Remember the Poor's Box – Charity and the kindness of stangers

Next time you are in the West Smithfield area please do take a little detour though the Henry VIII gate that leads to St Bartholomew's Hospital.
Within the gate you'll find this delightful, albeit sad, artefact.

No chugging, no coloured bibs, no sponsoring – just a little red box atop a pillar.
Please give generously.
More info here. 

Today is Wear A Hat Day

As you may already know, I like and wear hats. One at a time of course.
WEAR A HAT DAY. More info here.
Here are some hats I have spotted in London:

I am feeling lazy – if you want to know where to find any of these, just ask.

Bring Your Own Christmas in aid of Crisis

I am a bit late posting about this as it is sold out already, but what a great idea.
Grub Club BYOC is aimed at lonely food loving travellers and singletons – take along a dish for four and enjoy a Christmas Day dinner with a difference and, in the process make some new friends. Proceeds go to Crisis.
Read more about the founders here
I might organise something similar myself for next year.
Ding dong merrily

International Women's Day Fair at Spitalfields

March 8th marks International Women's Day.
On Saturday there will be a market and activities at Spitalfields Traders Market with music and live events. I will be there (of course).
Last year's event was good, so let's make this one even better.

William Morris Gallery at 2 Temple Place

The wonderful William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow is closed whilst renovations and refurbishment take place. However, a lot of the exhibits can be viewed at one of London's hidden architectural gems at 2 Temple Place, owned and managed by The Bulldog Trust.

This exhibition is the first of a series of shows at this lovely building aimed at showcasing the UK's publically-owned art. It runs until 29th January 2012.

Click here for more about The Bulldog Trust and these events.

The courts, gardens, chambers and alleys of The Inns of Temple are a haven of peace hidden behind Fleet Street's bustle; it sometimes feels if it has been forgotten by time. I love taking friends there who had no idea it was there and seeing the looks on their faces.

Grow a moustache for cancer awareness

It's Movember again.

Movember is the month for growing a moustache.

Start the month clean shaven and see what you can achieve.

Take part and register here.

be inspired by these beauties on The Drill Hall in Chenies Street:

Save the countryside

This isn't about 'my' London, but about the green belt that surrounds it.

I copy and paste here from an email I received from 38 Degrees:

Our English countryside is under threat again. The government is trying to rush through massive changes to the planning system, which would make it much easier to build on green field sites. We've just a few weeks to stop this happening.
Experts are lining up to condemn the government plans. The National Trust warns of unchecked and damaging development. Friends of the Earth predicts “a building free-for-all that will blight our countryside with bad building.”
A massive people-powered petition can make the government think again. It worked to stop England's forests being sold off. It can work again to stop precious countryside being wrecked by bulldozers and concrete.
Please add your name now, and forward this message to all your friends:
The English countryside is something we all enjoy. It's far too precious to build on willy-nilly. Once our green fields are gone, they're gone forever.
If we work together, we can stand up for a balanced, careful approach to deciding what to build and where to build it. We can protect local communities' right to have their say, make sure social housing is built where it’s needed and protect wildlife and beautiful, tranquil places.
Having to act fast to stop an urgent threat to our countryside feels eerily familiar doesn't it! It's only a few months since half a million of us came together to stop plans to sell off England's forests. It worked that time - now let's come together again to stop this new threat to our beautiful green places.
Please take two minutes now to add your name to the petition.

Thanks.

Trees for Cities

On Saturday September 17th Battersea Park will be hosting a Tree-Athon, the aim of the event being to raise funds to buy and plant more trees in London and other cities worldwide.

There will be a 5k run and a barefoot 100m race, by which I assume they mean metres and not miles. There will also be tree planting and face painting, jugglers, street art (in the park!), music and all sort of outdoors-eventy stuff.

Sign up, join in, and find out more at www.treesforcities.org

Top: Harlseden, Holloway, Greewich x2

Middle: Limehouse, Berkeley Square, Brixton, Vauxhall

Bottom: Holloway x4

DIY party at JUST – EJF's Pop-Up Shop in Covent Garden

On Saturday, 16th July, The Environmental Justice Foundation is hosting a special one day DIY party at its pop-up shop at 36-38 Earlham Street, Covent Garden.

The shop has been open since May, but tomorrow, from 1–6pm a selection of designer-makers who work with recycled and collected items, including me and Alessandra, will be there in person making and selling all kinds of upcycled products including jewellery, bags and hats. Visitors to the shop will be encouraged to join in the DIY experience and there will be advice about how to revamp and accessorise your old clothes. This merchandise will remain for sale at the shop until the end of the month.

The shop stocks EJF's T-shirts plus a diverse range of ethical fashion and accessories from brands including Monkee Genes, Veja trainers, and From Somewhere. A large percentage of the profit from all sales is donated to the charity.

The EJF pop-up shop will be open until 31st July.

More info on EJF's Facebook page.

Some interesting details to be found in the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden:

I've got a kazoo and I'm not afraid to use it

Last night I went to the Royal Albert Hall to watch the recording of Radio 3's Big Red Nose Show which will be aired this Friday eve from 7pm as part of Comic Relief. It was really good.

Everyone was given a red kazoo on the way in. I'd never played (if that's the right word) one before and, at first, I was convinced that the thing didn't work. But there's a knack to it that doesn't involve blowing. Led by the Masters of the Kazooniverse, almost 4,000 of us took part in a Guinness World Record -breaking attempt to get the most people playing a kazoo for five minutes. We had two goes at it; first to Flight of the Valkyries and then to The Dambusters theme. What a row! The players were counted and adjudicated and all that. Find out on Friday if we broke the record.

It was a good night all round. Presented by Katie Derham and Basil Brush (a hand-puppet on radio, boom-boom!), we were treated to some really lovely classical music especially from Nicole Bendetti, and Sue Perkins conducting pieces by Elgar and Bernstein. Plus genius comedy from Tim Vine and not-so-genius stuff from Marcus Brigstocke (he'd agree!).

Top: Royal Albert Hall, Pimlico, Walthamstow, Highbury

Middle: Covent Garden Camberwell, Holloway, Edmonton

Bottom: Hammersmith, Dalston, Highbury, EC4