local history to life, while ensuring that the voices of the community are at the forefront of shaping future development.