Hackney Magazine Autumn 2019

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WHAT’S ON

Editor

4 Our guide to the best events happening in the town

Sub Editor

Yasemin Cusack Michael Daventry

Reporter

FAMILY FUN

Edward Rowe

5-7 Events for all the family to enjoy

Contributor Mersa Auda

BUSINESS

Graphic Design

8-13 Hackney companies talk about the social media effect on their businesses

Advertising

Nick A. Edwards advertising@hackneymagazine.com 01992 310680

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Contact

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16 Ethical fashion brands that are good for people and planet

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CULTURE 18 Beautiful independent bookshops

Published by Metropol Media Ltd Metropol Media Ltd cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts and photographs. While every care is taken, prices and details are subject to change and Metropol Media Ltd take no responsibility for omissions or errors.

Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors.

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BEAUTY REVIEW 21 Re:lax facial

PROPERTY 22 Q&A with Stoke Newington resident and blogger, Emma Paton

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WHAT’S ON

SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER – NOVEMBER

Dead Funny Evenings at 19:30, Wed 25th - Sat 28th Sep and Tue 1st - Sat 5th Oct Matinées at 15:00, Sat 28th Sep and 5th Oct

There’s more to this Olivier Award winning comedy than a few cheap laughs and the occasional naughty giggle.

It’s really a brief look at the British sense of humour as it was twenty five years ago when Benny Hill, Frankie Howerd and Morecambe and Wise were on the telly.

In the week when a comedy legend kicks the bucket the Dead Funny Society gather to celebrate his life.

But add to that two problematic marriages, a declaration of sexuality and some rehashed comedy routines and suddenly everything turns fast, furious and farcical.

Julie Cockburn

Telling it Slant

12 Sep - 2 Nov 2019

In the nineteenth century, long before the current era of fake news, Emily Dickinson wrote a meditation on truth in her poem Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant. With a title alluding to the poem, this exhibition of Julie Cockburn’s latest work similarly excavates authentic stories by circuitous means. Using a rich material language, Cockburn embarks on a visual journey to delicately reveal narrative histories and layered meanings in lost and discarded images.

At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

Flowers Gallery Kingsland Road flowersgallery.com

For tickets towertheatre.org.uk

Sidsel Meineche Hansen

20 September – 8 December 2019

Chisenhale Gallery presents a new commission by Sidsel Meineche Hansen, exploring London as a ‘surveillance capitalist’ city.

Meineche Hansen’s work focuses on the industrial complex that connects virtual and robotic bodies to human labour within the pharmaceutical, and tech-industries.

Her work combines computer generated imagery and virtual reality production with drawing, ceramics, photography, woodcut prints and sculpture. chisenhale.org.uk

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Hackney Comedy Experience with Reginald D. Hunter Friday, 13 Sep 2019, 20:00

The alternative comedy circuit’s biggest and best acts – live at EartH. Expect household names, cult favourites and fast-rising stars at East London’s all-headline stand-up showcase. Reginald D Hunter – as seen on ‘Live at the Apollo’, ‘Have I Got News For You’ and ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’ – headlines.

Plus ‘Taskmaster’ contestant and the voice of ‘Love Island’ Iain Stirling, rising star and ‘The Last Leg’ guest Rosie Jones and ‘Live at the Apollo’ and ‘Have I Got News For You’ star Andrew Maxwell. Part of EartH’s first birthday celebrations.

Tickets £18.70 | earthackney.co.uk

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FAMILY

Make & Paint Art Class Friday, 6 September, 2019 10:00 - 10:45

45 minutes of making and painting at Yummy Yummy in my Tummy cafe. Session begins with interactive story telling before things get messy! Be sure to dress for mess (you and your child). Suitable for 1 - 5 year olds but all ages welcome, under 1 siblings come free! £9 per child, participating siblings half price. artburst.co.uk Yummy Yummy in My Tummy 56 Stoke Newington High Street N16 7PB

Hackney ‘Halloween Spooktacular’ family rave Sun, 27 Oct, 13:30 – 16:00

Join award-winning Big Fish Little Fish Family Rave for Halloween Spooktacular

in East London at the basement rave cave venue!

