RNIB Black Lion Pub Quiz - the whole thing with thanks and photos

Anyone that follows me on twitter (@14NC) will know that I've been going on and on lately about a special pub quiz http://readforrnib.org.uk/event/london/literary-pub-quiz/ at The Black Lion Pub in West End Lane, NW6 http://theblacklionnw6.co.uk/ on behalf of the Royal National Institute of the Blind, (RNIB), Read For RNIB Day Campaign.  Well this post, which is a slight departure from the norm, is to say thank you to the many that helped with the night and to share some photos from the evening.

My idea was to take over the usual pub quiz and make it into a "literary" one, i.e. Read For RNIB, to raise awareness of the RNIB's work and to highlight the fact that only 7% of books are available to those that can't read normal print (http://readforrnib.org.uk/about/accessibility-of-reading/) while having a bit of fun at the same time.

I needed help.  I managed to recruit Carla who works at Paramount Properties (@west_hampstead) in West End Lane, and I couldn't have involved a better person or company. 

Carla and I went "cold-calling" to the pub and saw Gloria, (see earlier post Half A Bank Holiday for more about Gloria).  She loved the idea but had to check with management.  Management, in the guise of James, couldn't have been more helpful and supportive. (@TheBlackLionNW6)

Yes, we could have the pub on Sunday, 13th October and take over their normal quiz.  Usually all the entrance money goes first to paying the Quiz Master, Gareth, and then whatever is left over is the winners' prize.  The pub very generously agreed to hand over the entry money to us for the RNIB.

We had a date and a venue.  Now we needed prizes.  We had two main ideas.  Books and local businesses.  At this point, we had no idea how just how generous people were going to be!

To the authors and agents and anonymous individuals that donated signed copies of books, an enormous, huge, thank you and thumbs up 

           

Ruth Cherrington (@CHistorians) http://www.clubhistorians.co.uk/

Barbara Levy Literary Agency

Dame Stephanie Shirley (@LetItGoOfficial) http://www.steveshirley.com/splash.php http://www.let-it-go.co.uk/

Fiona Barrows (@fbarrows) http://about.me/fbarrows

Joseph D'Lacey (http://josephdlacey.wordpress.com/)

Kay Sexton (@kaysexton) http://www.kaysexton.com/

Rupert Crew Agency (@rupertcrew) http://www.rupertcrew.co.uk/

Other prizes donated included books, farm jam and proseco.  These were from various individuals but from someone I would particularly like to mention, Andy Sarner, (@Bubela), some mixing bowls and a kitchen towel as prizes for the winners.  Even though Andy couldn't make it on the night she went especially to the local kitchen shop to buy.  Other individuals and companies that deserve a thank you are Kamils, Chris and Ed at Browns, West Hampstead Library, Matthew at Cycle Surgery, Lena's, Jonathan of http://www.westhampsteadlife.com/, Anne, Marlee and Dave.  (If I've left anyone out, in this list, above or below, forgive me, let me know and I'll add you in!  Also, throughout here I've put twitter names if known and websites but I haven't included facebook pages which I know a lot you have, forgive me.)

To the local businesses, who so stepped up the mark, both putting up our posters and contributing prizes, you get an overwhelming thumbs up and thank you 

Danny and Saskia at West End Lane Books - a credit voucher (@WELBooks)  http://www.welbooks.co.uk/

Andre at West Fish Cafe - a meal voucher (@TheWetFishCafe) www.thewetfishcafe.co.uk

Shane at Art 4 Fun - six individual studio sessions (@Art4FunCafe) www.art4fun.com

Sylvia and Neel at Banana Tree - a credit voucher, a cuddly toy and a tote bag (@bananatree) www.bananatree.co.uk

Debbie and David Colour Division - voucher for photo session (@ColourDivision1) www.colourdivision.com

James at Little Bay Restaurants - credit voucher (@TheLittleBay) www.littlebay.co.uk
Esmeralda at Nail Suit - credit voucher http://www.nailsuiteuk.com/

Ed and Maziar at One Blenheim Terrace - a meal voucher (@OneBlenheim) www.oneblenheimterrace.co.uk

Mukesh and Nilesh at Peppercorns - (@peppercornsuk1) www.peppercornshealthstore.com a credit voucher 

Alicia and Davood at Hana - a meal voucher (@HanaRestaurantx) www.hanarestaurant.co.uk

Elijas and Sam at David's Deli - a meal voucher

The Black Lion in the end, didn't just donate the door money, they also donated bottles of wine as prizes, a meal for two voucher, arranged a Truman Brewery tour and stuck their hands in their pockets to add to the collection.  I can't say thank you enough and then we come to Carla.  

