This is a behind the scenes interview with actress Janet Naghten, who plays Mary Seacole both in our previous epsiode and in her work for the Florence Nightingale Museum.

Janet steps out of character to talk about the motivation she has for playing Mary, what she has found important in researching the role and the relevance of Mary Seacole's story for today's society.

Today's episode brings two of the people responsible for bringing Mary Seacole to life for the Florence Nightingale Museum.

Embodying the life of Mary Seacole using actors is a valuable and rich process that makes history real and engaging for new audiences. Actor Cassie Harris-Herculus and Museum Director Laura Sharpe detail the privileges, challenges and joy they experienced in bringing Mary Seacole to life for museum goers, school children and a range of other audiences too.

To find out more about the museum, or to bring Mary to your school, go to:

https://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/learning/

Today’s episode of Black in The City of London is a special one but a departure from the past few weeks. I am interviewing two people connected to an event that is seminal in black British history, they are founder members of the New Cross Fire Foundation, both personally affected by the tragedy but both determined to help seize control of the narrative that surrounds the event.

In 2011 I got the opportunity to cover the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the New Cross Fire and those affected by it. It was a cathartic and important event that felt like a real stepping stone. In talking to survivors and their families, I began to get some sense of the pain and struggles they faced.