My Peckham: Peckham people
About Peckham
Peckham’s character is formed by its diverse population. There are many communities, voices and experiences among the people of Peckham.
We’re celebrating local people by sharing stories of life in Peckham. If you’d like to see your story on this page, please get in touch.
Peckham in statistics
Nearly half of the local population identifies as Black, Black British, Caribbean or African, according to the 2021 Census. A further 10 per cent of Peckham’s population identify as Asian and Asian British. While roughly 7 per cent of the area’s residents identify as being of mixed racial heritage.
Peckham People
Clement Ogbonnaya, owner of The Prince of Peckham pub
"I bought a rundown pub with a vision to create a community venue fit for the vibrant mix of local people in Peckham.
When I was buying the pub, I was one hundred percent in my head saying, this is going to work. I wanted it to really change this community. I wanted a ripple. I wanted people to understand that the business is here and it is theirs, whether they be white, black, old or young, students, workers, it’s for everyone. A space for old and new Peckham. I wouldn’t have been in the position that I am in now if I hadn’t created a business plan that was centred on community.
The Prince of Peckham name came from the TV show ‘Desmond’s’. It was the first TV show that I watched with my family that I could relate to. I was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1981 and came to the UK as a child with my family in the 1980s. We watched Desmond’s and saw black people on television, who had come from Guyana. They were here, in London, just like me and my family’s situation. The character of Lee, the Peckham Prince Stanley, was a black wideboy. Cockney one second, patois the next, it was fantastic. Everyone wanted to be the ‘Prince of Peckham’ or the ‘Peckham Prince’.
When I coined ‘Prince of Peckham’ for the pub, I was saying that we are all royal. We are regal and we should realise our value and our worth.
Putting the black boy and the black girl mural on the front was important because there are so few images of normal, everyday black people around. Normally the only black people represented are athletes or musicians. I wanted young black kids passing the pub to go to school to see themselves and think, ‘Yo! This could be us’. When we painted, ‘Welcome to Peckham’ on the front wall, as soon as you walk into our space, you are all Peckham. We treat everyone the same and that was the whole message behind it.
I opened Prince of Peckham to the public on Thursday 18th May 2017 and it was incredible. There was such a range of people there and it was packed. I’ve got this picture of me on the first day of the opening of the Prince of Peckham, I’m in my traditional Nigerian ware, I’m behind the bar and I’m like, ‘Welcome everyone!’ I’m chuffed and I’m thinking, this is mad, I’m a black guy who owns a pub in Peckham!
Growing up, I couldn’t have imagined how Peckham would eventually evolve. I didn’t know about Peckham’s creative side. I did not know there was affluence here. I’m happy that this ecosystem has changed and that there are more creatives. For black children, the fact that they can be creatives today in such a locality, is great. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still definitely a minority of black people.
In black families there’s still pressure to earn money doing sensible jobs like being a doctor or an engineer. But to know that Peckham is creative, more so now than it ever has been, opens up things for everyone to enjoy. It’s great to see that there are more black social enterprises appearing and that
working class kids from the local area, of all ethnicities, are doing positive work in the community. It’s really exciting to see and I get a lot of them coming into Prince.
The best thing for me about Peckham is that it’s such a melting pot. Everyone is their own character and there is a lot of individuality. There is no more vibrant a place in London than Peckham. This is a fact."
Mark McGinlay, co-founder and co-editor of The Peckham Peculiar
"I’ve now lived in south London for almost 25 years and I first moved to the local area 19 years ago in early 2004.
I was getting a bit bored of both living and working in south-west London and wanted a fresh start in a new part of the city. I came over to visit Peckham for the very first time to look at a house-share and it all just suited me fine.
We started the paper 9.5 years later in August 2013 just after myself and Kate (my wife and co-founder/editor) had found a small flat to share right on the border of Peckham and Camberwell.
It all began with a crowdfunding campaign in late summer of that year where we asked the local community and local businesses for £5,000 to cover the costs of the first two issues.
It was quite a close-run thing as we did it on Kickstarter which is all-or-nothing. However, thanks to 150 backers including a very generous donation from PeckhamPlex, we just about managed to get over the line.
In the 9 years we’ve been in print, we’ve never really thought further than the next edition as we organise the paper in our spare time so there’s never much time to plan ahead.
We’ve been extremely proud to have shown the people and places of Peckham and Nunhead in a positive fashion. We love the diversity and sense of community the area has and we hope the paper has shown these qualities in the 52 issues we’ve produced so far.
Even though we’ve been here a while, we always find that there are still loads of great places to discover in SE15. If you’ve not checked out Jahson Peat’s long-standing vegan restaurant, which is hidden away in Rye Lane Market, you really should go."
Mickey Smith, DJ and founder of The CLF (Chronic Love Foundation) at The Bussey Building
My name is Mickey Smith (aka DJ Jazzheadchronic) and I am a proud Peckhamite via way of Huddersfield and a couple of adventurous Jamaica parents. I’ve been here over 20 years now and have made Peckham my home. Having lived around the world (Hong Kong to Bahrain) and travelled extensively (Tokyo to Cuba via The Maldives and Ukraine) I must say that Peckham really is my favourite place to live and is somewhere I will always call home.
In 2003 (post seven years in Hong Kong) I settled in Peckham, first at the Pioneer Centre, then Bellenden Road before planting my flag in Choumert Road (where I still live to date). This is where I started work on a project to save a building called CIP house and surrounding industrial park from demolition to create a Tram storage depot the size of four football fields. At the request of Peckham Vision and Building Landlord, I developed a plan. The plan was to rename CIP House with its original moniker “The Bussey Building” (to show its 140 year history) and host a three day festival ’The CLF Weekender’ to highlight the importance of the building. Then I took up residency in Block A to create The CLF (Chronic Love Foundation) Art Cafe, which became affectionately known as The Bussey. The venue expanding year on year to such a positive degree that said CPO/planning permission was thrown out and The CLF Art Cafe/Bussey was born. A place that through CLF projects like The South London Soul Train and Theatre Local with The Royal Court became known as one of the country's leading centres of music and the arts.
Right now we, the CLF are working hard on a new project to move our sister venue (The CLF Art Lounge & Roof Garden) into the new Blenheim Grove Building. There we will be expanding our services further to include education, mentorship and apprenticeship schemes in everything from Film to Art, Music to Photography.
The CLF are helping to secure numerous spaces that will allow the local community to thrive and conquer rather than be displaced. The diversity, vibe, edginess and entrepreneurial spirit are just a few of the things I love most about Peckham and something I am working hard to safeguard long term against a potentially gentrified future.
For those who don’t know Peckham, I would ask you to come and engage with the local people and see what makes Peckham one of the country's happiest neighbourhoods. It’s far from perfect and the Graffiti monster has run riot here, there and times it seems everywhere, but the future is looking bright and there are so many secret plans being developed that SE15 looks set to be booming for decades to come. What I can say is that some of these projects are truly world class and will help firmly establish Peckham as one of London and The UK'S leading capitals of culture long term! I Love Peckham! Mickey x
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Page last updated: 20 February 2024
