All Transcripts (14)
Alison and Jen’s Story by Alison - Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Jen
0:00:00
Because we would always go into more, Wanstead, Woodford with the kids, when the kids were, our kids are grown now, so But I, we wouldn't have had the opportunity when they were little little to come here. But now my like great-nephew and stuff, they do come into the park, so it is lovely for them.
Alison
Yeah, I was quite fortunate because we lived local when my kids were little, like, they did go, we used to take them into the park a lot, especially the north where Tumbling Bay is. They love it. It's very scary as a parent watching your kids climb all them log things at Tumbling Bay and you're like, if you get stuck I can't get you because I can't fit in the gap. But they love that sense of freedom and independence and that's what it was designed for. It was just amazing.
Jen
When we were kids, so the Tumbling Bay reminds me of, there was a playground over at Cathall and it was called the Adventure Playground and it was so fun, it was all wooden as well and it was like really fun, you used to have a thing called the Jelly Bridge and all things like that but it was like the same sort of concept as Tumbling Bay I would say, because when I see that it really took me back to being a kid.
Alison
But they don't have that anymore?
Jen
No, no, no, it's been developed on, it's not there anymore. That was like 40 years ago.
Alison
Blimey.
Jen
Yeah!
Eileen’s Story by Shahina - Carpenter’s Community
Eileen
0:00:00
The most important person in my life, my mum, who was a very strong person, lovely, who was really quite ahead of her time. And she was born just before the war, well, in the 20s. And although she was a girl, she was always strong-minded, always wanted to do whatever she wanted to do and luckily she was kind of allowed to do that. She was evacuated with her twin sister and her younger brother during the war to Cornwall but before the end of the war she became old enough to work so she came back to London with her sister and although they had been told that they should go into service or to go to work in a shop, that's not something that my mum ever wanted to do. And before, or when she came back, first of all the first thing she did was to sign up to go into the land army but she wasn't quite old enough so she had to go and work into a clothing factory where she was a tailor's cutter and while she was there a bomb dropped and it was quite hard for a lot of people to get out and the fire people came and they said to my mum, you don't need to help, this is man's work and she said, I may be a female but I can help as much as anyone else and she actually helped to get the people out.
Eileen
0:01:40
She then went off into the land army and where she stayed she did work that really quite strong men used to do and when she came out she got married. She was one of the most important people in my life.
Shahina
What is your earliest memory?
Eileen
I have a really early memory and I can't, I have two actually memories that stick out in life for me. I was born in London, when I was two, the factory where my dad worked moved out from Custom House where we were living and we moved down to a new town and we moved into a house with a garden and a bathroom which we hadn't had before and I can, I was probably about maybe round about two I think and I can remember my mum opening the door and saying, you've got a garden, go and run. And the second memory was probably around about the same time, I was probably a little bit older, and my mum and dad bought me a three-wheeled scooter and it was bright red. And it was just, well, when I saw it, they bought it for me for Christmas and they'd wrapped it all up in wrapping and I thought, oh my goodness, what's that?
Eileen
0:03:22
And when I opened it and saw it, it was snowing outside and I insisted on putting my wellingtons on and my coat and going out in the snow on this red tricycle.
Fantasy of East London by Discover Children’s Story Centre
1
0:00:00
Fantasy of East London. The scene was set at London Bridge, and there was this mysterious figure and this mysterious crystal. Mythical creatures have started coming out of the ground into our planet, destroying our famous landmark. The military was called over and tried everything in their path, everything in their power to stop them. And then we could do nothing about it. And then we saw something that we would never see again. Dinosaurs.
2
0:00:30
ROAR!
1
0:00:31
We tried everything to stop them, but we couldn't. They were too big and too strong. And then our red bus went extinct.
Fredrick’s Story by Shahina - Carpenter’s Community
Shahina
0:00:00
Do you have any regrets?
Fredrick
0:00:02
No, not really, girl. No.
Shahina
0:00:04
You don't have any regrets?
