National Hate crime awareness week

April Acts of Remembrance

About 17-24-30 and the April Acts of Remembrance

In April 1999 the London communities of Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho were targeted by a series of nail bomb attacks over fourteen days.
 6 pm 24th April 2025 (26th Anniversary)

DATE & TIME:     Thu 24 Apr 2025 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM

VENUE:                40 Brick Lane, E1 6RF

In attendance lighting candles, Hershel Gluck, Cllr Saied Ahmed, Chair of Brick Lane Business Asdoviation. Poems by LGTBH laureate

• The first nail bomb was targeted towards the Black community of Brixton on Saturday the 17th April, it exploded at the side of the Iceland Store in Brixton , on Electric Avenue.
• The second nail bomb was targeted towards the Asian community of Brick Lane on Saturday the 24th April, it exploded in the boot of a car outside the Sweet and Spicy Restaurant, 40 Brick Lane.
• The third and final nail bomb was targeted towards the Gay Community of Soho on Friday 30th April, it exploded in the Admiral Duncan bar, on Old Compton Street.

In March 2009 Mark Healey set up a Facebook group called 17-24-30 to mark the 10th anniversaries of the London Nail Bomb attacks in response to an article he read that suggested the anniversaries cause pain and suffering, the communities affected by these attacks no longer care and these anniversaries should be played down.

He believed that ‘we’ (the communities affected by these attacks) have a collective duty to work together to organise these Acts of Remembrance as long as there are people who wish to gather, to stand in solidarity with those affected by these attacks as long as they need us, and to educate people about these attacks to prevent them happening again.

Sign the hate crime pledge on the Tower Hamlets Council Hate Crime portal.

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last year’s event

Since April 2010, the anti-hate crime charity 17-24-30 NationalHCAW has organised the April Acts of Remembrance; to remember those we lost, stand with those affected by these attacks and educate future generations to eliminate all forms of hate.

Each year Mark liaises with the local authorities (police and councils), key partners and local communities affected by these attacks to organise the April Acts of Remembrance.

In Brixton (17th April) and Brick Lane (24th April) we organise small gatherings at 6pm at the side of the Iceland Store, and 40 Brick Lane.

We have created a tradition of lighting three candles that represent the three people killed in Soho, and the three communities of Lambeth, Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Volunteers talk to passers-by about what happened whilst handing out hate crime leaflets to encourage hate crime reporting. We listen to people, enabling opportunities for people to express their feelings and be signposted to organisations that can provide further advice and support.

In Soho, there is a much larger Act of Remembrance on the 30th April that begins at 5pm with people gathering at the Admiral Duncan. At 6.10 pm there is a procession along Old Compton Street, around the corner to St Anne’s Gardens on Wardour Street.

In St Anne’s Gardens, people surround the triangular bench in the far left side of the gardens. There are speeches, poems, choir pieces and moments of silence as survivors, friends, family, colleagues and members of the community stand together to remember Andrea, John and Nick, David (Cinders) and Thomas.

These events are open to anyone who would like to join us – although we do ask people to register so that we can get an idea of how many people wish to attend.

Gathering

We met in Brick Lane today to remember the victims of the Brick Lane Nail Bomb 25 years ago.

Attending was

• Mark Healey
• Tower Hamlets Council
• Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers
• Councillor Kamrul Hussain (Whitechapel)
• Councillor Suluk Ahmed (Equalities and social inclusion)
• Johanna Kaschke (Tower Hamlets Crime Watch)
• Poet Laureate for the LGBTQ community
• members of the community.

We understand at tonight’s Council Cabinet meeting a minutes silence was held at the beginning of the meeting. See link.

In April 1999 the London communities of Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho were targeted by a series of nail bomb attacks over fourteen days. David Copeland planted three nail bombs over the course of three weeks targeting the Black, Asian and Gay communities of London hoping to stir up fear and hatred.

The April Acts of Remembrance is held annually to remember those we lost, stand with those affected by these attacks and educate future generations to eliminate all forms of hate.

More information can be found at; https://nationalhcaw.uk/april-acts-of-remembrance

• Date of Event: Wednesday April 24th
• Time: 6pm
• Venue: Outside 40 Brick Lane, London E1 6RF

From the speeches it appears that the bombers left his bombs around in the street, in a pub and someone even put one of the bombs into his car, where it went off, the one in a pub killed a pregnant woman. People had been asked to look after the bag whilst going to the cash machine.

May we invite you to take the free online awareness course about suspicious packages and what to do when you see one. Please do never accept to look after a strangers bag and always become weary if you see unattended bags.