Paramount Properties http://www.paramount-properties.co.uk/ are very involved in the neighbourhood and through Carla, Robert Lazarus, the Sales Director and Spencer Lawrence, the Letting Director, not only did Paramount give a beautifully designed tote bag to absolutely everyone that took part in the quiz, but they also agreed to match whatever we raised at the pub.  Thank you  

The Tote Bag

So this was my idea for what the evening would involve but then, married couple Carol and Bob Bridgestock,who write the D.I. Dylan (@DIJackDylan) crime thrillers under the name R.C. Bridgestock (@RCBridgestock) and who had already sent me a signed copy of one of their books and an Audio CD of another came up with a great wheeze; I could auction off being a character in their next book.  Brilliant, in keeping with the theme and, more importantly, a great money raiser. Thank you both, so much.  http://rcbridgestock.com/ 

Okay, we've got the prizes now we need an event.  The RNIB helped (in the guise of Benjamin, Julia and Julie ) by sending balloons to decorate the pub, more tote bags for prizes, pins for the winners bags, bookmarks, posters, and literature for anyone who wanted to know more, but still, we needed a Quiz Master.  

In stepped Gareth.  Gareth usually does the quiz at the pub but we had the idea of wanting to add extra book-ish and blind-ish questions, (like "What time travelling author who fooled a nation with his radio broadcast also wrote short stories including one entitled, The Country of the Blind?" and "Which author of the Adrian Mole books has lost her sight?" and "Which blind Labour politician was Home Secretary from 2001 until 2004?"), no problem.  He was game for it.  I want to do a sealed bid auction at the beginning and end.  no problem.  But there was a problem, (to me); we couldn't speak until the week of the quiz or meet until the night.  Now I'm not a control freak, (no really, it's all lies), but this was giving me a little bit of anxiety.  Absolutely no need.  Gareth excelled and couldn't have been more helpful, intuitive or collaborative.  No only that, but after he'd left and said goodnight, Gloria handed me more cash; Gareth had donated his fee for the night.  Gareth, thank you and  a huge thumbs up   

And in case I didn't say thank you enough to James and all the staff at the Black Lion who were so brilliant on the night and before.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, we'll be back! 

Now to the night itself - wow it was great and I hope these pictures give a little sense of how much fun we all had! (if anyone would like a copy of any of these photos, please do just get in touch)

And.... the grand total raised?  £700.00.  Thank you all so much and give yourselves another thumbs up or two.

In closing, anyone who is unfamiliar with the EverdayFolk Blogspot, we're here for you, this is a public pinboard where you can tell us about that great smile, that bit of extra service you encountered in your day which just made the difference.  Please feel free to send us posts, comments or just follow.  Thanks.

 

A second guest post from Kay Sexton - HE-VAN REVISTED

Some time ago we sold our house and bought a new one. It wasn’t far away – less than half a mile, across country, but we decided we’d like somebody else to do all the packing and moving, just for once.

Julian from He-Van came to visit and estimated how long it would take, how many boxes we would need and generally made me feel the whole thing would be painless and swift.

So we were set to move … by early July. Then mid-July. Then early August, for sure. Then … mid-August. Early September? No, not a chance. Mid-September came and went and then, just before it became late September, we finally, finally, finally moved.

It was so long ago we’d forgotten what had been promised, but just as Julian said, Karl with a K and Chris with a C turned up at exactly the time he said they would, packed everything from boxes to lawn rollers to artworks to freezers with speed and care and drove off to our new address, just half a mile away.

So, it had been a long process, and surely things must go right now we were at the end of it? No, things went wrong.  We still don’t fully understand what happened (but we will) except that the money that should have been paid to our solicitor didn’t arrive from our mortgage lender. We’d sold our old house and had to leave it but we hadn’t bought our new house because the money hadn’t turned up. It wasn’t a fun time and it wasn’t fun to try and untangle the problem over the phone, sat on the wall outside a house we couldn’t enter because we didn’t yet own it.