Fredrick
0:00:06
No, not really.
Shahina
0:00:08
What is your earliest memory?
Shahina
0:00:10
Like a childhood memory?
Fredrick
0:00:14
Oh, when the doodlebugs come over. The doodlebug was in the Second World War. - Oh, okay. -
Fredrick
0:00:18
And they used to say, being crude, their bums alight because there was fire coming out the back and as soon as the engine cut off they used to come down and explode like and my grandad he used to take me out in the garden and we used to watch the doodlebugs come over over Stratford
Shahina
0:00:45
Where have you lived as a child and now as an adult?
Fredrick
0:00:49
Well I was born in Forest Gate, Odessa Road. Then just before the war started, I moved to Major Road in Stratford, Newtown. And then from there I moved round here to Roche road (?).
Shahina
0:01:08
How long have you lived in this borough? Or Newham.
Fredrick
0:01:19
Oh Christ. Since I would say 80, 81 years, 82 years.
Shahina
0:01:28
How did you meet your wife?
Fredrick
0:01:30
Oh well this is a story.
Shahina
0:01:32
Okay.
Fredrick
0:01:33
I was cycling around Leytonstone, and her and her mate walked out in front of me on my bike, and I fell off the bike. And that's how we met, like. - Oh, okay. So you start talking to her? - Yeah, and I called her all the silly under the sunlight from walking out in front of me, and her and her mate was stood there just laughing like you know
Shahina
0:02:03
okay so but um so um afterwards did you just take her number?
Fredrick
0:02:09
no well you did that's telephones then girl!
Shahina
0:02:11
I know but i mean what did you do after I mean?
Fredrick
0:02:14
Well I said to her, can I see you tomorrow? So she said yeah and I said oh well I'll meet you inside Rumsey's at seven o'clock and I thought I ain't gonna go. I went. - You went? - And I met and she went. - She went as well? What by herself or with her friend? - No by herself and we was talking and that and it we just clicked like really and then she took me home to meet her mum and dad and all the palaver like but yeah.
Shahina
0:02:55
So you got married straight away or did you wait?
Fredrick
0:02:58
No, I done National Service for two years but I was deferred because I was an apprentice until I was 21. And then, we was all set to get married and I got my calling up papers and that was in the February 1960, and I got married in the 2nd of April 1960 at St Margaret's Church, Leytonstone.
Hardial’s Story by Suresh aka The Cockney Sikh - Solo Researcher
Hardial
0:00:00
The worst subject for me at that time was maths. Because what they used to teach, it used to not go through my... It used to come, go in one ear, come out the next, and I had a problem understanding it. But a thing happened when I was in Year 10, I was just not getting maths. It was not coming to me. So my dad got me some tuition for my exams and after about good three four months the tuition guy he basically taught me the whole book that the whole like everything that I didn't know he went through the whole maths book and then I loved I started loving maths since the end of year 10 maths was my favorite subject I still love maths. If you understand something, you enjoy it more.
0:00:55
So, ever since then I've been really quite good at, you know, at the calculations and what not. So yeah, continuing from the maths, I have a story like, because it was closer to my GCSE's, and me and one of my friend, he started understanding the stuff as well, the maths, and we got to a stage where we were both practising with each other maths questions and we went to the in the maths exam and we looked through the paper and I looked back at him, I can remember looking back at him and he smiled at me and I smiled because we said we're gonna do good in this exam and sat there, started the paper within 30-35 minutes I shut the paper and I looked back at him and he's sitting there as well we've both done the exam in the same time and the teacher come up to me, you know the invigilators they go do you want to check your exam paper are you finished I say yeah he goes oh no double check it I said no I've checked it if I check it I'm gonna end up doing something else and then I might have had like some some question one couple of questions I didn't know whether I was right or wrong but I thought if I look at it again I might change something and get it wrong so I left it then when the exam results came I was so close from getting an A* basically and that was a good experience in my life because that teacher within like three months he taught me so much. College to be honest I didn't get as much good grades as I hoped for but I still got a place in university to study Law at Kingston University.