Party together on a dance floor filled with bubbles, balloons and confetti cannons... topped off by the parachute dance. Get crafty on the Captain Cookie Craft tables and enjoy the baby chill out or play areas.

Children must be over 2 years old.

Optional fancy dress: Spooky and scary.

Hangar, Sidworth Street, London Fields, E8, Kids £5 - Adults £7 bigfishlittlefishevents.co.uk

Open Day

Forest School encourages outstanding academic progress and personal development, offering single-sex teaching in a co-educational environment for girls and boys aged 4-18yrs. Forest is a city school on the edge of North London with 30 acres of grounds.

Forest - Where People Grow

Saturday, 21 September 2019 8.30am - 1.00pm www.forest.org.uk | admissions@forest.org.uk 0208 520 1744 | E17 3PY

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Esther Pearl Watson 4 – 29 September 2019 private view: 4 September 2019, 18.30 – 20.30

Gastronomic theatre Mon 23 Sep - Sat 12 Oct 19:00, 19:30 & 21:00

Performance, state-of-the-art technology and a five-course taster meal are on the menu with an exciting new immersive dining experience created by an award-winning theatre company.

A total of 40 ‘passengers’ will be treated to a five-course tasting menu simultaneously with their own in-flight screen at each performance.

As they fly over oceans, deserts and rainforests, the food will

accompany the stories about why and how these chefs came to be there.

Ingredients mix, tastes cross-pollinate, and strangers break bread together as the chefs guide you through a British-inspired culinary journey.

As the story hurtles towards London, on the ground at Heathrow, border control is on high alert.

Gastronomic reveals the blueprints of the worlds’ best chefs and celebrates the importance of eating together.

Esther Pearl Watson, based in Los Angeles, grew up in a series of small towns outside of Dallas, Texas with her siblings, mother, and flying saucer-building father, Gene,

maureenpaley.com

From £27.50 (includes a fivecourse tasting menu) shoreditchtownhall.com

Underwire: Best Friends Forever Thu, September 19, 21.00

Founded in 2010 with an aim to tackle gender imbalance in film, Underwire is the UK’s only festival devoted to celebrating female filmmaking talent. Underwire is now a BAFTA recognised film festival.

Best Friends Forever is short films about best friends,

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who aspired to influencing NASA with his prototypes.

She creates pictures on board and paper depicting farmland, highways, oil rigs, payday loan storefronts, playgrounds and parking lots. Her paintings have been exhibited worldwide, including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2015).

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frenemies, friends-with-benefits and everything in between.

Friendships between women that are intense, profound and not always presented on the screen in their full spectrum of complexity.

In this selection of shorts, BFFs and girl gangs are the protagonists: friends to get stoned with, friends to daydream with, friends that friends that might be more than friends and friends that may not be your friends at all.

Tickets: £10 thecastlecinema.com

De Beauvoir flower, produce and dog show Sunday, 15 September 2019 13:30pm - 17:00

Flower and produce show with adults’ and kids’ competitions for flowers, growing, baking and arts and crafts. Dog show, teas, cakes, raffle, tombola, plant stall, children’s activities and greener planet information.

COMPETITION All categories are open to any individual over 16 or group to enter. Children under 16 can enter the Kid’s competition which will be judged as under 12s and 12–16yrs.

FUN DOG SHOW Judged by Richard Arnold from Good Morning Britain. Entry £2 per dog (every dog gets a prize) Register between 2–3pm (limited to 50 entries so register early) All dogs are entered into either: Prettiest Pooch (girls) or Handsomest Hound (boys)

St. Peter’s Crypt, Northchurch Terrace, Hackney, N1 4DA.

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DISCOVER MORE The all-new Blackheath High School, shortlisted for Best Independent Girls’ School

Open Morning – 12 October Book online at www.blackheathhighschool.gdst.net New school minibus routes added for September 2019 HACKNEYMAGAZINE.COM

AUTUMN 2019

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LOCAL BUSINESS

How Hackney small businesses are using social media for marketing 78 per cent of small businesses are now using social media. Active social media users make up 3.4 billion or 43% of the world population.

