Sir Ian McKellen Unveils our Mural

We were over the moon when Sir Ian McKellen – a long-time East End resident – unveiled our mural on Saturday 12th April 2025 to an audience of over 300 people. His speech was so inspiring, and embodied the spirit of how the mural had been developed, that we wanted to share it with you here:

“I moved into Limehouse 45 years ago, at the end of the street where the first Chinese area of London was, long before it moved to Soho. Like the Chinese, I’m also a bit of a foreigner; I was born and bred in the north of England. And like probably the majority of people who live in London, I’m not local at all. We all came to London because we knew and hoped it would go on being the greatest city in the world. And what makes it so great, of course, is the activity and the enterprise of the people who live here, wherever they were born, wherever they’ve come from, whatever their culture, whatever their religion, whatever their beliefs, whatever their sexuality, whatever their gender. We’re all people, we’re all Londoners, and are proud to be so. And I do congratulate everybody involved in this magnificent enterprise. To have a piece of art as big as that... this is going to be something that people will come to visit, from far and wide. I hope it brings you great joy and great confidence that you live in a wonderful part of the world. Thanks for your welcome.”

Thank you, Sir Ian – you really made the day a success.

After the unveiling, guests meandered around the John’s Place gardens, where we had an exhibition of Whitechapel landmarks, entertainment from music and dance troupe Udichi Shilpi Gosthi, and locally-sourced snacks including mini beigels and pastries from Rinkoff’s, and samosas from Alauddin’s. And to learn more about the stories depicted in the mural, guests chatted with artist Frank Creber and took away copies of the Whitechapel Stories booklet.