Some of the subjects of past entries on Nicola Baird’s Islington Faces blog congratulated the site for its latest milestone

THERE were celebrations last week as popular blog “Islington Faces” marked its 365th published interview.

The blog, which was started by author and environmental journalist Nicola Baird in 2012, gives a “snapshot” of life in Islington through interviews with community members who live or work in the borough.

“If you mentioned living in Islington, people would associate it with Tony Blair, or later Boris Johnson, and all those fancy politicians, but that wasn’t the reason I lived in Islington, or what other people in Islington experienced,” Ms Baird told the Tribune

Ms Baird, who has lived in the borough since 1987, wanted to show the importance of “community and identity” within Islington.

“What I found with Islington Faces is that everyone has something in common, and [shows] the way in Islington that the community mixes very well,” she said.

She added: “There are so many villages in Islington, and you can be with someone from outside the borough and walk along the street with them, and people are saying hello to you on the way, and that’s unusual, and it’s really lovely

“I think Islington Faces has helped a bit with this, because you tend to interview people who you partly recognise – they’re a shopkeeper, or they maintain the park, and then you learn a bit more about them.”

Attendees, including 40 past interviewees, watched a live interview with mayor of Islington Anjna Khurana, who spoke about how she became mayor, and what the new role means to her.

“I thought about how when I was a child (or even a 20-year-old) how much I would have loved seeing an Asian mayor – a small petite, Asian woman mayor,” she said during the conversation with Ms Baird.

Cllr Khurana added: “I didn’t think it was the sort of thing I’d ever want to do as you have so many photos taken and you have to talk so much, but actually when I put on the robes it’s like a superpower and I can talk and tell you all sorts of things. Here I am. Brown. Disabled. Woman. Petite. And I am your mayor.”

Interviewees, who had been photographed by Kimi Gill, were also given their portraits, which had previously been on show at Islington Museum before being displayed in community spaces across the borough, including Islington Climate Centre and the Ringcross Community Centre.