But can social media really do any good for small businesses?

HANA SUTTON - SUTTON AND SONS FISH AND CHIPS We have had our fishmongers for twenty-five years, so we are lucky that we have built up a loyal customer base. Word of mouth was a large factor in promoting our fish and chip shops which led to print reviews being written. Transitioning to social media definitely helped our marketing campaigns as it gave us the chance to expand our brand and reach a wider audience.

Social media has been a great aid to our business as it helps us get the word out. A viral campaign can reach many new customers than what our targeted marketing can do. We experienced this when we launched our vegan range. With the digital age, the market is now saturated with competition that a lot of people rely on social media reviews to choose who to support – reviews can make or break a business.

Running our social media accounts also allows us to interact with customers, new and returning, which gives us a connection that we never had before these platforms were available.

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“Likes don’t always translate into sales.”

Having followers doesn’t always mean business is doing well. Social media isn’t an accurate portrayal of actual customers. Some people follow us purely because they support our vegan menu and sustainability initiative. Likes don’t always translate into sales. But the reviews and higher follower count does mean that more people

will see our restaurants. Marketing can’t do all of the heavy lifting and once we get the customer, it’s up to our food to do the hard work of ensuring they keep coming back.

There is no right way to do marketing, it works differently for every small and large business. We have entrusted our brand and message to a local creative agency, Insignis Media, to help us with our marketing and public relations strategies. They have been integral in getting our name out there so that we can focus on what we do best: serving the best fish and chips in London.

JESSICA BANKS - JOY YOGA A yoga studio in Dalston, specialising in Kundalini yoga.

Social media provides another platform to share about our Kundalini yoga classes, workshops, and other special events. When we were first getting started, before we had our Dalston studio, social media - especially Facebook and Instagram - was our primary means of reaching new students.

We share information about Kundalini Yoga, dates and details about our workshops and events, and pictures of our studio and some of what’s happening here.

Social media is a window into what we’re doing and what we’re about.

Like so many things, it’s quality not quantity that matters. It’s more important to have a following of those who are actually interested in whatever it is that you’re offering. Social media rewards engagement.

It’s better to have fewer followers who actually respond to what you post.

The more people react or engage with your post, the higher up it will appear in other people’s feeds. And of course, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many people have followed your business on social media. You want people to take class or

to buy your services or products.

We invest considerable time on maintaining our social media presence. We also buy google ads. We run print ads in journals that are relevant to our target consumers, focusing on local media. We distribute postcards around the neighbourhood.

We have a mural on our shop front which faces Dalston Lane and flyers in the window. A number of our students have found us just walking down the street. And of course, word of mouth is an essential part of marketing.

“Social media rewards engagement. It’s better to have fewer followers who actually respond to what you post.”

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LOCAL BUSINESS

KATE HIGGINSON - PRINT CLUB LONDON Screenprinting studio and online shop offering affordable, limited edition screenprints to buy online.

Absolutely social media helps our business. We sell images and lifestyle and Instagram offers a platform that is entirely based around images. Also as we run studios what we do is very physical and the art of printing and it’s process is manual and people love to watch it. We use stories on Instagram to report what our artists are doing and it gives our buyers a real insight into the studios. Buying from artists who you’ve seen in the flesh working is a great experience and I’m pretty sure offering them this insight encourages sales. We work really hard to make films and a constant release of footage on our social channels showcasing the studios and artists.

It’s also feels less of an aggressive sales approach which we prefer.

Having thousand followers doesn’t always mean business is good. We’ve built our followers over 10 years and they are mostly very engaged but you can’t always rely on social media. We take an all round approach to promoting ourselves and reaching our customer base, from sending newsletters to live events. I think if you were to rely wholly on social media it’s dangerous.

Instagram changes algorithms constantly and often we get patches where we aren’t as visible. It would be a disaster if therefore insta was our only avenue for sales. But it’s definitely a great platform.

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“We’ve built our followers over 10 years and they are mostly very engaged but you can’t always rely on social media.”

Social media is a good start and definitely use it as much as you can. But be mindful not to over share. Consider every post, the look of your feed needs to be consistent.

