A Guest Post from Anne Clarke - THANK YOU TO CRICKLEWOOD

Having thought about writing a guest blog a fortnight ago, I've been rolling around in my head who I'd like to thank. 

There  are simply so many it's difficult to know where to begin. I could thank my very patient family for forever putting up with my busy life, 

I could thank the shopkeepers who go the extra mile and sweep their bit of Cricklewood Lane  

Cricklewood Lane

or my friends and neighbours who take the time to listen and look after each other. 

But, it occurs to me, these people are my community. These people build each other up while maintaining the things we all share from green spaces to schools.  So a big thank you and thumbs up to them all.

The name of this blog is EverdayFolk. I've had the song Everyday People by Arrested Development in my head for over a week, (YouTube - Arrested Development). Everyday people make the community what it is. 

Living in Cricklewood, our community comes from all over the world and bring a wealth of lived experiences and talents. Our communities are forever changing; some people live their whole lives in Cricklewood, some people's parents met at The Galtymore,

(photo courtesy of BRING-BACK-THE-GALTYMORE-NITECLUB Facebook Group) 
others stay for a long while and some quickly come and go without getting to know the area at all well. Given that so many of us have families who live oceans away, it makes all the more sense for us to get to know each other and take an active interest in the wellbeing of our neighbours. 

The Clitterhouse Farm building dons a sign “watch this space”. I certainly am watching.

Who are these community builders? It's the people who give their time to plant and nurture our station garden, Swan Hill, the Clitterhouse Farm (The Clitterhouse Farm Project) and the Millennium Green

The orchard at Clitterhouse Farm

    Cricklewood station, now with community garden and the wonderful
@nw2_coffee serving delicious, locally roasted, fair trade coffee. 

Swan Hill, a tiny parcel of land between the railway bridge & the B&Q carpark.
This land has been overgrown for decades & a real eyesore.
The Cricklewood Town Team & NorthwestTwo Residents’ Association
cleared it,put some lovely wooden sleepers at the
bottom and planted it together with local volunteers. 

The Millennium Green is maintained fully by volunteers and there is a
community clean-up 14 July 2018. - millennium-green-cleanup-saturday-july-14

I want to say thank you and thumbs up to say many, too many to list but you know who you are.

The Cricklewood Town Team at the end of the annual Cricklewood Festival, summer 2018. We had another wonderful festival and installed a sheep on the green space. This green had been marked for development in the Brent Cross/Cricklewood Regeneration. A 5-year community battle against Barnet Council finally saw it listed as an Asset of Community Value. More here: https://www.northwesttwo.org.uk/green-space-asset-community-value/

It's also the Cricklewood Town Team who lovingly arrange community festivals and ensure that everyone is included. Governors of local schools give up countless hours of time pursuing the best possible outcomes for children.

So to our community gardeners, the Cricklewood Town Team and all our schools’ governers, a big thank you and thumbs up .

Loch Ness Monster, laid out by residents for the enjoyment
of children on the estate.

Further up Cricklewood Lane, is the Granville Road Estate  

Granville Road Estate flowers planted by residents,
set against the barrier which protects the new private development.

who pulled together while their green spaces were threatened with development. (twitter @GERANW2  They have lost many well fought battles but what can't be taken from them is community. They look after each other, care for the most vulnerable on the estate and celebrate their friendships with the Great Get-Together that took place on 23rd June, #TheBigLunch - there are some super photos on both @GERANW2's twitter page and their facebook page facebook.com/gera.  It's more than an estate, it's a community which can't be built nor destroyed by development.  A special thanks and thumbs up  to Anthony, Tracey and Deepa.  

In times of austerity with cuts everywhere we look, it's easy to want to give up and look for the negative. Communities don't give up, there's far too much to be lost that way.  

So to all communities sticking together and promoting the positive, thank you and thumbs up     

                                    Anne Clarke was born and raised in Illinois, she came to London in 1998.

She is a member of the Cricklewood Town Team

 and NorthwestTwo and she is involved with local schools. 

In 2018, Anne was elected as a ward councillor for Childs Hill.
Anne lives in her very favourite place in the world, Cricklewood.

She can be found on twitter at @anne_clarke

From Astoria, New York to Preveza, Greece

So I know I posted a blog last year saying it’s been a long time and hoping to get started again but....

Well I just couldn’t resist posting about Nicole and her smile making all our days brighter so maybe this will kick start the blog again.  Nicole reminded me why I started this blog in the first place - (first blog) - to promote the positive and say thank you to those doing their everyday job with a smile.

view of the commercial dock

So the boat was in Preveza. Preveza is a commercial port on the mainland of Greece on the Ionian sea and that's where I met Nicole.

