Nicky Gavron helped found Jacksons Lane in 1975 and campaigned to save it from demolition

A co-founder of a Highgate arts centre is set to be recognised with a ‘pink plaque’ which celebrates remarkable women from Highgate.

Nicky Gavron, the first deputy mayor of London, will have the plaque unveiled at the arts centre she helped found, Jacksons Lane, as part of the ‘pink plaques project’.

People who have contributed to Nicky’s career and Jacksons Lanes will gather to celebrate the unveiling on Wednesday, 4th October.

Jacksons Lane opened in 1975 in the former Highgate Wesleyan Methodist Church (which opened in 1905). Community work and programmes were held at the church throughout the 1960s, but, by the 1970s, the church was closed.

Nicky was among a group of local residents who envisioned the space as a community and creative hub. Together with Melian Mansfield, a former chair of the board, and Jan Brooker, Nicky set up the arts centre which survives today.

Soon after the opening of Jacksons Lane, however, plans were made to widen Archway Road – which would have resulted in the building’s demolition. Nicky campaigned against this decision and the building has since been given a Grade II listing.

Nicky has also built a career in urban policy and planning, and is the current ‘new Londoner of the year’ as part of the New London Architecture forum 2022. She also established the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Children and Young People’s Unit, the London Climate Change Agency, and the global network C40: Large Cities Climate Leadership Group.

Jacksons Lane executive director Hannah Cox said: “Nicky has been intrinsic to making Jacksons Lane what we are today, from developing the building into a community arts centre as one of our co-founders, to campaigning against the widening of the Archway Road which would have seen us demolished. We are so delighted that Nicky’s vital work will be now honoured with a Pink Plaque at Jacksons Lane, where it all began!”

The pink plaques project was started in 2019 as part of the Highgate Festival, which invited residents to suggest names of remarkable Highgate women to be recognised with a pink plaque – attempting to redress a gendered imbalance of untold history. However, the scheme prompted some controversy, with critics including journalist Caroline Criado Perez and the Women’s Equality Party.

Those already recognised by the scheme include the 17th Century philanthropist Lady Elizabeth Gould and chair of the Highgate Society Isla Merry.

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