Essential Information
| Type | Events and festivals |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and Times | Saturday 13 September 2025 | 10.30am-4pm |
| Prices | Free |
The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre's Community Day returns as we celebrate our community and their connection to the collections.
From behind-the-scenes tours to live musical performances, this free event is filled with activities for everyone to enjoy. It forms part of our Heritage Open Day celebrations, a nationwide festival that sees places open their doors to showcase their heritage, community and history.
Check this page for updates about the activities taking place.
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10am-11am
- Coder Dojo (Drop-in, until 2pm)
- Community Garden: make a lavender bag (Drop-in, until 4pm)
- Beatbox: rhythmic structures (10.30am–11.30am)
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11am-12pm
- Welcome speech (11am-11.15am)
- Fin-tastic plastics – craft your own fish (11am-11.40am and 11.45am-12.25pm)
- Architects of the deep: underwater puppet world (11am-11.40am and 11.45am-12.25pm)
- Delving through the architect’s lens (11am-11.45am)
- Crates of curiosity (Drop-in, until 4pm)
- Streamscapes – constructing communities along the waterside (Drop-in, until 4pm)
- Poetry by Joel Sydenham (11.15am-11.30am)
- Beyond the Meridian: A journey through the architecture of space and time (11.45am to 12pm)
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12pm-1pm
- Delving through the architect’s lens (12pm-12.45pm)
- Beatboxing with Jasmine Kahlia (12.15pm-12.30pm)
- Speeches (12.30pm-1pm)
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1pm-2pm
- Fin-tastic plastics – craft your own fish (1pm-1.40pm and 1.45pm-2.25pm)
- Architects of the deep: underwater puppet world (1pm-1.40pm and 1.45pm-2.25pm)
- The optimism session – structures of hope (1.10pm-2.40pm)
- Performance by SENsory Social Club (1.15pm-1.35pm)
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2pm-3pm
- Delving through the architect's lens (2pm-2.45pm)
- DJ set by Gabriel Dedji (2.15pm-3.15pm)
- Fin-tastic plastics: craft your own fish(2.30pm–3.10pm)
- Architects of the deep: underwater puppet world (2.30pm–3.10pm)
- Access, buildings, collections – the ABCs of The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre (2.50pm-3.05pm)
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3pm-4pm
- Delving through the architect's lens (3pm-3.45pm)
- Crafting globes (with Horn Park Primary School) (3pm–4pm)
- Building Nelson's navy (3.10pm-3.25pm)
- Fin-tastic plastics: craft your own fish (3.15pm–3.55pm)
- Architects of the deep: underwater puppet world (3.15pm–3.55pm)
- Where should it go? Clearing clutter in the home and beyond (3.30pm-3.45pm)
Throughout the day
- Crates of curiosity
- Meet Royal Museums Greenwich's volunteers
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Coder Dojo
Join us for CoderDojo, a free coding club for young people aged 7-17. Taking place monthly at The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, the sessions involve hands-on programming activities using Scratch, Python, HTML and more, supported by friendly mentors.
This month, explore fun coding challenges inspired by the theme of architecture, and share your creations with peers at the end of the session – beginners and experienced coders all welcome!
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Community Garden – make your own lavender bag
Our community garden is a welcoming space for reflection, created with and for our local community. Come and explore what’s growing – each bed has been carefully planted by Wingfield Primary School’s Eco Committee.
Don’t miss our unique dinghy bed, built with the help of our ESOL students from Lewisham College, and take a closer look at our conservation bed, where every plant connects to our museum collection.
You can also make your own lavender bag, inspired by our textile conservation studio and made using lavender grown right here in the garden – perfect for keeping moths away from your clothes!
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Fin-tastic plastics – craft your own fish
Create your own shimmering sea creatures and underwater delights using recyclable plastics! In these sessions, come and transform everyday materials into fantastical fish and ocean life.
These creations will become part of the decorations for the SENsory Social Club Community Day performance, helping to bring the underwater world to life.
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Architects of the deep: underwater puppet world
Dive below the waves to build an underwater world of imagination with performer, puppeteer and maker, Caroline Partridge.
In this hands-on workshop you'll create your very own shadow puppet, inspired by sea creatures and the treasures that lie buried in Davy Jones's Locker.