Now we all know what a bad rap traffic wardens get and how it’s hard to hear a good word said about them.  Well in the boat world, the port police are a bit the same.  One goes into a port and the port police or their representatives come around to get the port fees each day.

Town Hall on the quay at Preveza

Normally this is the person everyone avoids.  Either they duck down below decks when the official is walking along and pretend they’re not there or one is just off the boat when they come by so they can’t collect the dues.

Not so with Nicole, (or Nicoleta as she is known in Greece).  Everyone I could see was making a point of catching her eye. Indeed she seemed to know most of the people by name and many people who didn’t necessarily owe any money, still made a point of stopping to talk to her.

view of Aktio from Preveza

Nicole was born in Greece but raised in Astoria, New York, returning to Preveza some years ago. 

Nicole and the "egg man"

When I asked her if I could write about her in the blog she said her cousin writes for People Magazine.  I pointed out this didn’t quite have the same circulation!  

When I took my pictures of her, she wanted to include “the egg man” and when I complemented her on doing her job with a smile, she referred me to her colleague Nick, who collects the money from the boats in the morning, telling me he’s just as nice if not nicer.  



Lovely self effacing 

A huge thumbs up to Nicoleta and I bet per boat moored she collects more money than other port police officer.  A few port police we know could take a tip!

I'd like to get this blog up and going again, so if you're reading this and you would like to say thank you to someone, to big up someone nice doing their job or just promote the positive, please do write in.  Don't worry if you don't know how to format for the internet or anything, I can help you do that.  All I need is your words about who it is and, if possible, some lovely smiley photographs.

Thanks for reading.

Back to the blog!

So it's been a while but....

Now I have a reason to do a quick blog and let's hope it's the first of a whole new stream of thank yous not just from me but from you too.

So imagine Embankment tube station at 11:30 pm on a Saturday night.  For those reading not familiar with London, not only is this a very busy train station at most times but on a Saturday night it is positively heaving with revellers and people wanting to get home after an evening of "on the town".

Drop into this Martin.

Martin was on the platform of the Northern line.  His job was to announce when the next train was coming, where it was going (the Northern line splits and you have to get the right branch to where you're going) and telling us to 'mind the gap'.

Most of the time one hears but doesn't hear these announcements or just ignores them but Martin had a very clever trick.

He did his announcements in funny voices making us all listen and laugh in equal degrees.

So thank you, Martin, and a thumbs upfor doing your job with a smile and taking us along for the ride too.

So to remind you or explain to new readers, if you would like to write a post to thank someone or tell us something nice that happened just get in touch and we would love to hear from you and to spread the thanks.  You don't have to know how to do the formatting and stuff, we'll help you with all that.  This blog is for you, somewhere for you to have your say.  Thanks.

Industrial Estates

Industrials Estates aren't known for their humanity so all the better when one finds some there, and not just from one person, but from three.

I was at Staples Corner, not the shop (and not Staples Centre in L.A.!) but the trading estate of that name at a hardware store, Toolstation for those interested.  Directly opposite Toolstation is a Safestore and then a few hundred metres away is a Big Yellow Storage.

Years ago, when I needed some extra storage during a move, I took out a unit at Big Yellow Storage it worked very well.  

Since then, there seem to be storage places all over the shop so I figured/hoped that they would be really competitively priced now.

Since I was already parked, I went over to Safestore  www.safestore.co.uk/staples-corner/ to enquire of their rates/deals and so on since I shortly might be needing some storage space again.

I was welcomed by three of the smiliest, jolliest people you could hope for; Ayolla, Karlos and Jamie, the Manager.

They turned getting a quote for a mundane thing (for a bad reason) in to a wholly enjoyable affair, so a big thumbs upand thank you to the three of them.

Fast forward, and it's now time to use the storage.  As well as speaking to Karlos and Jamie again, and a little wave to Ayolla, I was looked after by Mali, the Assistant Manager.  

Well obviously Safestore Staples Corner breeds lovely, friendly folk because Mali was also super and as well as a thank you and thumbs up for her help she also introduced me to Humans of London hmnsofldn.tumblr.com so thanks for that too.

Helping me move all my stuff I also lucked out,* using Adam and his company The London Man & Van Service, (no website but happy to give you his number if you ask).

Adam is from Iraq and he and Joseph couldn't have been more helpful or made the work easier.  They are based in North West London but happy to work all over, and indeed I used them for a pick up from Kingston-upon-Thames.  So a big thank you and thumbs up   To Adam and Joseph.

Also, while writing, a thank you and thumbs up without a name or pictures as yet again, I forgot until it was too late.

There is a small Tesco in Weedon, right at the junction of the A5 and the A45.  Normally the last place I'd stop for some really nice flowers for a present but we were en route for a last minute visit and there was no choice if I didn't want to arrive empty handed, (which I didn't).

