Barking and Dagenham is the proud home of many high-achieving black individuals. The ‘Hall of Fame’ celebrates the exceptional achievements of individuals of African and Caribbean heritage with links to the borough across a range of sectors from sport to art and culture, to volunteering and community action.
Ethel Scott was the first Black woman to represent Great Britain in an international athletics competition, competing as a sprinter. She is known to have competed between 1928 and 1950 and achieved her greatest successes around 1930. She spent the last decades of her life living in Barking.
A former player for Barking Town FC, in 1925 Jack Leslie became the first ever Black footballer to be called up for England. However, he was denied the chance to play because of his race. In 2022, the FA awarded him a posthumous cap to recognise his contribution and the discrimination he faced.
Colin McMillan is a British, Commonwealth and World Featherweight Boxing Champion. He learnt to box at Barking Boys Amateur Boxing Club. Since retiiring, he has raised thousands of pounds in support of disadvantaged young people; in 2019 he received a British Empire Medal.
Born in Barking, Rochelle Humes is a former member of the pop groups S Club Juniors and the Saturdays. She has gone on to a successful television and radio career, as a presenter of The Hit List and a regular guest host on This Morning.
Zara McFarlane is a British jazz and soul singer and songwriter. In 2014 she was awarded “Best Jazz Act” at the MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards. Her musical tastes have been influenced by her Jamaican heritage.
Kemi Oloyede is an artist, entrepreneur and designer. Drawing on her skills and experience from a career in the fashion industry, she founded The Sew London Project, which runs sewing classes and promotes sustainable fashion with workshops on upcycling.
Colin Francis is a DJ and music producer, specialising in dance, hip-hop, pop and R&B. He is the only UK DJ to have had nine consecutive number one albums in the UK Compilation Charts.
Botis Seva is an Olivier award winning dance artist, choreographer, and director, at the forefront of Hip Hop dance internationally. He focuses on making a societal difference and using his autobiographical experiences to drive narratives.
Mailaika Firth is a successful model, born in Kenya and brought up in Barking. In 2013, she was booked as the first Black model in nearly 20 years to appear in a Prada advertising campaign.
Hannah Kupoluyi, founder of the ‘All Women's Network’, is dedicated to women's empowerment and supporting women to gain confidence and achieve their dreams. Her work earned her various awards from Barking and Dagenham, including the Rising Star Award, Most Influential Women Award, and Business Excellence Award, recognising her outstanding contributions to women in the borough.
Having seen the impact of gang violence in his own life, Stephen Addison founded ‘Box up Crime’. The organisation uses non-contact boxing to educate and inspire young people and keep them away from crime. In 2019, Stephen was awarded a British Empire Medal for his work in schools, pupil referral units and community centres across London.
A former child refugee from Somalia, Zahra Ibrahim is now the director of the Excel Women’s Association, a women-led charity which works with women and girls to provide a safe space and access to advice in Barking and Dagenham and across neighbouring boroughs.
Jeorgina Soares is one of the founders of ‘Triangoals’, a local organisation that works to support children, young people and families, promoting fitness, mentoring and skills development and providing opportunities for them to socialise.
Bobbie-Jo Muir is the founder of Make Your Mark CIC, a group that works to create a platform of opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people - especially from BAME backgrounds. Their mission is to bridge the poverty gap so that all children and young people have the resources and support to become a successful adult.
As the lead for the Church Elm Hub Wellbeing Group, Jocelyne N’guessan has been committed to promoting wellbeing tackling isolation, depression, low self-esteem, poverty, anxiety in Barking and Dagenham.
Arinola Araba is an Nigerian-born award-winning doctor, social entrepreneur, speaker and published author. Through her social enterprise ‘bMoneywize’, she has worked to promote fun and innovative approaches to numerical and financial education for children and digital education for the elderly. Her educational board game has been featured on ITV and BBC news.
Wunmi Oyewole has made significant contributions to the Barking and Dagenham community since 2013. Her achievements include founding Radiant Ambitions, a CIC focussed on female empowerment, supporting other grass roots organisations with accessing funding and capacity development. She has also delivered sessions on everyday English.
As a youth worker, coach and mentor, Sarah Robertson is dedicated to improving outcomes in Barking and Dagenham. Through local organisation Future M.O.L.D.S. Communities, she works with young people and their families, providing activities including boxing and sports coaching training.
Through their work as co-founders of ‘Moms on a Mission’, Vanessa Raimundo and Ashleigh May support families facing poverty, providing services including peer advocacy, wellbeing projects and youth intervention, as well as campaigning.
Wanting to bring people together and help young people to develop and make good life choices, Amanda Dawes founded the Youth Spot Bar. Today, it is a youth centre activity hub that delivers sports activities and social hub sessions, including a new roller-skating club, for people aged 8-25 years, making great alliances within the local area.
John Wainaina is a champion of youth leadership and participation. He is the founder of ‘Youth League UK’, a multi-award-winning organization dedicated to supporting young people in the borough. It runs programmes from an established youth centre at Dagenham Heathway and at local schools including youth mentoring, education and career support, sports and leisure activities and a youth forum.
Clare Julien has been running a parent and toddler group as a volunteer in Barking and Dagenham for over sixteen years. She has touched the lives of many families in the borough; by encouraging them to get involved with stay and play activities, she has brought people together andhelped them to develop their confidence.
A former volunteer supporting the healthy lifestyle programme, Herbie Alley wanted to share what he had learnt more widely and help people on their health and fitness journeys. He trained as a Zumba instructor and now delivers free Zumba and chair dance classes.
As a motivational speaker and writer, Neusa Catoja promotes empowerment and self-confidence, particularly for women. She provides coaching and advice to help people to overcome life challenges and achieve their ambitions.
As Chairman of the Joint Works Committee, Milton McKenzie campaigned for equal rights. In recognition of his work as a trade unionist, he was awarded an MBE in 2009. He has also served Barking and Dagenham as a local councillor and Mayor, has been awarded Freedom of the Borough and was made Honorary Alderman in 2016.
Stephanie Okoye founded ‘Girls Like Us’, which delivers powerful in-school programs to help girls of black or black-mixed heritage to discover their inherent ability and reach their potential by developing their confidence, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence.
The Barking and Dagenham Youth Forum is made up of democratically elected secondary school students, who work on a range of campaigns and projects. Many young aspirational Black students have been elected to the forum, including its chair Millie Kiseke, Isabelle Mlay, Jada Henry-Ward, Chelsea Adu-Bireco, Koryn Archer, Caelyn Edwins, Favour Onah, Ahosa Osunbor, Adesewa Odejide and Rebecca Francisco.
As Barking and Dagenham’s Young Mayor for 2023-24, Regina has worked alongside the Youth Forum to raise money for Centrepoint, a youth homelessness charity, as well as to represent the voices of young people across the borough. She is forward-thinking young person who is enthusiastic about young people from all ethnicities and cultures having the opportunity to express their ideas and concerns about issues that affect them.