Hackney Pirates poised to ‘commandeer’ a new ‘ship’

Pirate material: Hackney Pirates participants next to a Stik mural

Avast, me hearties! Merchant ships and galleons beware! Watch out for your cargo and load up the cannons, for the Hackney Pirates ‘arrr’ setting sail again.

All the auguries suggest it will only be a short voyage, because after a few years of nomadic navigating, the ‘pop-up’ pirates are at last ready to move into a permanent headquarters on their new ship, moored on the Kingsland Road.

Hackney Pirates, a volunteer-led organisation set up in 2010 by ex-teacher Catriona Maclay, helps children with their literacy and numeracy.

“We think one-to-one education from an adult who cares is a very important educational tool”, says Captain Maclay.

So now the pirates have dropped anchor, will they hang up their cutlasses, lower the Jolly Rodger and sit about in comfy chairs counting their treasure?

Not likely.

There is much to be done, not least because the ship will have its very own ship-shape shop of adventures selling pirate material such as guidebooks to Hackney produced by the children themselves.

“We consider it like the Lonely Planet except written by young people, so you have both an insider perspective and at times a very hysterical perspective,” says Maclay.

The guide also features interviews with important local figures such as Hackney’s mayor Jules Pipe and even a journalist from the Hackney Citizen. The young ‘hack’ pirates certainly lived up to their names, asking cutthroat questions Jeremy Paxman would be proud of.

One pirate got straight to the heart of things with Mayor Pipe, asking him: “If you knew that you wouldn’t fail, what would you do?”

Pirate Adam was evidently after a scoop, asking leisure chief Councillor Jonathan McShane: “Do you have any child-friendly gossip?”

But Cllr McShane remained tight-lipped, insisting: “I am not a gossip.”

The pirates are raising the 20,000 pounds needed to fund the project through a crowd-funding website and are offering exciting perks to those who pledge donations.

As they rely on volunteers donating their time to their cause, the group is always on the lookout for new recruits to spend one hour per month helping out.

With an underwater cave, a café and a shop, the applications will no doubt be flooding in.