Cockney is geographically related to eastward boroughs of London although the cultural heritage is most prevalent and significant inside Tower Hamlets. Cockney is traditionally considered a part of English working-class identity, though many diverse groups like Black, Bangladeshi, Jewish, Greek and Irish communities also identify with a Cockney identity. We want to see Cockney better understood, protected and celebrated across communities just as other community languages are, to instil a sense of civic pride and confidence within embedded communities.

In 2022 our group called Cockney Cultures held the first ever ‘Cockney Conversations Month’ and we featured on BBC Radio and BBC London News. We think that regional languages and accents should be celebrated across the United Kingdom.

This petition has been started by Grow Social Capital CIC and Bengali East End Heritage Society.

Further links:

1. Grow Social Capital CIC website: https://growsocialcapital.org.uk/campaigns/cockney-conversations/#:~:text=An%20innovative%20and%20pioneering%20project,Society%20and%20Grow%20Social%20Capital
2. Conversation: Is Cockney Dying?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtQ6Akyt_TI
3. Conversation: Can you succeed in film, advertising and PR with a Cockney accent?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOHZ289UbwU
4. Feature on BBC Radio’s Robert Elm show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og50krTkZmE

This Petition ran from 25/11/2022 to 09/01/2023 and has now finished.

31 people signed this Petition.