Caribbean social club will honour community’s roots in Hackney

A modern day social club promoting London’s Caribbean culture has been launched in Hackney.

Island Social Club cofounder and chef Marie Mitchell. - Credit: Archant

Joseph Pilgrim, his cousin Biko Mason and Marie Mitchell have launched Island Social Club to honour the community’s strong roots in the borough.

The first event, a supper club named Nyamming, will explore African and Caribbean culture through food and each course will be accompanied by an art performance.

Next month there will be an event celebrating Windrush Day and the contributions made my the generation of people who arrived from the Caribbean 70 years ago.

Joseph told the Gazette: “We were going down the food route but it didn’t feel like we would be serving the right group of people and we felt we wanted to connect with a community – not just the Caribbean community but people who are truly interested in Caribbean culture and how it’s developed in London.

“So we decided we would listen to our hearts and investigate our own culture, rather than just try and sell it as a commodity. Everything we will do is educational and based on research and collaborations with experts.”

Visit islandsocialclub.co.uk.