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Streamscapes
In this hands-on workshop, participants will bring a ready-made river landscape to life by creating boats, buildings, and features to line its banks. From lighthouses and bridges to homes and harbours, use a variety of materials to imagine and construct a vibrant riverside community.
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Poetry by Joel Sydenham
Listen to original poetry by Joel Sydenham, inspired by the themes of community and architecture.
A self-taught visual artist and poet, Joel aims to uplift, connect, and inspire – using art as a tool for character development, emotional growth and collective empowerment.
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Beyond the Meridian: A journey through the architecture of space and time
To celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Observatory, this talk by Senior Astronomy Manager Tania de Sales Marques highlights how architecture meets science at the historic institution.
Discover how the site has changed over time, the astronomy that occurred here, the work that takes place today – and what the future holds.
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Beatboxing with Jasmine Kahlia
Join renowned audiovisual artist Jasmine Kahlia as she crafts an original soundscape during this performance, building beats and sampling live.
Through inventive layering and constructed sounds, her work will transform the space into a rich, immersive auditory experience.
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The optimism session – structures of hope
Led by Gabriel Dedji, founder of arts and culture series 'Less Talking', this talk invites participants to explore the importance of personal belief and empathy in shaping a more connected and compassionate society. It will provide a space to consider how understanding ourselves and others can help build a more optimistic world.
Following the talk, artist and poet Joel Sydenham will guide a playful, hands-on session using a jigsaw puzzle from the collection to explore creative problem solving.
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Performance by the SENsory Social Club
The SENsory Social Club will perform their own call-and-response song, inspired by artist William Lionel Wyllie's adventures while painting Davy Jones's Locker.
SENsory Social Club is a community that supports young people and adults with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) by providing weekly social activities.
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DJ set by Gabriel Dedji
Known for his sets that bring together pulsing bass and percussive grooves, dance DJ Gabriel Dedji will perform a set inspired by urban architecture around the world. Think brutalism, modernism and sounds shaped by community spaces in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.
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Access, buildings, collections – the ABCs of The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre
Come and learn more about how our visible and publicly accessible store was designed to bring the nation closer to its collection while still being a functional workspace.
This talk will be given by Collections Storage Officer, Kirsten Scoggins.
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Crafting globes with Horn Park Primary School
Join pupils from Horn Park Primary School to make your own paper globe to take home.
This workshop is inspired by Royal Museums Greenwich's 'Maps, Charts and Globes' schools session. Why not come along and explore how globes are made?
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Where should it go? Clearing clutter in the home and beyond
Learn how to declutter and manage items in your house – and find out about the problems associated with throwing away or donating everything to the charity shop – in this talk with Assistant Curator of Art, Maya Wassell Smith, and the Secondhand Cultures research team from Cardiff University.
Crates of curiosity
In collaboration with the Greenwich Youth Justice team and artist-facilitator Shari McLawrence, 'Crates of Curiosity' was a six-week creative project that reimagined recycled museum crates as storytelling displays.
Inspired by exhibitions such as Hew Locke: what have we here? at the British Museum, this project gave young participants the power to reinterpret and present objects in their own voice – transforming how history is shared with the wider community.
Meet Royal Museums Greenwich's volunteers
Our volunteers play a key part in our community by getting involved in a wide range of rewarding roles, activities and projects. Whether behind the scenes in our collections or engaging with visitors across our iconic sites, the contributions of our volunteers are as diverse as the sites themselves.
Come and have a chat with our Volunteering team to find out more about the exciting opportunities we have on offer, ask questions and meet some of our wonderful volunteers.
Plan your visit
Getting here
The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre is a quick, easy journey from central London by rail or via local bus services.
Address: The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, Nelson Mandela Road, Kidbrooke, SE3 9QS
By train: You can reach us from central London via direct routes by Cannon Street London Bridge, Charing Cross and Victoria. Our nearest station is Kidbrooke which is only a 5-minute walk away.
By bus: The following buses stop near the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre: 178, B16, 286, 132
By car: There is limited parking space in our car park but we will prioritise parking for visitors with disabilities. Please pre-book, otherwise we cannot guarantee a place. Email: ppmcc@rmg.co.uk
Visit the collection
Go behind the scenes at The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre and explore our state of the art conservation studio and collections store.