0:02:50
But I didn't, my dad said, look, you know, I don't think you're going to take my university seriously, so just try and find, do an apprenticeship actually, he said to me. He said, find a trade that you want to learn in and do an apprenticeship. But at that time, like my brothers said why do you want to go back to college? Is this like going back to a college apprenticeship? Just find work and you can progress further.
0:03:26
So I didn't listen to my dad. I found a job at 18 in a warehouse. You know the Hovis bread? - Oh yeah. - So I used to work for them. - Where were they? In Dagenham? - There's one in Forest Gate which is near my house. They actually produce the bread, they cook it, and then they send it to the distribution centre in Dagenham. So I worked there for a good eight, nine years. And at first I was doing night shifts, six to six, 12-hour shifts, like six days a week I was earning money but it was really like to take take it out on me basically and but still my dad said look you got a job do apprenticeship didn't listen to my dad but so this since 18 I've been working then I left that job and then I went into then I started working with my brother for a couple of years doing a painting and decorating and this since then I've been doing repairs and maintenance jobs since then.
Janet’s Story by Beth - Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Michelle
0:00:00
She used to go to Theatre Royal when it was Joan Littlewood, Including going to one of their parties. also she used to go hop picking in Kent. She could tell you about Joan Littlewood.
Beth
0:00:16
Tell me about that. That would be really interesting.
Janet
0:00:19
Hop picking in Kent was when I was young. So that was our family holiday. Nobody could afford to go on holiday. So, all through the six weeks, everybody used to go down in a lorry, used to get in a lorry, and we were in a Faversham, Kent. We even had an accident once, the lorry turned over, but everybody was okay. And we used to drive down there, and in a week, the women, it was just mainly women, and they used to go down the fields and do the hop picking, and the kids used to go down there, come back, and we'd have a campfire, everybody had something, we lived in a tin hut and the mattress was made out of straw, so it was probably all mice in there, thinking about it now. There was some sort of wash house if I remember rightly and a horrible toilet, oh my god, I can still see it. And then they used to cook all the food outside on these big pots. And at weekends, all the husbands' dads and that used to come down. And all the families all used to go to the local pub. And the boys always used to get in, scraps with the local boys, because they used to call us names. But that used to always happen. The girls didn't, just the boys. And then they'd all come back from the pub and sit around the fire, everybody. I can just remember everybody singing. And I always remember saying to my mom, mom, please don't sing, please don't sing. But she's gone, no, why not? I just thought that was really nice.
Beth
0:01:50
Did she make you sing as well?
Janet
0:01:52
Oh no, I wouldn't have done it. I was so shy. I didn't even want mom singing, but it was a good thing. Every day we used to walk down to Bill's (?) to get his lamb and we used to call him, he's coming over and we used to give him plums to eat and I'm sure it wasn't good for him.
Beth
0:02:13
So it was like a camping trip in the country - it really was - did you get paid as well?
Janet
0:02:16
It was a paid holiday, that's why people used to go. We've been fruit picking as well but hop picking was the main one - yeah very very interesting you know so you would have done that for quite a few years then when you were growing up? - yeah yeah my aunt used to, she used to (inaudible) can you imagine sleeping in a straw mattress and she had it on the back of the door and because it's all dressed up and (?) when she came back she said I'd have to go home if I didn't own up to it. - I bet you preferred picking fruit than hops though because you could eat them or were you not allowed to eat them? - I think I was a bit young, really young then because I don't actually remember that much about it. I just remember one woman that I was really, I was scared of her. She used to walk with a walking stick. I remember that. the only thing I can kind of remember about fruit picking and this lady, she was a bit abrupt and I was bit nervous about her, but hop picking, oh I used to love hop picking. Yeah, yeah. So, um... Great.
Beth
0:03:25
Oh yeah, great, good memories.
