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Hackney Council has been awarded a £2,241,216 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to redesign and modernise Hackney Museum, creating a more dynamic and inclusive space for residents, with the aim to use the museum’s unique historical collections in bold and exciting new ways.The new permanent exhibition at the museum will highlight how the local area has been shaped by 300,000 years of migration and settlement. Alongside the redesign and redisplay of the permanent exhibition, other significant changes will include a new visitor reception, two temporary exhibition areas, a redeveloped community room, an improved shop, events and teaching spaces, and enhanced digital resources so more people can access Hackney’s rich histories.Local community groups and organisations will play a key role in shaping the redevelopment, contributing ideas towards permanent and temporary exhibitions, digital content, and skills development programmes. There will be opportunities for volunteers to get involved and help reveal local histories about the impact of the Blitz, activism and social change.Stories and objects in the new permanent exhibition will explore the social and economic changes which have made the area a desirable place to live, as well as a range of issues which have challenged communities too. The borough’s long history of community solidarity and activism will be showcased. Hackney’s famous Anglo-Saxon longboat discovered in Springfield Park will be redisplayed, alongside the much-loved replica of the boat which thousands of children have sat in. Remains of a 300,000 year old straight tusked elephant - the world's largest ever land mammal - discovered in Evering Road, Stoke Newington, will be displayed to show a time when the local climate and landscape were dramatically different, with Hackney resembling a South African savannah.The four-year project will require Hackney Museum to close for a year from late 2025, reopening by early 2027. During this period, the museum will continue its work through community projects across the borough. A programme of events and exhibitions to celebrate the relaunch will run from throughout 2027 and 2028.Find out more about the Reimagining Hackney Museum project  Notes to editorsAbout Hackney MuseumHackney Museum was established in 1986 and opened in 1987 as the community history museum for the London Borough of Hackney. It explores the history of the area that is now the London Borough of Hackney and is based in Hackney central, next to Hackney Town Hall. The current displays, which opened in 2002, explore the diverse stories of migration and settlement to the area. The Museum’s collections represent the everyday lives of people in the borough, many of whom have migrated from different parts of the world. Hackney Museum’s mission is to continue to be a trusted space where the borough’s communities can tell their own stories, explore their shared histories, and reflect on contemporary issues in a historical context.Find out more about Hackney Museum About The National Lottery Heritage Fund Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.Find out more about the Heritage FundFollow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund       Example museum storiesThe largest ever land mammalIn 1960, sewer works on Evering Road between Maury Road and the  Rectory Road station discovered a number of fossils of prehistoric animals. This included the teeth and a skull fragment belonging to Straight-tusked elephants, which lived between 600,000 - 115,000 years ago. Straight-tusked elephants may have been the largest land mammal to have ever existed. They could weigh over 14 tonnes and reach up to 4.5 metres tall - as tall as a double decker bus!Related blog for further information Community spirit and solidarityFrom the 1970s onwards, Hackney was a hotbed of social organising and activism on a truly vast amount of issues. Over the years, the community has demonstrated solidarity in the face of racism and far-right politics from Mosley’s British Union of Fascists to the National Front, the latter  of which attempted to establish headquarters in the area.Related blogs for further information Hero of the KindertransportSolomon Schonfeld (1912-1984) personally organised the rescue of 3,500 children from the horrors of the Holocaust.When in 1938 the anti-semitic policies of the far-right Nazi regime developed into the violent events of Kristallnacht, ‘Kindertransports’ were organised bringing Jewish children from Europe to safety in the UK. Through the Chief Rabbi’s Religious Emergency Council, Schonfeld organised rescue work of Jewish refugees. He also arranged individual transports, including 250 Orthodox children from Vienna, Austria, which he found accommodation for within Stamford Hill, including his own family home on Lordship Park.  TransformationRapid and dramatic change saw the borough shifting its reputation as the dangerous home of street crime to becoming a byword for gentrification. In a 20 year period from the mid 1990s, house prices in the area surged by the largest amount in the country, with some calculating the rise to be as high as 939%. Rising costs forced out members of existing communities, disrupting family and social networks. But among the changes, there was continuity. Hackney’s opportunities as a place for self expression, independent enterprise, creativity and grassroots organising continued to attract new residents nationally and internationally.Related blogs for further information 

Hackney Council is set to refurbish three more play areas in 2026 at Clissold Park, London Fields (north), and Millfields, making them more exciting, more inclusive and suitable for older as well as younger children. Design work will commence this autumn.In the last 5 years the Council has completely upgraded 13 play areas across the borough and built 2 brand new ones, in Shoreditch Park and Springfield Park. The latest improvements in Hackney Downs, Well Street Common, Stonebridge Gardens and Clapton Common are opening this spring. These new refurbishments will broaden the age range, welcoming both primary and younger secondary school children into these spaces, and ensuring that they are enjoyable for both boys and girls. We have expanded the play areas, based on our own research and that of Make Space for Girls, creating more interesting seating, swinging and climbing spaces outside of the play area enclosures, which can be more flexibly used by older children. The new play areas will also be designed to support children of all abilities to be able to play together.Local communities will have the opportunity to help shape the designs, with work set to begin this autumn.For more information on Hackney’s Child-Friendly Borough approach, visit: https://hackney.gov.uk/child-friendly-spd

All public toilets in Hackney’s parks and green spaces have now been refurbished in time for spring and summer, completing a programme of improvements over the past few years. The newly refurbished Clissold Park toilets are now open to the public, marking the final phase of work to refresh and modernise public facilities in Hackney’s parks and green spaces. The improvements are designed to make park toilets more modern, accessible, and welcoming for park visitors, helping people to be able to stay and enjoy Hackney’s green spaces for longer.The newly updated facilities at Clissold Park, located within the Grade II listed Clissold House, include male and female facilities, an accessible toilet, and baby change provision. The old red tiles have been replaced with a modern design that compliments the building’s historic architecture. In addition to the Clissold Park renovations, the Council installed brand-new public toilet facilities in Abney Park Cemetery last year and Britannia Leisure Centre, serving Shoreditch Park, in 2021. A new public toilet will also open soon in Fairchild's Garden as part of the new cafe kiosk.Check the locations of Hackney’s public toilets on a map of facilities in the borough.

The return of the historic Kings Hall Leisure Centre in Clapton to its full glory has moved a step closer after major plans to revamp the facility received planning approval.The changes, approved by the Council’s planning sub-committee on Wednesday night (2 April), will safeguard the 1890s Victorian bath house’s heritage while creating a modern leisure centre including a refurbished pool and alongside a brand new teaching pool with a moveable floor.The upgraded leisure centre will also host a new sauna, steam room and changing facilities, a fitness suite, a two-court sports hall and a new accessible entrance from Clapton Square.The plans were developed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, who designed Hackney Council’s award-winning Britannia Leisure Centre, and incorporates input from more than 250 local residents and leisure centre users.Kings Hall is the only leisure facility serving residents in the east of Hackney. However the important social and historical landmark and Grade II listed building has deteriorated significantly in recent years, resulting in rising repair costs and worsening facilities for users.The Council will now look to appoint a contractor to deliver the plans this autumn. Subject to a contractor being appointed, work is expected to start in late 2025 and complete in late 2028.The work needed to safeguard and improve the building means that the centre would need to close while work takes place. Members will be able to transfer their membership to another Better Leisure Centre in Hackney, and the Council is also exploring whether it can provide temporary health and fitness facilities in another venue in the east of the borough during the closure.