Pride of Barking & Dagenham awards honour bottle top artist

Katja Rosenberg, who was behind a mural made out of thousands of bottle tops about the world-famous Dagenham Girl Pipers and also got 400 schoolchildren involved in creating a 30ft mural outside Dagenham Heathway station, was honoured at a special awards night.

The Pride of Barking and Dagenham awards were organised by Barking and Dagenham Chamber of Commerce, with the Barking and Dagenham Post among the sponsors.

Katja was announced as the overall winner, with organisers saying she stood out for "continuously coming up with original initiatives which benefit local people in Barking and Dagenham".
 

Winners and those shortlisted receive their certificates at the awards night (Image: Sandra Rowse)

“I know how I want my surroundings to look,” she told this paper. “I am the only person who can do it.

“The bottle top design shows the countries where the Dagenham Girl Pipers has performed over the years. I used bottle tops collected by many people during lockdown.”

Cheers! Katja celebrates her award with Mandy Daniels from Heathway shopping centre (Image: Sandra Rowse)

The mural was erected appropriately at Dagenham’s Pipe Major pub in Yew Tree Avenue.

Her other mural at Dagenham Heathway took six months to complete, with the help of children from William Ford Junior School and their teachers and another 150 volunteers.

Katja was presented with a trophy by Barking and Dagenham mayor Moin Quadri at the awards night on October 10.

The 50-year-old German-born artist also runs free family film nights and has created an art space at the back of the Heathway shopping centre for anyone to display their works.

Dr Corinna Midgley of Saint Francis Hospice and Dr Ravi Kumar of the London School of Management Education receive outstanding contribution awards on behalf of their respective organisations (Image: Sandra Rowse)

She also uses the front garden of the house where she lives in Manning Road, Dagenham as a platform for anyone who wants to put their artwork on public show.

The awards, held at Dagenham and Redbridge FC, also put the spotlight on businesses, charities and those in the community who help improve life.

Chamber president Jamie Banks makes a presentation to Prontaprint director Jaspal Singh (Image: Sandra Rowse)

A special presentation was made by the chamber’s president Jamie Banks to Jaspal Singh, director of Prontaprint in Barking and Stratford, for “being a source of continuing support for many years”.

Two organisations were also recognised for their “outstanding contributions” who were given plaques — Saint Francis Hospice and the London School of Management Education — while others shortlisted received certificates.

Money was also raised in aid of Urban Promise, a charity in Chadwell Heath that supports youngsters after school with meals and activities.