Jayden’s Story by Althea - Badu Digital Hub
Jayden
0:00:00
I feel that Hackney is a great place to raise your kids because it's very diverse and everyone's very friendly. There will not be a person in Hackney that won't help you.
Althea
What's your favourite thing about Hackney?
Jayden
My favourite thing about Hackney is the amount of communities there are. They're just roaming around because you never know when you're going to meet one and they're all very spontaneous. I do a variety of sports, running, swimming, football, basketball, netball. I'd say my favourite is football but I also like netball because of the movements and yeah. Oh the Jack Petchey Award, I won a Jack Petchey Award for my athletics. I went to an athletics competition and I took part in a lot of sports, also won a lot of competitions therefore I won a Jack Petchey award.
Althea
0:00:53
Oh that's really good so did you win money or did you win a prize or something?
Jayden
0:00:58
I won a medal and a certificate from the people at Jack Petchey. I won a lot of money which I used then to put into buying running shoes for the whole school.
Althea
0:01:11
Oh that's really nice, so you, that would just seem that you're a great team player then.
Jayden
0:01:17
Yeah.
Jayden
0:01:17
I've been looking into physiotherapy a lot. Also philosophy. I feel like, for philosophy, I'm not sure where it can take you, but I would like to find out because it's a fun subject in my opinion. And physiotherapy is just, like, it's within my pathway.
Althea
And how would you describe yourself now maturing and growing up?
Jayden
I feel like I'm a lot more level headed right now, assessing all my options as well as I can and trying to figure out the best outcome that I can, that is achievable for me. I would say my dad has the biggest influence on me because he's a very calm person but he gets his work done when it needs to get done and when it needs to be he's very stern as well. One family memory that I keep coming back to is probably the time we had carnival in our house. We couldn't go to carnival because of Covid so we had one in our house and that was very fun.
Althea
That was really good, that's nice. Do you know any funny family slogans or anything like that that maybe your grandparents have taught you?
Jayden
One that I used to see when I was young a lot I saw it in the calendar it said keep calm and love the Fontaines and that stuck with me. Yeah I know that we're all mostly Caribbean so I know that my grandparents were from the Windrush, the Windrush generation. And yeah.
Althea
0:02:51
Do you understand the journey that they made to come to this country? Have you ever heard of it?
Jayden
0:02:56
I haven't heard of it from them specifically, but I've heard, I've learned about it. And I feel like everyone should know about it as well.
Althea
0:03:04
So now you're a grown, nearly a grown young man, what would you say to your younger siblings growing up? What piece of advice would you like to leave with them?
Jayden
0:03:13
Whatever you've seen me do, don't do. Because, yeah, like, what I did, I don't think it was the best thing for me to do for future, but I was just living life because I was young. Obviously, you can live your life, but don't get too carried away in the moment.
Althea
0:03:32
That's really nice. Well, Jayden, thank you. It's been lovely to have you here. And you know this is an oral history, it's going to be kept and archived, so can I just ask for a last thing, why did you agree to do this oral history for us?
Jayden
0:03:47
Because I feel like every story needs to be heard regardless of whether it's someone famous or someone who doesn't really make a difference in the world because at the end of the day everyone has a voice and every voice should be heard.
Kathy’s Story by Johnny - Newham Community Project
Kathy
0:00:00
a bit of broken glass or another thing from my childhood that I remember vividly, a man used to come round the streets, yeah, and he had, it's hard to explain, this pony, yeah, it was like, like an horse and cart, yeah, but on the back of the cart it was like a roundabout, yeah? And you used to pay either a penny or an empty jam jar, yeah? That was the price, a penny or a jam jar. I'll explain about the jam jar, yeah? And then the kids would get on and they could have a go on the roundabout. This man made it himself, he was just trying to make a living, I suppose times were hard and that's what he did, yeah. And so we used to look out for this man, his name was Levi, Levi Lee and he had like this little horse drawn roundabout, I can't describe it any better but it was great and the jam jar, now why do you think he wanted being paid by a jam jar? In Canning Town there used to be, at one time I think there was four glassworks, yeah? Two, maybe three of them got bombed in the wars, so they was no more, yeah? But there was one left down in Bidder Street, Canning Town glassworks. And glass is recyclable, okay? OK, so if we gave him jam jars, he could collect jam jars and take them down to the glassworks and sell them. OK? Improvise. Yeah, they're things I remember from when I was a child. Trolleybuses. I love trolleybuses. You know what a trolleybus is? Oh, come on! Right, trolleybuses, right, didn't have a petrol engine. They had two sort of poles on the roof that attached to wires up there.