We often use stories to be more playful as it’s short lived. And the more important images stay on the feed.

We have written a book in fact which contributes like Joanna Ham and Dave Buonaguidi both of whom are incredibly successful at marketing themselves. Buy the book. It’s gives a great amount of advice about setting up as an artists and building a brand!

MARK ATOM - ATOM GALLERY Atom Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Stoke Newington, specialises in limited edition prints of all kinds – screenprints, relief prints, monoprints and digital (giclée) prints.

We post regularly on Instagram and it keeps people informed of what we are up to, not only can we publicise exhibition openings and new print releases but we keep keep people up to date with other aspects of the business, some serious some less so.

Having thousands followers on social media doesn’t mean business doing well, there are many people who are keen users of social media who never do anything

but press the like button and post the occasional comment. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t pay the bills.

We have over 12,000 followers. Social media can get very busy and then go rather quiet but a lot of this depends on what Instagram is up to with its algorithms, often posts are not seen by a large proportion of followers.

Social media is a good tool for small businesses with tiny budgets for advertising. Post regularly, keep your posts focused and engage with your

“Likes don’t pay the bills” followers. The best marketing tool is always word of mouth but it takes a long time to work.

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LOCAL BUSINESS

CLARE LATTIN, LITTLE DUCK - THE PICKLERY It’s difficult to see how much social media helps our business, but we know that it does to a degree because when we promote one of our workshops or classes through social, we always get a direct response in bookings. If we’re talking about a specific dish, then customers often come into the restaurant for it.

Our strategy is really one of excitement and keeping things interesting in what we do day to day in the restaurant, we don’t have a social strategy, but we use social to communicate what we do. What we do would exist with or without social media we create reasons for people to return, and we use social to communicate that to our target audience, which has been built through the strength in what we do at ground level.

Having thousands followers on social media doesn’t mean business doing well, not for us anyway. I don’t think the quantity matters so much, it is the quality and who that audience are and their loyalty that makes a difference to our business. We don’t monetise on instagram, we monetise 12 HACKNEY MAGAZINE

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through people coming into our restaurant and enjoying themselves.

You announced that Raw Duck Hackney is closed in April. This restaurant had 19K followers on Instagram. How do you explain this?

We gained followers through the engagement of our product, the story we tell, the things that we create and do, which we hope has always been backed up by the real experience in the restaurant. Aesthetics are important but we’ve been careful not to let this define us, we try to keep our restaurant platforms real and honest, which isn’t always beautiful, but it is always genuine. And we hope that comes through, an honest approach in life helps form genuine relationships both in real time and socially - of course there are plenty of examples where this is not the case but it does still it exist.

“Having thousands followers on social media doesn’t mean business doing well, not for us anyway”

LUKE MCLOUGHLIN THE SPREAD EAGLE London’s first 100% vegan pub in Hackney.

We talked to social media manager of The Spread Eagle Sakina Windeatt and co-owner Luke McLoughlin Social media helps our business 100%. It’s a great vehicle for finding and communicating with our audience as well as engaging with them in real-time. Plus it helps us stay in tune with what’s going on culturally and be a part of an exciting wider movement.

Being able to connect with our customers to highlight what is happening in a really visual way helps people to see what we are all about, what events we have coming up and to check out our yummy food and cocktails! We have been able to build a great online community of likeminded people and make links with other great businesses that we love We want to connect with our customers using engaging content that is of interest to them. We tend to keep it simple and always speak from the heart. That way we know those that come to us are aligned to our core values.

It’s a responsibility to have thousands of followers so ideally, it means people think about what messages they are relaying as it makes them more powerful. We always try to think about what we post in terms of ethics and social responsibility plus keep it fun to lift people’s spirits.