The flowers on display on the Saturday morning were not inspiring and I feared the worse, thinking chocolates it might be, but I thought it was worth asking.  I found a girl stocking the dairy shelves and she couldn't have been more helpful.  Yes, they had had a delivery, no it was no trouble to go and see what was there and bring them all out.  Which was what she promptly did with so many smiles it was a pleasure waiting.

photo: Hazel Nicholson, used under a creative commons licence

Then to top things off, and remember this is a Tesco Express not a florists, she found some paper so that the bunches of tulips I had selected could come out of the fuel station plastic wrapping and all be put together in a lovely big bunch wrapped in paper.

Thank you and thumbs up kind person and if you see this and remember serving me, it really was appreciated.  Thanks.

As always, if you would like to write a post to thank someone or tell us something nice that happened just get in touch and we would love to hear from you and to spread the thanks.  You don't have to know how to do the formatting and stuff, we'll help you with all that.  Thanks.

* have realised that "lucked out" means the opposite in the USA, here it means I was lucky so hope that makes it clear for our stateside readers.

Hospitals, supermarkets and thank yous

A couple of unrelated thank yous that reminded me why I'm doing this blog.

Twice over the last few weeks, when my head had been all caught up with our own problems, I was pulled out of myself by someone going out of their way to be helpful and I thought that's nice, but I was so wrapped up in myself that I forgot my own "mantra" of looking for positive and good and shining a light on them.

Luckily I was given an opportunity to go back and remedy my oversight so the first thank you is to Dawn and the help desk team at UCH.        

Anyone who has had to park at a hospital, or use a disabled Blue Badge at a hospital, will appreciate this story.

At the Royal Free, a wonderful hospital, they have a terrible parking problem and policy for disabled users.  The badge is for my car but for when I'm driving a member of the family, let's call them "Fred".  Now at the Royal Free you can have four hours free parking with a disabled badge and after that you have to pay.  But, this is where it becomes so difficult.  The actual person who is named on the badge, Fred in this instance, has to show him/herself at the desk to prove that I'm not abusing the badge.  

Now imagine you've got to be in hospital all day having, say a blood transfusion, the first or last thing you have to do now is attend a desk where you have to present yourself to prove you really are "ill".

Don't even get me on the part where you have to pay for the remaining hours and how difficult that is!  I suppose, while I'm doing this, I could give a thumbs down to the Parking Policy at the Royal Free.  Great hospital, bad policy.  May I suggest a little more trust?  Take a leaf out of UCH's book?

So, yes over now to UCH and our thanks and thumbs up; for those that don't know, UCH, UCLH and the Macmillan Cancer Center www.uclh.nhs.uk/ are all part of one of the major newer hospitals in the West End of London.  The Blue Badge parking scheme is a national scheme except in a couple of parts of London.  UCH is in one of those exclusion zones for the Blue Badge so I was very worried about how and if I would be able to park when taking Fred there.  I shouldn't have worried, UCH/UCLH have a totally different policy.

Their policy seems to be trust and assuming that if you're in hospital and are using a blue badge, you need it and to be at the hospital, so try to make it easier for you.

Enter Dawn, (and Wendy who was shy about having her picture taken).  I wasn't sure if I was taking Fred home the next day or the day after, depending on progress but whatever, I was going to be bringing Fred back the following week.  No problem; UCH gives you a pass for the time you need, a day, a couple of days, a week which you display with your Blue Badge in their own limited parking or on a couple of specially designated nearby streets.   So simple, so stress free but more importantly, for here, a big thank you to Dawn for making me smile and taking me out of my own head and a big thumbs up  

Now, my other thank you, has nothing to do with health, hospitals, or charities, which seems to have dominated this blog in recent months, whether my own or from guests.

This time to the lovely cashier, Irene, at a local Sainsbury's in Golders Green.  Irene

always has a smile for her customers and when the transaction has finished and the till prints out those multitude of bits of paper with offers, price matches, school vouchers and what not, Irene carefully goes through them and if there is something of worth to note, she makes sure she has pointed it out for you.

I asked Irene if I may take her picture, (I always ask first), but she declined thinking "it would look ugly".  I wish Irene could see the lovely smile all her customers see and realise how it is anything but ugly.  In any case, a big thank you and thumbs up to Irene.

I would add Irene is such a breath of fresh air in an otherwise not wonderful Sainsbury's - getting better but still a throw back to the nineties.  Management, take note, thanks.

That's it for now but as always, if you would like to send in a post to tell us something nice that happened or to say thank you to someone, just get in touch and we would have great pleasure in putting up your stories here.  Thanks.