EASTENDERS actress and anti-knife campaigner Brooke Kinsella switched on the Camden Passage Christmas lights last Saturday, despite heavy rain.
Ms Kinsella, who played Kelly in the BBC soap, was joined by Islington’s mayor, Cllr Jilani Chowdhury, and St Peter’s ward councillor Martin Klute – all sheltering under umbrellas – in a ceremony watched by a small crowd outside the Breakfast Club restaurant.
Christine Lovett, director of business group Angel AIM, introduced Kinsella, 29, as: “Not only one of our most famous residents but one of our great actresses. It’s also someone who has done so much campaigning for a safer Islington.
“We’re very proud to have her here to switch on the Christmas lights.”
Former Eastenders actor Ms Kinsella began campaigning against knife crime in 2008 after her 16-year-old brother Ben was stabbed in Islington. Last year she wrote a report on the issue for the government and was awarded an MBE for her work.
A trustee of the Ben Kinsella Trust, she helped launch its Knife Crime Awareness Exhibition at City North Islington on Fonthill Road, which runs until March.
Ms Kinsella spoke of her fondness for the borough. She said: “I’ve lived in Islington pretty much all my life and it’s one of those places you walk down the street and it takes you about an hour because you see someone you know and say hello.
“Sometimes it makes me very late for important things but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Cllr Chowdhury said events like the light switch-on brought Islington’s community together. “Christmas or Diwali, every kind of festival shows us we’re united.”
