We were delighted to be invited by the London Borough of Camden to attend the launch and naming ceremony of the 119 new affordable homes at Maitland Park.
The official opening by Sir Kier Starmer, MP for Holborn, joined by Cllr Pat Callaghan, Acting Leader of Camden Council, and Councillor Danny Beales, along with local residents and community, Camden, contractor Bouygues and other members of the development team, was followed by the naming ceremony.
There are three housing courts as part of this development and each are named after people who were heroic in their own way and had connections to Camden. Cllr Pat Callaghan led naming ceremony, where we heard stories of the people behind the name on the building by those who either knew them or had a connection.
The plaques prominently displayed at the entrance of each building shares the inspirational stories of Antony Grey LBGTQ rights, activist, writer and media campaigner; Mary Prince, the first black woman to have autobiography published in Britain, ‘The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave (1831)’; and Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman spy to be dropped behind enemy lines in occupied France in the second world war. Known as the Spy Princess, Noor was connected to the Indian Royal family and was one of three women who received the George Cross for heroism.
The naming of these buildings takes these three people to the heart of Camden where they now have a lasting legacy and place.