London Voices
Archive

A community oral history project

London Voices Archive Hidden stories from every London borough

Recording the memories of the people who make this city, before they are lost, and passing them on to the next generation.

Share your story Explore the project

Placeholder photograph: gogomoe / Unsplash

01Why it matters

London changes faster than it can remember itself.

A lone figure walks past a closed shutter on a narrow London street, in black and white.
Placeholder photograph: Markos Tsoukalas / Unsplash

When a family shop closes, a market moves or an elder passes away, the stories they carried can disappear with them.

The official record keeps the landmarks. It rarely keeps the corner shop that fed a street for forty years, the songs sung in a front room, or the journey someone made to get here. Those memories live in people, and people are not archives.

London Voices Archive is a community oral history project created by filmmaker and poet Kaan Singh through Sprinkle of Happiness CIC. Its purpose is simple: record the everyday voices of London in their own words, and keep them safe for whoever comes next.

  • In their own wordsStories told first-hand, not summarised by others.
  • Free to listenAn open archive anyone can explore.
  • Kept with careShared only with the storyteller's consent.

02How the archive works

Listen. Preserve. Pass it on.

Passengers reading newspapers on a London Underground carriage, in black and white.
Placeholder photograph: Peter Lawrence / Unsplash
  1. 01

    Listen

    Recorded conversations, story circles and live talks in libraries, markets, community centres, shops and homes across London.

  2. 02

    Preserve

    Each recording is catalogued with consent, alongside transcripts and photographs, in a free and searchable online archive built to last.

  3. 03

    Pass it on

    Storytelling evenings, exhibitions and school sessions that hand London's living memory to the next generation.

03The collections

Stories we'll keep.

Six collections will shape the archive. They are planned, not yet published: these are the kinds of stories we are setting out to record.

  • A baker hands pastries across a busy market stall.
    Collection 01

    Shopfronts & Stalls

    Independent shopkeepers, market traders and family businesses, and the streets they kept alive.

    Placeholder: Kamsin Kaneko / Unsplash
  • A wet London street at night, lit by shop windows and street lamps.
    Collection 02

    Street Memory

    Neighbourhoods, lost buildings and the corners that changed, remembered by the people who lived there.

    Placeholder: Miguel Puig / Unsplash
  • An older man rests his head by a vehicle window, in black and white.
    Collection 03

    Hidden Figures

    Local people who shaped their borough but were never written into its history.

    Placeholder: Nigel Tadyanehondo / Unsplash
  • A street musician plays guitar to a small crowd.
    Collection 04

    Studio & Stage

    Artists, musicians, performers and the creative communities that gave London its sound and spirit.

    Placeholder: Diane Picchiottino / Unsplash
  • Rows of glowing paper lanterns strung across a dark brick passage.
    Collection 05

    Mother Tongues

    Journeys to London and lives built here, told in the languages they were lived in.

    Placeholder: Alexandre Debiève / Unsplash
  • A man sits beneath an umbrella beside a street chess set and a painted mural.
    Collection 06

    Living Lore

    Folk tales, proverbs, sayings and the craft of oral storytelling, handed down and kept alive.

    Placeholder: Flavio Vallone / Unsplash

04Borough by borough

One city. 33 boroughs. Countless stories.

The archive will grow across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, working with local people to record the places, memories and voices that matter to them.

This map is where those recordings will live. It is empty for now, on purpose: every borough below is waiting for its first story.

Boroughs
33
Recordings published
0

Select a borough

Every borough is awaiting its first recording.

05The founder

Meet Kaan Singh.

A London filmmaker, poet and performance artist, and the creator of London Voices Archive.

Kaan brings a filmmaker's eye and a poet's ear to a simple belief: every Londoner carries a story worth keeping. The archive is delivered through Sprinkle of Happiness CIC, the community interest company he founded.

Read Kaan's story

06Get involved

Every Londoner carries a story worth keeping.

Have you lived, worked, traded or made art in London? Do you know someone whose memories deserve to be recorded? There are four ways to be part of the archive.

01Share a story

Tell us about your London: a place, a person, a moment you remember. Recordings are free, and nothing is published without your consent.

02Volunteer

Help record conversations, transcribe interviews, photograph places or host a story circle in your borough.

03Partner with us

Libraries, schools, community centres, markets and local organisations can host recording days or help reach storytellers.

04Support the archive

Funding, equipment and skills all help keep London's voices recorded, preserved and free to hear.

Our secure sign-up form is being prepared. Contact details will be published here once confirmed.

Placeholder photograph: Flavio Vallone / Unsplash