30 Voices 1 Borough, co-founded by Kyra Zhang, Yuru Guo and Zhimin Zhang in 2025 in London, is an ongoing city-wide cultural project that captures personal narratives from across the city’s 32 boroughs.
Across all of London’s boroughs, we are interviewing 30 people from each area. From gas lamp lighters, antique booksellers and historic restaurant owners to town criers, glassblowers, artists and community organisers, we’re meeting the people who fill London with life, craft and character every day.
Every story helps us see the city through a new lens—one that reveals London as a tapestry of people connected through work, passion and the everyday beauty of life.
The “custodian” of Benjamin Pollock’s Toy Shop – Louise Heard
“If you love art, folly, and the bright eyes of children, then speed to Pollock’s.”
Benjamin Pollock’s Toy Shop, a treasure that dates back to the 1880s. Today, it is the only toy shop left in central London dedicated to toys made of paper, fabric, and wood.
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A poet for passerby – Luke Erasmus
“I do think that everyone has a poem in them, just as everyone has the capacity to fall in love, everyone has the capacity to go insane, everyone has the capacity to experience beauty and transcendence, and to find meaning in their lives.”
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Mudlark – Marie-Louise Plum
‘So much of the stuff we have today is made of rubbish, plastics, cheap alloys. Coins from almost 2,000 years ago, I can find in perfect condition. Coins from 20 years ago are corroded and they got holes in. I think all these modern finds you can make a social statement, it can tell you something about how we live.’
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Mudlark – Marie-Louise Plum
A mudlark, artist and writer who has spent the past decade searching the tidal River Thames for objects that carry traces of London’s past.
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A fourth-generation Punjabi restaurateur – Amrit Singh Maan
“Food is everything to us. For many cultures, for many immigrants, food is our love language.” Amrit Singh Maan, a fourth-generation Punjabi restaurateur and the current owner of Punjab Covent Garden, the UK’s first Punjabi restaurant, founded by his great-grandfather in 1946.
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A printer by trade and a director by spirit— Bernard O’Keefe
Bernard O’Keefe, the owner of KWT Printing Services in Covent Garden and host of Bern’s Speakeasy Podcast, has spent 45 years in the printing trade. Over that time, he has seen the industry transform from a craft rooted in manual skill to one driven by digital precision. “Well, we’re hoping AI comes in. Maybe I can employ robots — they don’t need holidays!” he jokes
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World-renowned map store owner – Vivien Godfrey
Vivien Godfrey is the chairman and chief executive of Stanfords, the family-owned map specialist founded in 1853. More than 150 years on, the company now holds the largest selection of globes for sale in any shop worldwide.
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London’s most unique magazine – Jeannine Saba
Jeannine Saba is the founder of The Covent Gardener magazine, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The magazine explores the area’s community, art and history, sharing quirky and unusual stories that offer a unique view of Covent Garden.
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Changemaker of Covent Garden Playground — Max Lacey
Max Lacey is leading the transformation of Covent Garden Playground, one of London’s earliest public play spaces. First opened in 1877, it has been a beloved community spot for generations of local families.
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The Antiquarian Bookseller – Tim Bryars
Tim Bryars, an antiquarian bookseller based in London’s historic Cecil Court. Tim opened his shop over 20 years ago, and while independent shops around him have gradually vanished under the pressure of rising rents and business rates, he has stayed, buying, collecting, and sharing valuable antique books and maps with institutions and the public.
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One of the last four lamplighters – Aran Osman
Aran Osman is one of the last four lamplighters maintaining the 1,100 gas lamps still glowing across London. Gas-powered street lighting first arrived on Pall Mall in 1807, and today around 1,300 gas-fuelled lamps continue to illuminate the city.
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Chief Onion of Westminster’s Onion Garden— Jens Jakobsen
Jens Jakobsen, founder of The Onion Garden CIC, has transformed a once-forgotten corner of London into a quietly magical space. Robins swoop to classical music, onions hang from trees, and everyone is welcome. Part fairy tale and part community project, the garden is a unique initiative in Westminster—planting not just onions, but ideas in people’s minds and hearts.
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30 Voices 1 Borough 