Below are some pictures from the day:

The event centred on a talent show with a judging panel, with acts taking part from youth and community groups as well as local schools. Up for grabs for winners of the audience vote and the judges’ vote respectively were the prizes of performing at the Lambeth Country Show and Streatham Festival later this year as well as the opportunity to record a music video for both winners.

Judging the acts were Mercury Music Prize winning musician Speech Debelle, singer songwriter Alex Berger, Streatham Festival chair and former professional dancer Chix Chandaria and Hamdi Bonin, who runs local social enterprise Generation Next.

Performers included groups from Streatham and Clapham, Dunraven and Bishop Thomas Grant and St Martin in the Field Schools, Clapham Youth Centre, Gloria Bailey MBE’s Make a Difference group and Aim High Dance Academy.

Winning the audience vote was Bishop Thomas Grant’s Sophie Michael who wowed the crowd with her Broadway-style rendition of Don’t Rain on my Parade. Aim High Dance Academy topped the judges’ vote.

There was also an exhibition of local photography and information stalls run by local organisations and community groups including the Streatham Society, St Michael’s Fellowship, Sustainable Streatham, the Woodlawns Centre and Sustainable Streatham.

Local celebrity and contestant on the BBC’s Apprentice this year, Edna Agbarha attended and was interviewed by Mr Umunna during the event’s interval.

The event was sponsored by local businesses Taylor’s pub of Streatham High Road and Brixton’s Satay Bar.

Commenting, Chuka Umunna MP said:

“I held Celebrating Streatham to bring the community together and showcase and take pride in the fantastic array of local talent we have and support the great work which our local community and voluntary organisations are doing.

“I am pleased that the event was such a great success and was hugely impressed by all the acts who took part.”

The event is taking place at Dunraven Upper School on Saturday between 4.00pm and 6.00pm – free tickets can be obtained by emailing cstickets {at} chuka.org(.)uk

Last year, Chuka Umunna first set up Celebrating Streatham to mark the retirement of former MP Keith Hill and bring the community together. After the success of the event, Mr Umunna is organising it again in 2011.

The event centres on a talent show with a judging panel, with acts taking part from youth and community groups as well as local schools. There will also be an exhibition of local photography and information stalls run by local organisations.

Mercury Music Prize-winning musician Speech Debelle, who grew up and lives in the local area, has recently been confirmed as one of the judges for the contest. The winning act will have the opportunity to perform at the Streatham Festival and Lambeth Country Show this summer, as well as the chance to record a music video with local social enterprise Generation Next Foundation.

The event is being sponsored by local businesses including Taylor’s bar of Streatham High Road.

Celebrating Streatham will take place between 4.00pm and 6.00pm on Saturday May 21 at Dunraven Upper School, 94/98 Leigham Court Road, SW16 2QB. To obtain free tickets to the event, please email cstickets {at} chuka.org(.)uk

Commenting, Chuka Umunna MP said:

“After the great success of Celebrating Streatham last year I am proud to be hosting it again in 2011. It provides an excellent opportunity to showcase our excellent local talent in this constituency – taking in Streatham and parts of Brixton, Clapham, Balham and Tulse Hill – and gives us a chance to celebrate everyone who makes our community a place to be proud of.

“Celebrating Streatham promises to be a fantastic event again this year and I hope as many local residents as possible are able to come and support their community”.

Celebrating Streatham was set up by Chuka to showcase the vibrancy, talent and diversity of the people of an area of London which too often finds itself negatively portrayed in the national media.

Like last year, local community groups, charities and businesses will attend to spread the word about the positive work of their organisations, hosting stalls during the initial part of the event. This will also provide opportunities if you’re interested in getting involved or are interested in setting up your own group.

The focus will then shift to the ‘Streatham Presents…’ competition: an chance for community groups, youth groups and local schools to show off their talents, from singing and dancing to martial arts and acrobatics, competing for the votes of the audience in front of a special celebrity guest judging panel. They will be battling to win a top-drawer prize which will exclusively be revealed on our Facebook and Twitter pages over the next month.

The names of the celebrity judges will be announced shortly, following in the footsteps of Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle and Leo Ihenacho, singer from The Streets, who were on the panel last year. Further information about the event and details on how to get your FREE ticket will follow.

