Heritage of London Trust (HOLT) ‘Proud Places’ is a London-wide engagement programme inspiring young people with the world around them. Through their heritage projects, they introduce children aged 11 and upwards to important themes in local places – the hidden stories of London and why they matter.

We recently had the honour of hosting Heritage of London Trust’s Proud Places programme at Covent Garden Hotel. A group of excited and enthusiastic children gathered for an afternoon of history lessons and craft making.

The day began with a visit to the nearby monument at Seven Dials. This slender monument is located between Soho and Covent Garden and has a multifaceted sundial. The six sundial faces and orb are in a poor state of disrepair and are currently being restored by HOLT. The conservators will remove the existing paint and gilding back to the surface, sanding, priming and re-gilding in 23.5ct gold leaf, followed by burnishing. Kit is a trustee of HOLT and all of us at the Design Studio can’t wait to see the completed project. Find out more about the restoration here.

We then made our way to the hotel where the children gathered in the ‘Fortune Room’ for a clay workshop to make their very own sundials. They were given Kit Kemp ‘Lost and Found’ aprons to protect their uniforms and keep to take home.

Gilder Kevin Ruggeri, who is working on restoring Seven Dials Monument, demonstrated to the group how to gild their creations, which they found incredibly exciting: “I’ll tell my dad, I have seen a real gold artist!” said Zain, age 15!

It was a joy to host this special day and we hope we’ve encouraged a new generation of craftspeople! For more information about Proud Places visit their website: proudplaces.org and heritageoflondon.org.