THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL WILL VISIT BRENT, THE LONDON 2020 BOROUGH OF CULTURE
Wednesday 19th February
Engagement 1
The Duchess of Cornwall will visit the Granville Youth & Community Centre in Kilburn to celebrate Brent’s status as the 2020 London Borough of Culture. During the visit Her Royal Highness will meet with community groups who use the centre and view a cultural performance.
On arrival at The Granville The Duchess of Cornwall will be greeted by local dignitaries and meet children from the adjacent nursery. The Duchess will then move into the main hall to meet Lois Stonock, Artistic Director of the London Borough of Culture 2020, young people from the Blueprint Collective who consult on Borough of Culture programming, Brent 2020 volunteers, participants of RISE (Brent 2020’s official launch) and community advisers. The Duchess will then tour The Granville building and meet local businesses in the enterprise space, which also serves as office space for the Borough of Culture programme, before viewing a cultural performance.
London Borough of Culture
The London Borough of Culture award is inspired by the UK City and European Capital of Culture programmes. The Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture award brings Londoners together and inspires young people putting culture at the heart of local communities. In total, 22 boroughs bid for £1million funding to stage a yearlong programme of cultural events and initiatives, and to develop a plan to make culture an integral part of the borough’s future. Waltham Forest was London Borough of Culture in 2019 when Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow.
The Granville Youth & Community Centre
The Granville is a multi-use community building in the heart of South Kilburn, managed by the South Kilburn Trust. It encompasses affordable workspace and studios for social enterprises and creative artists, as well as community space for activities, events and celebrations. The Granville is inclusive, accessible and affordable for all local people and groups, and offers services that local people need, including youth activities, healthy living, older people’s support, advice services, and exercise and dance classes. It is a place where local people can come to get advice, take part in activities or just relax and meet friends.
Engagement 2
The Duchess of Cornwall will visit the Kiln Theatre to view the recently renovated facility and meet with young people currently taking part in London Borough of Cultural social change project, The Agency.
The Duchess of Cornwall will be greeted by Indhu Rubasingham MBE, Kiln Theatre Artistic Director, and Daisy Heath, Executive Director of Kiln Theatre. Her Royal Highness will then meet members of Kiln Youth Theatre in the John Lyon Space before meeting the cast and crew of Pass Over as well as the play’s writer, Antoinette Nwandu. The visit will conclude with The Duchess meeting “Agents” from the Brent 2020 social change project, The Agency. Before departing, The Duchess will have the opportunity to meet staff from the theatre.
Kiln Tehatre
Kiln Theatre is an internationally renowned, proudly local, theatre in the heart of Kilburn. It produces high-quality, engaging work which presents the world through a variety of lenses, amplifying unheard voices into the mainstream. Led by Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham and Executive Director Daisy Heath, it makes theatre that crosses continents and tells big stories about human connections across cultures, race and languages.
Its Creative Engagement programme is responsible for making lasting differences, championing the imagination, aspiration and potential of Brent’s community young and old. In the past year alone, Kiln Theatre has run free drama workshops for over 750 young people, 150 of whom are newly arrived in the UK, it has produced a huge community play featuring over 100 local people aged between 11-77 years old, and given away over 2,000 free tickets to people who may not usually visit the theatre. Kiln Theatre is also a participant in Brent 2020 London Borough of Culture programming.
The Agency
The Agency is a youth enterprise project that works with young people from marginalized areas to create social enterprises, events, projects and businesses that will have a positive impact on their local communities. The Agency was originally developed by the Brazilian theatre maker and journalist Marcus Faustini in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where the project has become a major force for change – Agencia de Redes para Juventude.
Catch up on The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall’s most recent engagements, in the latest issue of Royal Life magazine.
