A team of volunteers and staff has been involved in the Making Inroads project since March 2009, recruiting participants, taking oral history interviews and photographing people with their objects on an ongoing basis. Here are some of the other key activities that have taken place since the project began.

16-17 March 2009 Oral History training day given by Rib Davies. Volunteers attended this two-day workshop. In addition to learning how to conduct interviews this was a chance for the volunteers to meet each other and other members of the Rowan Arts team.

March and April 2009 Photography workshops with photographer and project leader Ruth Corney and photographer Peter Tweedie. During these sessions the volunteers shared their knowledge of photography and discussed documentary and portrait photography. There were also practical photography sessions.

March - December 2009 Volunteers started contacting potential participants. Interviews and photographic sessions took place during these months.

29 May 2009 Oral history feedback workshop led by Tagreed Ismail, the oral historian for the Making Inroads project.

26 June 2009 Volunteers on the project worked on a display of Making Inroads materials at North Library. This was to enable the public to see how the project was progressing. On 27 June members of the Making Inroad team were at the library to discuss the project with library visitors.

29 June 2009 Talk given by oral historian, Peter Hart from the Imperial War Museum at North Library Islington. This was part of the Holloway Arts Festival and open to the public as well as Making Inroads volunteers.

4 July 2009 Making Inroads had a stand at the Big Day Out in Whittington Park (part of the Holloway Arts Festival) The stand was used to promote the project, create interest and recruit possible participants.

9 November 2009 Visit to Host Gallery London EC1, to see the photographic exhibition, European Fields by Frans van der Meer. The focus of this visit was to consider exhibition displays.

17 December 2009 Talk Action Facilitation Training day. This course was made available to volunteers on the project.

22 January 2010 Making Inroads volunteers visited the Local History Centre in Islington to meet Mark Aston, Local History Manager.The purpose of the visit was to find suitable material for the Making Inroads book.

January - April 2010 Visited and contacted possible venues for the Making Inroads exhibition.

February - May 2010 The team worked on the production of the book and website. Texts and images were collected in order to provide context and show the evolution of Holloway Road and nearby areas. Famous people, places and subjects were researched.

May 2010 Work begins on selecting extracts for the exhibition.

7 June 2010 Ruth Corney and Ruth Grimberg went to the printers in Nottingham to see the book being made and to check the colour proofs.

June 2010 Frames ordered, printing in progress, launch being organised... almost there!

25 June 2010 Launch of Making Inroads at Central Library.

To listen to the participants' stories and see their photographs, visit www.makinginroads.org

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It has been a rich and rewarding experience working on this project and would not have been possible without all the input from the participants who have been involved and who have shared their stories with us.

This project has been a real team effort and we would like to thank all the volunteers who have worked so hard and been so enthusiastic throughout the project.

The volunteers have put so much into the project; finding the participants, photographing and interviewing, book design and editing, research, exhibition preparation and offering their own wisdom and knowledge...

Not only have the volunteers given their time, energy and expertise but they have also been willing and keen to learn.

Making Inroads has been a learning journey for all of us.

We would like to say a massive thank you to the following volunteers: Peggy Aylett, Angela Bachini, Lorenza Bacino, Alison Drewitt, Ruth Grimberg, Simona Lyons, Rosy Marshall, Naomi Peck, Michal Trzcinski, Peter Tweedie, Hilary Young.

Thanks must also go to Carla Ferrari, intern on Making Inroads.

Project Leader and Lead Photographer Ruth Corney
Writer/Editor Caroline Graty
Oral Historian Tagreed Ismail

We would also like to thank the following people:

Additional material Claire Hegarty
Book Design Max Wilson

Greg Adams, Rib Davies, Peter Hart Williams, James J Hicks, Hassina Malik, Angela Stapleford, Joyce Wosket. Jamie Smith, Hak Huseyin and the team at Absolute Print. Staff at Central Library including Allan Williams, Michelle Gannon and Maggie Ford. Cheryl Smith and Alex Smith at Islington Museum. Mark Aston and the staff at the Local History Centre, Islington. Jan Pimblett at the London Metropolitan Archives. Carole Levy, Sue Cross, Rasa Sabalionyte, Mary Joan Redmond, Feroz Lebbe and the rest of the staff at North Library. Rowan Arts staff, volunteers and trustees.

Book Printed by Russell Press Ltd, Nottingham
Frames supplied by Best 4 Frames
Exhibition prints by Adelphi Graphics, Rosebery Avenue, London.
Website by Surface Impression