So we sat in the street, and Karl with a K and Chris with a C sat in their van … for four hours. 

Eventually our wonderful solicitor (who might feature in another post) straightened things out and the He-Van guys unloaded everything. Even though it was hours later than they’d hoped, and they were way overdue for another job, they were careful and attentive and put everything it its new place just as if they had all day to spend on the task. They didn’t finish until nearly six in the evening, having started at eight in the morning and they never failed to smile and joke throughout the whole process.

So, the process was neither painless nor swift, but our wonderful removals firm didn’t add to the pain or the slowness – they were the bright spot in a fairly ghastly day. Thumbs up to Karl and Chris (and Julian who orchestrated everything behind the scenes).

Kay Sexton can be found at

http://writingneuroses.blogspot.co.uk/

and on twitter @KaySexton

Books about allotments and the people who love them ...

Minding My Peas and Cucumbers
The Allotment Diaries

Kay's earlier post about He-Van can be found
in the August 2013 archives

A guest post from Jody Klaire - DUNGEONS & MANIPULATION

I love writing.  I spend a fair amount of my day lost in a dream world, tapping away as I enjoy doing what I love to do most.  My blog post is about the wonderful man who helps me to do this.

To give you an idea, I have a few health 'challenges' which make moving about (and life in general) a lot like building Rome in twelve hours with matchsticks: - Fiddly, impossible and likely to go up in flames at any second.

So, every week, I attend the Ian Griffiths Osteopathy clinic.  He is incredible at his job, but this post is to give him the big thumbs up for the service with a smile.  

As you can imagine, being treated for things that hurt is not something that most look forward to but Ian and Pat have me laughing, chatting and grinning from ear to ear.  Pat greets you like an old friend, she really cares about your day and how your week has been.  She always asks if the room is warm enough and loves rugby even more than I do!

When Ian comes in, he is completely focused on what's best for you.  His gentle way of treating you and his calmness earn your trust pretty quickly.  He listens to me jabbering on about my latest book ideas and answers my questions such as "If you wanted to cut someone's leg off..." and "What if..."

Yes, I know... but like I said, I love writing.

Pat is used to coming back into the room to Ian and I laughing over shared stories and daft anecdotes.  

So, to Ian and Pat, thank you for making my day so much brighter and fixing me up so that I can write! A big, big thumbs up to you!  

The second thumbs up is too the staff at York Dungeon, (@YorkDungeon).  When I was there in mid-September, I visited the Dungeon and the staff were not only helpful but went out of their way to make sure that I enjoyed myself as much as the others on the tour.  It wasn't always easy to get a wheelchair through the narrow doorways of a grade II listed building but the fact I did shows how much patience the staff had! So, to all in the Dungeon, thumbs up!   

The final thumbs up is to all the writers, agents and publishers who have offered their advice, support and encouragement to me.  It's inspiring to know so many people love books and are happy to share their knowledge.  So thank you! 

                             You can find out more about Jody Klaire on 

twitter @jodyklaire and via her blog:  

http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/8018/blog

more London smiles (updated)

Bill's is a new chain, well at least to me, of restaurants in London. http://bills-website.co.uk/  I had been to the one in Islington a couple of times and really liked it as much for the food, which seems to have something for everyone, vegans to carnivores and all those in between, as the ambiance and the staff/service.

We tried the one in Hoxton Square this time, and both my colleague and I were just the tiniest, weeniest, bit disappointed with our first tastes of our food when it came.  It just happened that the waitress was standing nearby and must have overheard or caught our expressions, (good attentive service), and asked us if everything was okay.

It was.  The food was good but just not rave about.  They offered to change our meals but no, we insisted that everything really was fine and that if she hadn't asked at that precise moment, we certainly wouldn't have mentioned it.  When I say it was good, I'm not being British in a "don't make a fuss" way, we both cleaned our plates.

Anyway, after our clean plates were taken away the manageress came over to discuss our meal with us and to see if there was anything they could do.  This wasn't just platitudes, we both felt it was true service with a smile.  So Ellie at Bill's in Hoxton Square, (and the waitress whose name and photograph I didn't get), a big thumbs up to you, and we'll be back.  

Meanwhile, a huge thank you to someone I've been wanting to feature almost since I began with the idea for this blog, Jackie at Waitrose in Finchley Road, NW3.  