“It’s a responsibility to have thousands of followers”

Bespoke wedding and birthday cakes made to order - Viennoiseries - French bread - Chocolates - Macaroons

www.belleepoque.co.uk Newington boutique N16 020 7249 2222

HACKNEYMAGAZINE.COM BELLE_EPOQUE.indd 1

Islington boutique N1 020 8001 8295

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Selfridges W1

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19/05/2017 15:10

The first railway murder in Britain: 1864, Hackney

T

he murder of Thomas Briggs by the young German, Franz Muller has been well documented. Briggs was sixty-nine years old and held a senior position with a firm of London city bankers. On Saturday 9th July 1864 he caught the 9.45pm train from Fenchurch Street to Hackney, travelling in a 1st class carriage. But when the train arrived about 10pm, his compartment was found to be covered in blood. Twenty minutes later the driver of an engine travelling in the opposite direction found the severely injured man lying between the lines. Briggs was examined by two surgeons who agreed he had received about six fierce blows to the head. With no hope of recovery, Briggs was taken to his home where he died the same evening.

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The next day the family confirmed that the victim’s hat and gold watch and chain were missing, although they were certain another hat that was found in the compartment did not belong to the victim. So the motive for the killing appeared to be robbery.

All murders are tragic for the families of the victim and the assailant and this one was no different. In this instance though, there were to be a number of factors that made it a particular cause celebre. It was the first known murder of a passenger travelling on a railway train in Britain. And the fact that it was such a violent murder of a prominent businessman travelling 1st class caused outrage amongst members of the public and put great deal of pressure on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Richard Mayne. He assigned a brilliant young detective to the inves-

“When Muller’s ship arrived he was positively identified and arrested.”

Franz Muller

tigation – Detective Inspector Richard Tanner.

Descriptions of the missing items were published in newspapers and a breakthrough came when a city jeweller, the oddly named John Death, described a young foreign man who had traded in a similar gold watch chain. A further appeal led to a cabbie named Matthews identifying a young German – Franz Muller, as having given his daughter an empty jewellery box and when shown the hat found in the carriage, he immediately recognised it, explaining that he had himself purchased the hat for Muller. Matthews was able to provide the police a photograph of Muller and an address for him in Bow. When shown the box, the jeweller

confirmed it as one of his and he recognised the man in the photo.

When Inspector Tanner went to the address in Bow, he obtained more damning evidence from the owners. However, Muller had left a few days earlier, five days after the murder, and had set sail for New York.

Police lost no time in obtaining an arrest warrant and later the same day Detective Inspector Tanner and another officer, together with the two principle civilian witnesses, boarded a train bound for Liverpool Docks. There they embarked on a modern liner that was larger and faster than the ship taken by Muller. They reached New York a full three weeks ahead of the suspect.

When Muller’s ship arrived he was positively identified and arrested. A search of his possessions found the missing watch and a hat which, although it had been cut down, was believed to be the one that had belonged to Briggs. With all the thrill of the chase across the Atlantic, the public in Britain

“Twenty minutes later the driver of an engine travelling in the opposite direction found the severely injured man lying between the lines.” and America had become enthralled with the case. Yet there was much anti-British feeling and sympathy for Muller expressed in America during the extradition proceedings. And when the party arrived back in England a large and unruly crowd gathered at Euston station to greet them. With assistance from the railway police, Muller was taken to Bow Street Police Station and charged with the murder of Thomas Briggs.

The trial opened at The Central Criminal Court on the 24th October 1864 when Muller pleaded not guilty. The presiding judges and the prosecution barristers were all very distin-

“With all the thrill of the chase across the Atlantic, the public in Britain and America had become enthralled with the case.”

Two books written about this murder. guished and made a formidable team. All of the witnesses gave evidence and it was clear that the judge was impressed by the weight of evidence against Muller. So too must the jury have been, they took just fifteen minutes to bring in a guilty verdict. Muller was taken to Newgate prison to await execution. The story was front page news in every paper.

Frantic efforts were made by the German Legal Protection Society to convert the sentence to life imprisonment. King Wilhelm of Prussia sent a telegram to Queen Victoria urging her to intervene and delay the execution. Great pressure was put on the Home Secretary to spare Muller but he resisted and the 14th November was the date set for the execution.

Muller had protested his innocence throughout.

Shortly before 8am on the appointed day, he was led out into the courtyard, then guided to the gallows that had been erected outside the prison.

