Inkerman Area Residents Association Ltd May Newsletter – Alma St Fair, Tackling Isolation and Loneliness and more..

Dear Members

Just a few important (if long!) items this time:

1. Alma St Fair.

2. Meeting on Tackling Isolation and Loneliness.

3. Closing some of Camden High St to traffic

4. Buzzy activities at 2 Prince of Wales Road, our new Community Centre.

5. exhibition of local history

1. The 2025 Alma Street Fair! Saturday 21 June

The Alma Street Fair is now quite famous locally – ie in London. It has been running successfully since 2008 with only three gaps.

It will be happening this year on Saturday 21 June 2025. 12.00 noon – 7.00 pm.

It means that for one day Alma Street, Inkerman Road and a part of Cathcart Street are closed to traffic and clear of parked cars.

We have three stages for music and over 100 stalls all down the streets selling food, both from local restaurants etc and homemade food, drink, art, clothes, books, bric-a-brac, toys, and maybe offering information about local nature, eco projects, backrub massage, local history information. There will be activities for children.

The aim of the Fair is to bring people together and to celebrate all the local talent that exists in our community. The Fair allows everybody – local residents and businesses – to meet each other and get involved. They can do this by providing stalls to sell food, bric-a-brac, crafts etc, supporting local community and charitable organisations. It is also an opportunity for local musical and other talent to perform on one of the stages.

We can’t do it without you! Volunteers needed! It’s a great way of meeting neighbours!

As usual, everyone is invited to the Fair, either to enjoy the day as a guest or to be involved in the actual event itself. Its success completely depends upon local residents providing help. So we’d love to hear from you if you feel you can contribute. (A big thanks to those who’ve already offered, and there’s no need to contact Jane again.)

And let us know if you have any suggestions for improvements (particularly if you have ideas to add to a children’s area). Below is a list of contact details for the people who are looking after their respective areas of the Fair. Please do contact them directly if you can help:

Can you help on the day?

Even for an hour or two? It could be in the morning putting up bunting and setting up stalls, or a couple of hours in the early evening packing things away? Or it could be selling some raffle tickets on the day, or helping on the wine bar? janehindle1@me.com

Wear a High Vis Vest – be a volunteer steward

Could you put on a badge and a high vis vest for some of the day and help keep the crowd happy and well informed for an hour or two? We will have some official security people to brief volunteers, and then just want you to mix with the crowd, offer directions, keep an eye out for lost children and generally help: janehindle1@me.com

Enquiries on how to rent a stall:

There will be Community stalls for local residents and Commercial stalls for local businesses, plus stalls for charities and non-trading organisations.

Inkerman Area residents have priority booking and a reduced reservation fee for the Community stalls.

Stall reservations now open on Eventbrite https://almastreetfair2025.eventbrite.co.uk

Do you live on Alma Street or Inkerman Road or Cathcart Street and are able to provide electricity for a stall? (reimbursement of costs available): inkermanara@hotmail.com

How do we minimise any potential nuisance?

We work to ensure that everyone has an enjoyable and memorable day and to ensure that as little disruption and annoyance as possible is caused. So there are a few rules:

Alcohol – the licence for the sale of alcohol is strictly limited to the official Residents Association bar (Bar Ink) and the Two Tribes beer stalls. No one else, including residents, is allowed to sell alcohol. It could put future Fairs at risk with the licensing authority were our licence to be breached. We ask therefore that all residents observe this condition and we ask anyone who is aware of such activity to alert one of the organisers or a steward.

Curfew – the Fair ends promptly at 7.00 pm. We ask residents to respect their neighbours and to turn down the volume of any music within their own property by 7.30pm so as not to cause disturbance.

2. Tackling Isolation and Loneliness – A message from the Camden New Journal about a new project the CNJ is helping UCL with.

Dan Carrier of the CNJ writes: “ It’s called Camden Connects, and it is a research study led by academics and health experts at UCL, University College London, focusing on isolation and loneliness in the borough, the services available, how they can be improved and what we can do to help people who are currently not getting the care they need.

The figures for Camden are rather shocking, as I am sure you already know – high numbers of people who feel isolated, alone, who don’t have contact with others, and whose health and quality of life is obviously seriously impacted by these factors.

My friend Professor Dan Davis is leading a new project, and he and his team are gathering evidence from as wide a range of people as possible, currently focussing on wards in Kentish Town.

He and his team are hosting a special open morning and I urge you to go along and say hello – it’s at the Old Farmhouse on Kentish Town Road, Saturday May 17th from 9.30am until noon. It’s a drop in event, not swanky presentations of power points – more a chance for you, or anyone in your network, to meet the team, share your stories, anecdotes, issues and help them design new ways of making sure we really do tackle social isolation, loneliness and all the awful health issues that stem from this. The plan is to create a really comprehensive, grassroots upwards picture of the needs of people in the Kentish Town area and offer some suggestions as to how the Town Hall can tailor its care services to suit.

At the CNJ, we hear everyday the stories of people who have been left behind, who literally do not know another person, have fallen through the welfare net – we report far too often on older people who feel isolated, and the tragic stories of people who have funerals provided by the council as they have no next of kin.

Prof Davis’s team want to help our communities by doing a deep dive research project and then forming answers to these problems – and they need our help to do it.

I’d be really grateful if you could spread the word – everyone is welcome, as advocates, neighbours, community minded people, as well as those who may feel they need help…

Saturday 17th May at The Old Farmhouse Kentish Town Road – tea and coffee and snacks provided!

3. Camden High Street Pedestrian trial

You will have seen or heard about Camden’s decision to close some of Camden High Street to traffic – between Camden Town Station and Hawley Crescent. Ie in some, but not the most crowed areas of the Marker:

There’s a new consultation about this. You can comment at

https://camdenhighstreet.commonplace.is/?utm_campaign=NewCommonplaces06_05_2025&utm_source=cp-email&utm_medium=email

4. Two Prince of Wales Road – the old Law Centre at the junction with the High Stret.

Save the Date – Kentish Town Connects Open Community Meeting ☕💬

We’re holding our next community open meeting in May and would love to have you there!

Date: Wednesday, 15th May 2025
Time: 10:00am – 11:30am (arrive from 9:30am for networking)
Location: Kentish Town Neighbourhood Space, 2 Prince of Wales Road, NW5 3LQ

These meetings are for anyone who lives, works, or travels through Kentish Town. Come to hear local updates, meet neighbours and organisations, and share ideas about how we can work together to improve the area.

Want to contribute to the agenda? Email us via kentishtownconnects@camden.gov.uk

May Newsletter – Alma St Fair, Tackling Isolation and Loneliness and more..

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