Proud Places reaches 10,000!

Last night we celebrated 10,000 young people through our Proud Places programme at a wonderful event hosted by Jones Day. The room was filled with many Londoners of all ages who have supported the programme over the past five years.

After speeches from our Chair, Sir Laurie Magnus, HOLT Trustee and Partner at Jones Day, John Phillips, Dr Nicola Stacey, Ife Davies and our Proud Places Ambassador Destine Royce Pinzi, a spectacular Proud Places cake was cut by the 10,000th young person to join our programme, Scarlett Spencer.

Gilder Cody Deane and stonemason Max Lawson gave guests a chance to get up close to their traditional skills and to take home their own gold leaf memento.

The Jones Day Foundation has funded the programme since its 2020 inception and with their support we’ve reached our target of 10,000 young people across London involved in site visits, creative and heritage projects. We’ve led over 240 visits or workshops since January alone.

That work is about to grow in a big way. In May 2026 a new Proud Places Hub will open at One Golden Lane in partnership with developer Castleforge. This new cultural space for workshops will occupy the heritage part of the old Cripplegate Institute, offering young people creative learning and support that helps opens doors to future careers. In the spirit of the building’s philanthropic origins, the Hub will be a place to learn, make and explore, where heritage meets community and young people can build confidence and belonging.

Our thanks to the Jones Day Foundation for their continued support, the wonderful Jones Day team who work closely with us and to Castleforge for an amazing new opportunity. Thanks to Futurecity for all their work on this project. We're super proud of this milestone and excited for what comes next.

Read about the Proud Places Hub in the press here.

Restoration of Brooklands Estate mural

We were delighted that so many local residents, parents and children joined us at Brooklands Primary School in Blackheath, for the unveiling of the newly restored and relocated Brooklands Estate mural.

The ribbon was cut by pupils from Brooklands Primary School alongside HOLT and Royal Borough of Greenwich.

The school children had been involved in the restoration process through HOLT's Proud Places programme, meeting Fritzi von Preussen from Temple Studios. They created their own murals with him, using similar methods to those used in the Brooklands Estate mural.

The Brooklands Estate mural was completed in 1958 by artist William Mitchell (1925 - 2020). It is made of 13 carved hardboard panels, which Mitchell cut to fit on-site at its original location - the village hall clubroom of the Brooklands Park Estate.

The clubroom is being demolished to provide space for new Royal Borough of Greenwich social housing, and the mural was rescued. The Brooklands mural has been set into a bespoke timber frame, matching its clubroom layout, and reinstalled in the main hall of Brooklands Primary School for future generations.

Foxborough gardens murals

Two beautiful murals in the entrances to two six-storey housing blocks in Foxborough Gardens in Lewisham are currently being restored by HOLT.

The concrete mural has just been re-painted by conservators from Taylor Pearce, the colours were carefully selected to match the latest iteration of the mural. Local people and children were invited to help finish the job!

The timber mural has been taken away for conservation by Temple Studios and will be reinstated in a few weeks’ time.

The murals were created between 1957 and 1963 by artist William Mitchell (1925 - 2020) who was commissioned by the London County Council to decorate the block entrances of the new housing. The timber mural is made from offcuts of wood and bits of old furniture - bannisters, dado rails and chair legs - arranged on baseboards and sanded down and varnished. It depicts abstract forms of birds, fountains, castles and sunbursts. The other mural is made from concrete (poured concrete into a clay matrix) and is more purely abstract. The concrete mural was painted in bright colours in subsequent decades. In total, Mitchell produced around 100 pieces of public art in London. Over fifteen of his works now have Grade II or Grade II* listed status.

The project has been supported by HOLT, the Pilgrim Trust, Foxborough Gardens residents and Lewisham Council and will be finished in December. Local children have been involved in the project as part of HOLT’s Proud Places programme.