As the executioner placed the noose around his neck, a minister asked again, “Are you innocent or guilty?” Moments before the lever was pulled Muller reportedly said in German “Yes, I did it.”

Over 50,000 people gathered to watch the execution.

Appalling scenes of drunkenness, fighting and robbery were widespread. Countless people were injured by the unruly mob. Loud cheering accompanied Muller on his walk to the gallows and when the unfortunate man dropped, the crowd shouted in unison, “Hats Off.” The execution scenes caused great public debate over the morality of public hangings and led to Franz Muller becoming the last person to be hanged in public in Britain.

The case had also alarmed the travelling public and the railway companies. As a direct result, the communication cord safety device was introduced in passenger carriages. There is one other aspect that might be considered – in 1864, how many murder investigations had there been where a photograph formed an important part of the evidence; was this perhaps one of the earliest occasions?

At his trial, Muller was barred by law from giving evidence in his own defence (as his wife would have been had

he had one). The process to change that began the following year although it was not finally brought in until 1889. As a point of interest, Muller had no right of appeal either – that was not introduced until 1907.

The murder of Thomas Briggs by Franz Muller was an unusual one in a number of different ways. It brought about many changes, both in public attitude as well as the law. It was a pivotal case in British legal and social history.

Words: the BTP History Group

MidEast Percussion & Music Workshop facilitator

Private & group tuition SOUTH HACKNEY- LONDON

6 week darbuka course

Frame Drum Workshops

Tuesdays, 10th Sept to 15th October. 7-8:30PM £90 B4 1st Sept

Beginners: 14th Sept Intermediate: 28th Sept 1-4PM £25 B4 4th Sept

SONG and BEAT: An inner journey through voice and drumming 5th OCT 1- 4:30PM £35 B4 28th Sept

Darbuka Workshop Intemediate level

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12th OCT 1-4PM £30 B4 5th OCT

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The rise of sustainable fashion in Hackney The fashion search engine, Lyst, has reported that searches for ‘sustainable fashion’ increased by 66 per cent in 2018. Consumers who careful about what they purchase are looking for labels that are do good for people and the planet.

The Hackney-based companies we have talked to below are some of our favourite ethical alternatives to fast fashion companies.

BEEN ■ The young brand that smashed its Kickstarter goal last year in just over 24 hours turns materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill into stunning premium accessories.

Think recycled plastic bottles turned into zip tapes and linings for their bags, or leather industry offcuts and trimmings milled into a powder and pressed together to form the lush recycled leather used for their totes and clutches.

Handmade in a small artisan studio in East London, all BEEN London bags are named after our favourite places - Columbia Road Crossbody, London Fields Tote and Wilton Way coin purse. And every order is packaged into recycled boxes

by The Camden Society, a social enterprise which trains and employs Londoners with learning disabilities. These guys are also challenging the opacity of the fashion industry by putting their entire supply chain - from zips to delivery - on a blockchain-based digital passport sewn into the labels.

Founded by a former news journalist, sustainability lecturer and Hackney resident Genia Mineeva, BEEN London has just been selected as one of UK’s FUTURE 20 startups and is already making waves among sustainably-minded celebrities. The founder says they’ll be tackling our disposable coffee cups next. been.london

MEND YOUR CLOTHES Words Cassie Quinn ■ The Seam is a new social enterprise that makes it easier to get our most-loved clothes made or mended. They connect skilled seamstresses to people in the neighbourhood who are look-

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ing for repairs, alterations, made-to-measure garments or even embroidery work. To find the best tailors and seamstresses in your local neighbourhood, visit theseam.london

JOA MAKES JACKETS FROM UNSOLD CLOTHES ■ JOA takes clothes that local charity shops cannot sell, cuts them up, and remakes them into jackets. This all happens in their own making hub, and 30 per cent of profits goes back to the same charity shop. Co-founder Julie Chaussende said: “Indeed, fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world, creating carbon emissions, chemical use and landfills that destroy wildlife and alter our climate. That is why we keep each step of the process as local and transparent as possible, and pay the London living wage to all our employees,” JOA challenges fashion

FREE WORKSHOPS

consumption by introducing unique, one-off jackets made of pre-loved garments. Mixing innovative pattern-cutting and edgy aesthetics, they are designed for adaptability.