This year’s Celebrating Streatham event is on Twitter here and Facebook here.

Celebrating Streatham will feature ‘Streatham Presents…’: a talent contest judged by local celebrities rapper Speech Debelle, who won the 2009 Mercury Music Prize, and singer Leo Ihenacho from The Streets.

It is being held at Dunraven School on Saturday 27 February 2010 between 2.00pm and 6.30pm.

The event will showcase the talent of local performers to the wider community and hopes to challenge the negative perceptions of both Streatham and young people, which are too often put forward by the national media.

From 2pm local community groups, businesses and charities, will be hosting stalls (including food), running workshops and activities such as face painting and T-shirt making. These include local Scout groups, Streatham-based charity Spires, local chocolatier Paul Gregory who specialises in chocolate sculptures, businesses like Perfect Blend and a street dance demonstration class led by local entrepreneur Jerome Barnes of Streetbreakers.

From 4pm, performers in ‘Streatham Presents…’ include local schools, youth groups such as Clapham Youth Centre and The Palace Project, as well as Gloria Bailey MBE’s Make a Difference group from the Streatham Darby & Joan Club. Prizes will be awarded to the winner and one runner up. The top prize will be the opportunity to record a music video with the Generation Next Foundation, which has experience in producing short films as a major area of its work with young people.

The event is free and those wanting to attend can obtain tickets by emailing their name and address to tickets {at} streathamlabour.org(.)uk. Due to limited availability, people should book early to avoid disappointment and those attending who are under the age of 18 and not part of a group will need to be accompanied by an adult.

Ilene Daisy Ming-Deans has been made an MBE for her services to Clapham Youth Centre. The centre is part of the Knight’s Association of Youth Clubs, which have been pioneers of youth work in South London.

Aiming to inspire and help develop young people in constructive and innovative ways, the centre works on projects such as the ‘Summer Uni’, which raises young people’s aspirations.

Lesley Morrison, Headteacher of St. Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls in Tulse Hill has been made a CBE for her contribution to education.

Mrs Morrison, who has been head of the school for seventeen years, has overseen the launch of a new and successful sixth form and excellent exam results across the board.

Interviewed in the Streatham Guardian she said: “It is a real honour, but it feels bizarre getting something for just doing your job.” She added “no man was an island” and that her success was because she had a “great team of staff helping her”.

Mrs Morrison’s positive ethos “values all our individuals. It places emphasis on high expectation and the fact that if our pupils believe they can do it, they can. We want our pupils to fly and they do fly,” she told BBC News.

Gloria Bailey is well known for her work with the Streatham Darby and Joan club where her Make a Difference Group is based – she has been made an MBE for her services to the community in Lambeth.

As well as fostering more than 100 children, she has run recruiting drives for foster carers in Brixton and also launched the Godparents initiative to provide opportunities for local youngsters.

Jean Roberts, a ministerial messenger for the Department for Transport, also becomes an MBE.

Congratulations to all those who received honours – we are truly proud to have such inspiring local citizens.

Having been founded in 2002 when it was attended by 600 people, it now attracts more than 10,000. Being run entirely by volunteers, it is chaired by Patricia Sauer.

The festival consists of numerous art and culture events held across Streatham including exhibitions of local artists’ work, film screenings, family events and showcases for performing arts like the search for ‘Streatham Idol’.

This year, the week-long festival was launched by a open-air fun day on Streatham Common, followed by open-air theatre and world music. In October 2009, the work of the Streatham Festival was honoured by the Prime Minister when its Chair Patricia Sauer was invited to a Community Heroes event at 10 Downing Street.

Having grown up in Streatham, Naga studied English language and literature at Leeds University. After taking a postgraduate degree in journalism, she began her career writing for the City pages of the Evening Standard, going on to write for the Observer’s business section. Naga first moved into television news with Reuters Financial Television, before becoming Business Reporter for Channel 4 News. She has also presented the BBC Black and Asian Forum alongside Meera Syal.

Naga also occasionally presents BBC 1’s Breakfast programme and met Chuka in May of this year when she interviewed him on the show.

When she’s not reporting on business and finance, she has a passion for music and can play the jazz trumpet and classical piano.