Jackie mainly works on the tills and like so many of the staff at this branch have worked there for many years and know their customers by name, (Sue I'd also like to give you a thumbs up and a thank you).

However, like the day I took this picture (apologies for the fuzziness and a bit of thumb!) the shop was mayhem busy and although there may have been tills with less of a queue, regulars would rather wait for Jackie than go through quicker somewhere else.

So Jackie, a big thumbs up and thank you for making that weekly shop so enjoyable and I so love your smile, that I'm going to stick another picture of it here!

As always, if you have come across some special person doing their job with a smile or you want to say thank you to someone, please do send us your guest post to everdayfolk@gmail.com together with your contact details and pictures if you can.  If you're taking a picture of someone, please ask for their permission first.  Thanks.

23.11.13 - This P.S follows a lovely Sunday hug-smile-fest in Waitrose on 17th November. I was at Jackie's till (of course) having a little chat when lovely Sue joined us and finally let me a get a shot of her. While this was going on the smiliest dancer/Pilates teacher ever, Joumana of @IJADdance @JouDance, joined us and we had a lovely tete-tete.  Funniest thing was the lady in the queue behind me, who was sweet and patient, must have wondered about this weird lady hugging and photographing people as she shopped.

A guest post from Angeleno - PACIFIC OCEAN POSITIVITY

From Los Angeles:

Hello Positivity Posters! 

 
Sending an enthusiastic thumbs up from sunny Southern California on behalf of all those that came out on Saturday for Coastal Clean Up Day http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html to comb the beaches for trash and admire the sea awash with surfers...by my count there were at least 200-300 registered volunteers in just our little section of the beach alone (and I saw similar crowds while driving up the coast early Sat am enroute to my destination)...

a couple pix to document the fabulous volunteer effort with especially happy photo of my dear friend Nancy Taylor with septuagenarian volunteer greeter Sara who was a joy to speak with and a wealth of information. Thumbs up ladies! :)
 


Volunteer Nancy Taylor and powerhouse volunteer wrangler/greeter Sara Meric of the Santa Monica Conservancy 

surf wasn't that great but the company sure was!


Volunteers working en masse

Volunteers lining up to help











Volunteers working around beach goers, Santa Monica Pier in the background

Angeleno is a television & film producer in LA.  

Angeleno is not her real name.

Another London thumbs up or two

My first thumbs up this week goes to to Barnet Council recycling bin men; not people usually associated with "pleasant service" but Keith and Paul give a lie to this reputation.

For those unfamiliar with Barnet's (current) recycling policy (it is changing on 14th October in some ways), they give you a blue box and a black box.  The black box if for paper and glass while the blue box is for cans, some plastics and cardboard. Yes, you have to separate your paper and cardboard and woe betide you if you get this wrong as you get this "note from the headmaster" stuck on your boxes telling you off and that you must redo it.

Not yesterday.

I had been having a clear up of some old personal files and had been shredding like mad so I had two big bin bags just full of shreeded paper, way too much for the boxes.  I had left the boxes on top of the bags with hopes that even though there are strict instructions not to use bags, they would see that it was all paper and they would make an exception.

As it happened I was home when the truck came down the road so I came out in to the street to explain what the bags were.  I was greeted by Paul (on the right of the picture)  who just smiled and said no problem.  However, as I turned back to my boxes I saw another man, Keith (on the left of the picture) going for my stuff, so I explained to him what I had been explaining to Paul, and again, a lovely smile, a "no problem" and a couple of thanks from the two of them.  So, Keith and Paul, a thumbs up from us for service with a smile, thank you.

Later in the day, I was down in the West End and coming back on the bus with my mother, she thought she had lost her pass getting off the number 19 earlier, (pleased to say she has subsequently found it), so we got on a bus at Piccadilly Circus with some trepidation since often the drivers are so grumpy in the traffic and tourists of the West End that if you don't have the right ticket there and then, they'll just tell you to get off.

Not so yesterday.

We got Andy.  (He didn't want his picture here for company policy reasons).  Andy not only gave my mother a right to travel pass but he looked up the bus company that runs the 19 so she could call the right depot. 

We then watched Andy deal with the many tourist requests all the way along Regent Street and Oxford Street not just with patience and a smile, but with genuine assistance.  All those requests for "go to seldridge?" (Selfridges) "go to ford square" (Oxford Circus) and on and on were deciphered and answered with the same courtesy we had received.

