New Wave Arts
Walk of Honour · New Wave Arts CIC

Why We Started

The Walk of Honour began with a community petition and became a shared effort to preserve North Kensington's legacy, celebrate local contribution, and create an educational record for future generations.

0 Founding Stars
0 Core Objectives
0 Named Support Sources
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Why We Started Context

Why This Walk Needed to Begin

The founding vision started with local history and local dignity: making sure the story of North Kensington stayed visible and teachable.

North Kensington was once regarded as one of the five poorest areas in England and received central government support through City Challenge funding.

The Walk of Honour is designed to keep those histories visible and connected to present and future community life, so contribution is remembered and passed on.

Parliamentary records from June 1997 show the North Kensington City Challenge partnership had received about GBP 66.2 million in public funding and GBP 29.7 million in private funding by 31 March 1996.

City Challenge project image connected to North Kensington regeneration
City Challenge archive image showing local community context
City Challenge archive image from North Kensington
City Challenge archive image documenting local regeneration work
How It Began

From Petition to Public Launch

Local support, trust partnership, and a committed community team turned an idea into built heritage.

Step 1

Community support through petition

After gaining local support through a petition it instigated, New Wave Arts CIC approached the Westway Trust with a proposal to place the Walk of Honour on the walkway between Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road.

Step 2

Permission and committee formation

Permission was granted. The directors of New Wave Arts then formed a committee with local people whose support was invaluable in bringing the Walk into reality.

Step 3

Design and fabrication

The stars were designed by committee member Mr Junior Tomlin, a talented local and internationally recognised artist. Tomomi Yoshida was commissioned to make the stars.

Step 4

Launch and ribbon cutting

A public launch followed, attended by the then Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Cllr. Preety Hudd, who joined local community members to cut the ribbon. The opening marked a key moment where local collaboration became a visible public legacy.

Objectives of the Stars

What the Walk Was Built to Do

These five objectives define the purpose of the stars and the wider civic role of the project.

Preservation

To preserve the rich legacy of North Kensington and to inspire others.

Inspiration

Despite many problems, North Kensington produced people who achieved national and international recognition through hard work, commitment and belief.

Education

To educate local and other people about the history of North Kensington and what emerged from it, and to show that hope exists even at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Community

To show how people from different countries and cultures learnt to respect one another and work over time towards one shared community.

Unity

In major tragedies like Grenfell, the community came together as one family, calling for social justice while helping neighbours in need.

THESE STARS REFLECT THE STORY OF THE NORTH KENSINGTON COMMUNITY.

New Wave Arts CIC
The Five Stars Vision

The Original Five Stars

The Walk consisted of five big stars: Community, Arts, Music, Sports and Market.

Community

Paying tribute to people whose work strengthened everyday life in North Kensington.

Arts

Recognising visual and cultural contributors across generations.

Music

Celebrating musical talent and local sound heritage.

Sports

Highlighting sporting contribution, coaching and local achievement.

Market

Honouring traders and market culture that helped define local identity.

The idea of the stars was to document North Kensington's rich history, pay tribute to people from its many communities, and act as an informative educational tool.

New Wave Arts CIC project vision
People Who Shaped It

Key Contributors

People named in the founding source text who helped bring the Walk of Honour to life.

Portrait of Mr Junior Tomlin

Mr Junior Tomlin

Star designer

Committee member and internationally recognised artist who designed the Walk of Honour stars.

Portrait of Tomomi Yoshida

Tomomi Yoshida

Star fabricator

Talented artist commissioned to fabricate the Walk of Honour stars, translating the committee's vision into lasting public artworks.

Walk of Honour community committee members during project delivery

Community Committee

Community delivery team

A committed group of local people helped shape and deliver the Walk of Honour from concept to launch.

Westway partnership identity linked to the Walk of Honour location

The Westway

Project home

The Walk of Honour was placed underneath the Westway on the walkway between Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road, rooting the project in a key North Kensington location.

Funding and Support

Organisations and Local Donors

Delivery was made possible through institutional support and smaller community donations.

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0 Community Committee
0 Shared Local Vision

New Wave Arts CIC

Led and delivered the full Walk of Honour project, coordinating design, community partnership, and implementation.

Westway Trust

Supported delivery and partnership work, including permission for the Walk to be placed on the Westway walkway.

Windrush Day Grant Scheme

Provided funding support that helped move the project from proposal to delivery.

Masonic Charitable Foundation - Harringay Lodge 2763

Contributed to the project's funding base.

Jane Mccullagh representing The Perring Family contribution

The Perring Family

Represented by Jane Mccullagh, The Perring Family were responsible for funding the Market star and remain a long-established family with a long history of involvement in the market.

Local Community Members and Local Donors

Local community members, market traders, and local donors provided grassroots backing that helped complete the Walk of Honour and ensured the project reflected the wider North Kensington community.

Ambition and Lessons

Caribbean Communities Garden Proposal

An important part of the original vision that reflects both ambition and delivery constraints.

Community Space Vision

A place for intergenerational connection

As part of its commitment to strong community growth and recognition of local talent, New Wave Arts CIC proposed a Caribbean Communities Garden where young and older people could meet, converse and learn from each other while playing games such as chess, snakes and ladders, and other board games. The proposal reflected the many communities across the Caribbean islands, including African-descended, mixed-heritage, Indo-Caribbean, Indigenous Kalinago/Carib and Garifuna, as well as Chinese, Syrian/Lebanese, and European-descended communities.

The idea received support in the form of a series of petitions but did not progress to implementation.

Strong community ideas do not lose value because they are not built in the first phase.

Lessons from delivery
What Comes Next

More Stars to Come

It is hoped that additional stars can be laid, space allowing, following local community nomination. This next phase is about recognising more people whose service shaped North Kensington.

Future stars can honour individuals, often forgotten, who made it their life work to help and support the local community.

Examples named in the source include teachers, nurses, cleaners and labourers whose service helped hold North Kensington together in difficult periods.

The directors of New Wave Arts CIC take this opportunity to thank all individuals and organisations who have been supportive and helpful in making this happen.

Further information can be obtained from the award-winning My North Kensington documentary.
Explore The My North Kensington Documentary
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