Johnny
0:02:12
Oh, like a tram?
Kathy
0:02:13
Yeah, like a tram, like a tram. But we called them trolley buses. Yeah, it wasn't a tram, it was a trolley. And so they could only go where the wires took them. And sometimes if they went too quickly round a corner the wires would come off, you know, the pole would come off the wire. So under the bus, they had this very, very long pole, that they'd have to pull out and then they'd pull the wires back up.
Johnny
0:02:39
How were diverse cultures and history represented in your school curriculum? Like how they were teaching about history or anything about the cultures.
Kathy
0:02:49
Oh right, okay, so we're now going back to the late 50s, early 60s.
Kathy
0:02:57
Hardly at all.
Kathy
0:02:57
Yeah, hardly at all.
Kathy
0:02:58
What we was taught about was the pink bits on the map, you know, the British Empire. Okay? This is ours, right? We went there, we took that, we got that. That's what we was taught about. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah. And to be honest, when I started doing history, because I used to catch up on history lessons, because I loved history at school, loved it. And senior school I didn't go to a lot in the first couple of years was okay, but then as we got to the third and fourth year, okay, then it started talking about World War I, World War II, and I just switched off. That wasn't history to me.
Leo’s Story by Wesley - Badu Digtial Hub
Leo
0:00:00
Getting my A-Level results. Both A-Level and GCSE, because I think them two, especially GCSE, it was mad because imagine I'd done Year 10 in Saudi Arabia and then I had to move back to Gambia for Year 11, everything disrupted, I had to choose new subjects and stuff, so I had to learn the whole course in one year and then still coming out with one of the best results in the school, that memory I always cherish and then A-levels as well that I got my thing last week. Yeah, same thing, moving to the UK just for sixth form, learning a lot and producing one of the best results again, I think them two memories are what I'll always live with me.
Wesley
0:00:44
And what did you do for A-levels here in the UK?
Leo
0:00:46
So A-levels I studied maths, physics and chemistry. - Would you like to share your grades or is that something that you'd keep to yourself? - Yeah why not, everyone knows about it by now. So I got A* in maths and physics and then A in chemistry. Five marks off an A* but it is what it is.
Wesley
0:01:06
Well done, well done, well done. And how has your life been different than what you you had imagined?
Leo
0:01:11
I mean, as a kid you always dream, not as a kid, but I always dreamed about being a footballer or something like that. But where it is now, just finished A-Levels, I'm going to Uni. I still play football but I didn't imagine it to be, like, as a hobby basically. I wanted to be something professional. So I'd say in that aspect it's been different, but I don't regret it and I still like the direction I'm going in because I'm trying out new sports that I never thought like triathlons and stuff so yeah I still good yeah. - You say you competed in a triathlon, how was it? - It was, the first time I'd done it, one of the best feelings, I never thought, prior to it I never knew what a triathlon was, so three months before the event I didn't know what the sport was and then completing it within two, three months Yeah it was just amazing, literally
Wesley
0:02:10
And how many triathlons have you taken part in?
Leo
0:02:12
Now I've done three triathlons Like I said I've always been a shy person, I don't go out of my way to talk to people or anything like that, but since moving to East London, and then joining this mentoring programme which is run by BADU Sports, I feel like it's changed a lot, making me be able to do public speaking even more and just do more stuff that I never thought I'd do.