So Andy on the 139, a big thumbs up from us and since I haven't got a picture of you, here is a nice picture of a 139 at Piccadilly Circus from Timitrius 

http://www.geolocation.wsv/W/File%3ALondon%20139%20bus,%2028%20March%202011.jpg/-/en

I'm afraid I also have to give one thumbs down this week, not to a member a staff, but to a member of the public dealing with a member of staff.

To the man being rude to the young woman on the bread counter in Waitrose, Finchley Road, at around 10:15am on Thursday, 19th September, .   Unnecessary.   You know who you are.

So, to end, as I always do, if you want to say thank you to someone or just tell us about a nice smile that made your day, this is your pin-board and we're happy to put up guest posts.  Just follow the contact details below.   Thanks.

A Greek post

This is a mini post from the Ionian islands in Greece.  We have to make a little exception here to the term "staff" since on the islands in the tavernas in particular, nearly all the people who work are family. Of course there are exceptions but.... 

My first thumbs up and thank you goes to Yianna in her family cafe in Sivota on Lefkada (Λευκάδα - also known as Lefkas and a few other English variations).

Sivota has a big boating fraternity where sailing flotillas come in for one night and leave the next morning added to a few luxury motor yachts and the day to day yachties who spend their summers sailing around the beautiful Ionian.  However, because people come in, want serving and most of the time will never, ever come back this way, service can sometimes be a little perfunctory to get the numbers served without investing too much of one self.  Imagine, no one in a cafe one minute, then fifty English, Italian, German et al of all ages, wanting serving at the same time and then three hours later, no one again.  

Anyway, Yianna and her family were most definitely an exception.  We went in for a light lunch and had a lovely homemade beetroot dip followed by egg and chips with a chilled white wine, (okay, the lunch grew).  Yianna was funny and helpful to both us and in particular a table of Italians nearby who didn't have any Greek or English to understand the menus.  

Then, a rather unpleasant Belgium man came in off his footballer style motor boat; middle aged with paunch but still wearing a crop top with hot pant style shorts, a red bandanna tied on his head pirate fashion and dripping in jewellery.  You get the picture.  Whereas the Italians hadn't had the language to communicate, they made an effort and Yianna of course understood.  This "gentleman" used the method of saying the same word over and over, louder and louder within Yianna's personal space.  Yianna maintained her smile, and together with the whole cafe worked out what he wanted, (which she didn't have), and with a flourish she produced something alternative that she thought would please him, (it did), and the status quo was resumed.

So Yianna, thank you and a thumbs up  from us.

Staying in Sivota and next door, I would also like to give a thumbs up to the lovely guys in the Sivota Bakery but, my apologies,  I failed to get their names or photos).

Another person I failed to get a name or photograph for was the lovely lady cooking in one of our favourite tavernas, Trehantiri, in Vathi on Ithaka (Ιθάκη - aka Ithaki, Ithaca etc).  It was a very hot night and she handled an enormous influx of patrons brilliantly and I had one of the best pieces of chicken on a grill I can remember, and, all with such a warm smile.  So thank you and a thumbs up .

My last Greek post about service with a smile doesn't include a photograph or any names after some consideration, even though I did get lovely smiles on film, it just doesn't feel right and I hope you'll understand when I explain; we are now on Paxos, (Παξοί - Paxi), and we're sitting at a taverna at night, it's very hot again, still in the 30°s, (about 90°F), while the temperatures in the kitchens, which we can see must well be above 40°(about 104°F).

We could see this young woman in the kitchens doing all the washing up above the steaming hot water, and our companion, an Austrian yachtsman that lives in Greece, went and picked some bourgainvelia, and went over and gave them to her.  The smile he was rewarded with, and that she had on for the rest of the meal was truly a sight to behold.  Our decision to not use names or photographs was after consideration of the gossip that can occur in a small village and we wouldn't want any misunderstanding or a belief that there was more between this man and woman than this simple gesture.

Therefore a thumbs up both to the Austrian and the washer-up and in place of their smiles, a pretty picture of Paxos.  

Don't forget, if you have someone to thank or a smile to comment on, just send in a post and share it with the rest of us.   Look forward to hearing from you.