A project to honour the history of printing in the area has won a £58,000 lottery grant.

Rendezvous Projects, a Community Interest Company, was given the cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its new project ‘Lightboxes and Lettering; Printing Industry Heritage in East London’.

The project will focus on the history of printing in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, looking at the lives of the people involved in the industry and the impact of digital technologies.

Volunteers will meet current and former employees for ohistory interviews and help digitise archive material.

Members of the public will have the chance to explore these archives and to take part in artist-led workshops, trying some of the processes used in printing.

The project will build towards an exhibition and publication in early 2019, as well as a website documenting the process.

The project director, Lucy Harrison said: “We so pleased to have been awarded this National Lottery grant which will uncover and preserve this important aspect of London’s industrial heritage, and one which is still a major part of the creative industries in east London.”

Printing has a long history as an important industry in East London.

There were many small printing presses in the area which allowed political and community groups to easily print books, pamphlets and leaflets.

However the industry has changed with new processes and the number of print shops reduced.