Primla’s Story by Suresh aka The Cockney Sikh - Solo Researcher
Primla
0:00:00
My name is Primla Bhambri. I was born in 1941. That is Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab. He was one of the Diwan in Kapurthala. As English people rule there, King, Queen, and they say Bajir, then they get the title of Diwan. My grandfather was Diwan Mokum Chandtir. And I'm very, very proud. I still got my mom's grandfather's coat, which he was wearing when he was going in the darbar. Anyway, I was in my father's village in Shankar, near Nakodar. And I remember when I was eight years old, we came in Jalandhar. So I had my education first and second year in the village. Then I had my education until matriculation, 10 classes you can say, in Jalandhar. And I was in the school, it's a very interesting and important school [name], and after my 10th education, went in the college, Hans Raj Mahila College.
Suresh
0:01:21
Primla, can you just tell me, this was all before Partition, wasn't it?
Primla
0:01:28
Yes, it was before Partition I was born, and I remember a little bit what happened in 1947. I remember that there was a little window, and I was looking out and heard a noise I was upset as well what is going on but I remember Muslim people they were our servant you can say or she looked after me I remember she took me many times in her house I remember that So anyway, then we grew up after my education. I was 17 and a half and You know after the education the people say the girl should get married quickly because it's old-fashioned But my dad came in this country London 1954 So I was very very exciting to see London. I want to go and I will look how it is. Anyway, then my father, then I was 17 and a half or 18, he looked the man to get me. - Tell me where in London, what part of London did your father come to? -He came in the East London, Banterworth Road near Brick Lane. He spent a few years in Brick Lane, and slowly slowly he moved in Southall, He had a job there. And from there he was an educated man. He done BA at that time. And he was the manager in the Coop bread company. And he worked there until I come. When I came in this country 31st October 1961. But before I come here, my father choose one man, I should get married. But I didn't like the marriage life. I want to be free. I want more education or more going on in the world. I don't want a marriage life. I don't want to... I had no interest at all. But anyway, then in the end, same man, my younger sister, she was only 14 and a half, 15, she got married. Anyway, then when I came here, it was very cold and very snowy as well, that was my first Diwali, Indian New Year. And anyway my father took me here and there for my winter clothes. We done the shopping. Then he took me a few places in my town because from Southall he went in the West Britain. There he was working. Night time he was working. Day time he was helping me to find a job in that country because we needed money. So I was very lucky. I went to a few factories to see the job and I went in the Ivor Langley lady belt factory as well but I was not lucky to find a job there. But after that, after two weeks get the job, Anglo Swiss Screw Company. They were making the parts of aeroplane and watches and I was making them, making the thread and making the tap. I was making the screws on the machine, which I never done in my life before, but I was very, very happy earning the money and enjoying my life. The first week I wore my Indian dress, salwar kameez. But then my father, then I got my first wages. I went with my friend. That was near the house. There was a shop in the corner, Holland. And she took me there. I bought two skirts, two tops, two blouses, and leggings. Then I started wearing the English dress. After one week, I bought a few more clothes.
Shahina’s Story by Eileen - Carpenter’s Community
Shahina
0:00:00
I was born in Bangladesh. So our childhood was like, we had cousins, sisters, so it's about a group of ten of them. So, and the village we used to live in was quite big. It's just me and my dad's house and my uncle, two uncles, and their children. So all the girls, we used to be together, we used to go swimming, we used to go to just, you know, play with, you know, like a little marble and play hide and seek, pick up some fruits, like we used to go together. And sometimes we used to go to people's, you know, place, and they're just at home, and we're just kids, so we used to go and pick some fruit and when they used to see us we'd just run or just tell each other keep an eye if someone comes. So those sort of things used to be really fun, especially like nicking someone's fruit. But then they know that who's, I mean children, who we are, so they're kind of like, you know, the children they were just they don't like the adults they don't like certain areas they were supposed to go so yeah that was fun actually and you know leaving the doors not worried about burglar everyone know you know each other so yeah I say it's good.
