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Re-informed: Toby Gorniak

In the first of our Re-informed series, we talk to Toby Gorniak, founder of Street Factory, an award-winning hip hop community interest company in Plymouth UK that helps young people, artists and practitioners grow and seize their potential.

The series allows artists and producers to give an insight to their work and how it explores the Mayflower story - without shying away from its challenging history.

Street Factory are the creators of Roots Up, a pioneering mass street dance event involving people across Plymouth that will be a bold and contemporary retelling and reinterpretation of the Mayflower story.

Toby - better known as Toby G - explains why Street Factory are involved in the commemoration, the power of Roots Up and how his personal journey across Europe, arriving in Plymouth as a refugee and creating a new life to being awarded with a MBE, has modern-day parallels with the experiences of the people connected to the Mayflower story.

He speaks emotively of how he sees the Mayflower anniversary as an opportunity to learn from the past and spread positivity, to welcome people of all backgrounds with love and look to the future with hope. Toby also explores how the work Street Factory does with people from all walks of life inspires the very same aspirations.

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Virtual Voyages: Plymouth

Discover a Virtual Voyage of Plymouth with a tour of this famous seafaring city, the Mayflower’s final stop before it crossed the Atlantic in 1620. Learn about the diverse range of commemoration events and projects taking place in Plymouth through interviews with cultural producers and groups.

Plymouth, England

The final stop before the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic, Britain's Ocean City is one of England's fastest growing destinations, home to the famous Mayflower Steps.