They also offer a sentimental service, that allows any of your old clothes to be remade into a JOA jacket.

Julie said “JOA is always going to operate locally, and in the future, we aim to have many different JOA hubs all over the UK. We are turning today’s fashion system upside down and envision an industry that puts people and planet first!” joadesign.xyz

SUSTAINABLE MENSWEAR BRAND LAUNCHED IN CLAPTON

■ Stour Space in Hackney Wick runs regular workshops.

Hosted by Rachel Johnson of Code Street Clothing and Louise Halswell of Fuudhoods, ‘Scrapworks’ teaches simple DIY tricks for mending your clothes. Check out their free workshops on the first Thursday of every month. stourspace.co.uk/calendar

■ Sustainable vegan menswear clothing brand, Rozenbroek, has hosted a launch party in Clapton to debut their new organic wardrobe essentials range, all made in Yorkshire using solar energy. Garments are individually made to order, which not only minimises waste, but helps develop a lasting and personal relationship with their customers. With their repair or recycle service, they strive to promote longevity and value. Their aim is to give the power back to the consumer to help create the much needed shift in the market place.

Rozenbroek Unit 17, The Factory, 21-31 Shacklewell Ln, E8 2DA, jrozenbroek.com

RENTAL FASHION ■ Rental fashion is set to be another big game changer in fashion consumption. When you have a series of weddings to attend, buying a different outfit for each event can become excessive - but platforms like Higher Studio are changing this. Here you can browse and rent a gorgeous Issey Miyake dress for a special event removing the build up of unworn dresses in your wardrobe. higher.studio

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Six beautiful independent bookshops in Hackney

A

record number of shops closed in Britain last year, with 16 stores closing a day.

Bookshops, however, are bucking the trend, with the number of indie bookshops on the rise for the second year running according to data released by the Booksellers Association (BA). Despite the dominance of online retailers, Hackney’s independent bookshops have never lost their popularity.

Here are the beautiful independent bookshops of Hackney.

LIBRERIA ■ Libreria, by the founders of the creative workspace/private members club, Second Home, business partners Rohan Silva and Sam Aldenton, opened with the intention of being a ‘refuge’ from digital.

The mission of Second Home is to nurture creativity and innovation. Every 18 HACKNEY MAGAZINE

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aspect of Libreria is designed to help readers discover new books and ideas, and encourage interdisciplinary thinking.

65 Hanbury St., E1 5JP libreria.io

ARTWORDS BOOKSHOP ■ Located on Rivington Street and Broadway Market, Artwords carries a curated inventory of international fashion, photography, art, architecture and graphic design books, alongside industry and creative magazines.

Store owner Ben Hillwood-Harris said: “Key for us is the look and feel of our bookshop. It seems an obvious point to make these days but creating an inviting and friendly feel in any shop dealing in non-essential items is very important – afterall, there is plenty of compe-

tition online, and probably at cheaper prices. That, and, for a bookshop, a well-considered and arranged stock of books is vital. We compete with and continue trading despite Amazon by offering a great browsing experience: in my opinion browsing a considered and thoughtfully arranged selection of books beats looking at covers online.

Books make lovely gifts: whether for a birthday or a treat for a friend, books make great presents and a bookshop is a wonderful place to browse a selection, choose one and have it wrapped and pick up a card too. Most importantly, books are conduits to a continuing education; they can expand your horizons and your mind!”

Artwords Bookshop Limited Branches at: 20-22 Broadway Market, E8 4QJ 69 Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY artwords.co.uk

BURLEY FISHER BOOKS ■ Burley Fisher Books specialises in new titles by independent presses; it also has a coffee shop. Haggerston’s independent bookshop hosts regular events with authors, both local and from further afield.

400 Kingsland Road, E8 4AA burleyfisherbooks.com

STOKE NEWINGTON BOOKSHOP Donlon Books

■ An award winning independent bookshop, established on Stoke

Newington High Street since 1987. The Bookshop carries an extensive range across most general subjects, but is particularly strong in fiction, children’s books for 0-16 years, and an increasingly popular range of greetings cards, wrap, and stationery including Moleskine notebooks.