Sophie’s Story by Wesley - Badu Digital Hub
Sophie
0:00:00
I did not grow up in North West, I was born in London and then grew up in Gambia and then came back to London to live in 2019.
Wesley
0:00:09
And what brought you to East London?
Sophie
0:00:14
Family. So my uncle, my mum's brother lives here and when I came over I just started staying with him and did my sixth form up until uni and now we're all just staying in East London. It was towards the end of term in year 8 and normally towards the end of year we would go on trips either to, it could be anywhere, it could either be to a nature reserve, literally anywhere to learn about either the history of Gambia or just to know what's going on within the country. But that particular year we didn't go on any trips so some of my friends thought it would be a cool idea to ditch school and go to the beach instead. Obviously the gates were locked because you're supposed to be in school so we decided to scale the fence and get to the beach. But it was about 40 of us and clearly the school knew that this wasn't the number of kids we had in the morning so we got caught and that wasn't particularly nice.
Wesley
0:01:24
And what did your parents have to say about that? Did they find out?
Sophie
0:01:30
Yes, yes they did. Because it was 40 of us normally the punishment for that would be suspension. It was the second to last day of school and because it was a lot of us, they couldn't suspend every single one of us. And if they called the parents, I think it would have been irresponsible on the teacher's part because why are the kids out of your sight to the point that they could do this. But I think me being the person I was and the people knowing who my parents are trying to raise me to be, I think some of the teachers took it upon themselves to call my parents, to call my mom and let her know what I did, even though that wasn't the case for other 39 kids. But I went home and I remember as soon as I came home, my mom was still at work, my sister, she finished her GCSEs by then, so she said to me, hmm you're in trouble man. Sometimes we had rap battles. I was no rapper but we had some people who would rap. A lot of times I ended up in fights but I mean if you're a spectator you'd love it. If you were in the fight not so much. - And how come you would end up in fights? - Because I think it was sort of with one person winning the battle, the rap battle, and everyone's hyping them up, everyone's hyping them up, so the person that's losing, instead of just rapping, would say something to get at them, so it would either be like your mum, or like just say a line within their rap to get at them and that was not supposed to be part of the rap battle and the person who was winning would end up retaliating either by punching them slapping them in the face or throwing something at them and things would just escalate from there.
Wesley
0:03:25
And how was that different from going to school in sixth form in the UK? What would you do for fun here?
Sophie
0:03:30
I know people played Uno, I did play Uno sometimes but I think I just I would say I sort of struggled to fit in during sixth form so I only had, I spoke to quite a few people especially the people who did, who were trying to do medicine as well like me I would say I had two main friends, so what lunch time would look like for us is we'd have our lunch and then we'd just chill in the classroom and have just chat, have fun, play games. We did play games on our phone and just catch up on things someone said or someone did that would make us laugh and that was it. I don't think you'd catch anyone having a rap battle, or at least to my knowledge. I just don't think I really vibed with the people in my sixth form at the time.
Stories of Us by Discover Children’s Story Centre
0:00:00
In 2017, I was in nursery and found my best friend. We made so many memories, but sadly he left. In 2018, I met my new best friend. He was super nice and fun. It was like a fire that would never be put out. That's our friendship. This was in Newham, my home, my home place. And after seven years, we were still best friends.
The Ocean Story by Discover Children’s Story Centre
0:00:00
This is my story about the Lost Ocean. It is one of the amazing oceans that you have ever seen, owned by West Ham Park. But Trident got a bit tired of scuba divers coming and taking his treasure without his permission. He tried, he tried, but failed. But one day, Trident went missing, so West Ham Park had no other options to close it down. But no one stopped trying to get the treasure, but they failed. But one scuba diver got the treasure. Trident had appeared saying, "You won, but tell no one you had saw me." And now, West Ham Park is wondering if Trident is okay.