Becoming Neighbours

Becoming Neighbours is a project delving into Pembroke House’s rich history and legacy of Residency. Taking place during the organisation’s 140th year anniversary, it is a timely opportunity for critical reflection and celebration of the connections, experiences and stories that were created through this unique approach to neighbourhood living. 

We are excited to reconnect with the residential volunteers who lived at Pembroke House, and the local Walworth residents who they built relationships with over the years. Our aim is to collectively weave an oral history that propels us to imagine what a new model of neighbourhood housing could look like– one that genuinely reflects and responds to the changes that Walworth has gone through in the last century and a half.

We want this process to be community-led, so that the future Residency is informed by the ideas, perspectives and goals of Walworth residents. We are excited to work with community researchers to unearth and gather stories from previous residential volunteers, and to create a wider, connected community in the process.

Becoming Neighbours is an opportunity to celebrate and shake up our history.  Through honest and open conversations about the experience of Residency, we aim to practice the question of what it means to live in more intentional communities and collectively tackle the root causes of the issues in our community. 

We’ll be sharing our journey over the year through public sharing events, and creative outputs such as a podcast series exploring the history of settlements, and exhibition displays. Make sure to keep up to date with us here, or contact Mattias or Juliette for more information.