Cold Islanders

About Cold Islanders

Cold Islanders is a UK based community initiative that curates events for and with the Caribbean community. We are driven by the goal to create, hold and nourish community spaces. This is done through a programme of events created to encourage collective learning and connection; from panel talks, film screenings and craft workshops, to facilitated dinners, group trips to the theatre and much more. At the heart of Cold Islanders is the spirit of innovation and collaboration, to interrogate the different ways we can express our lived experience and actively create with one another. Our values are Care, Community, Creativity.

Founder of Cold Islanders, Tamera Heron is a previous East Ham resident and began Cold Islanders in the borough. She also got her first experience as a producer via Newham’s Cultural Producers course which took place in West Ham. Since then, she has continued to stay connected with the borough particularly through developing a relationship with Newham Archives and hosting events at Stratford Library through her separate screen archiving career.

Cold Islanders regularly collaborates with Newham venues such as The Orange Room and Stratford East to curate Caribbean centred events. Members of the core team also either live in Newham or have connections to the area through their work, for example Newham Youth Service, Newham Cultural Producers programme, Newham Archives and Stratford Library.