159 Stoke Newington High Street N16 0N stokenewingtonbookshop.co.uk

DONLON BOOKS ■ Donlon Books is an independent bookshop and publisher located at Broadway Market. Since 2008, they have built a strong reputation for stocking an idiosyncratic range of new and rare titles, periodicals and printed matter, with a focus on photography, art, critical theory, LGBT literature, music, fashion, counterculture, erotica, and esoterica. Donlon has hosted events for Wolfgang Tillmans, David Armstrong, Stephen Gill, Sara MacKillop, Jean-Michel Wicker, Paul Buck, David Noonan, Viviane Sassen and The Archive of Modern Conflict.

75 Broadway Market, E8 4PH donlonbooks.com

THE BROADWAY BOOKSHOP ■ The Broadway Bookshop - a small but beautiful independent bookshop in busy Broadway Market. The bookshop specialises in literary fiction and has a good range of poetry, philosophy, politics, biography, city literature, travel, art, fashion, music and children’s books.

6 Broadway Market, E8 4QJ broadwaybookshophackney.com

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Call Stork Removals on 020 8366 6644 for free estimate, free boxes & free advice

info@storkremovals.co.uk www.storkremovals.co.uk

Chocolate & Cardamom Cookies

T

he coffee machine cranks into life and the smell of fresh coffee wakes us all up. The first customers of the day arrive for our handmade pastries and a caffeine fix. Four legged customers rock up for a dog treat, tired from their morning walk. Thursday mornings bring Elaine Kingett’s Mindful Creative Writing Workshop to the Café. Elaine has been a customer since we opened in November 2017 and her group fill up the meeting room downstairs with creativity and lively discussion. Abi and I start thinking about cookies for them.

Preferably chocolate, always warm. This recipe ticks all the boxes with an added hint of cardamom and is gloriously rich. Use a good quality dark chocolate. It pays dividends. You could cool them down and use them to make an ice cream sandwich if they last that long. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Method  Line a baking sheet with  225g unsalted  2 tsps bicarbobaking paper. Preheat oven nate of soda butter, softened to 200°/Fan 180°/Gas Mark 6.  350g light  1 tsp ground  Cream butter and sugar with an electric whisk or muscovado sugar cardamom stand mixer until light and  50g caster sugar  Pinch of salt fluffy.  2 tsps vanilla  400g 70% dark  Add eggs and vanilla ex chocolate, tract and continue to beat extract chopped until fully combined.  350g plain flour  Sieve cocoa, flour, bicarb  2 Eggs  50g cocoa and cardamom into the mix powder Makes 16-18 cookies.

ture. Add a pinch of salt. Stir to combine. As it starts to come together add the chocolate chips and stir until you have a dough-like mixture.

The dough can be frozen at this point. Lay a sheet of baking paper flat and place the dough in a sausage shape along the middle of the paper. Use the paper to gently roll into a cylinder shape.

Tuck the ends in, wrap in

Rosehip mask, and a head, neck and shoulder massage. After, Vitamin C serum, Celluma LED light Therapy, along with a ten minute foot massage. Facial massage, manual lymphatic drainage, acupressure with an Oilixia explorer blend and more massage with gua sha tool.

After 60 minutes, my face felt refreshed and looked brighter.

Three weeks later, using the products Katie recommended, it’s still brighter and smoother.

REVIEW

BESPOKE BEAUTY TREATMENTS FOR YOUR SKIN Re:lax Skin Studio is Hackney’s best kept beauty secret. Katie White, the founder, works using a threepronged approach of topical treatments, nutritional therapy and lifestyle adjustments.

At her tranquil beauty salon, she has created an accredited course that teaches therapists (including all therapists at Re:lax) to work using this method. Katie knows that all skin has different

Helen Collier is a food writer, baker and co-owner of The Last Crumb Café in Stoke Newington thelastcrumb co.uk For Elaine’s writing workshops visit write-it-down.co.uk

needs. Her focus is your skin and what makes it individual.

Treatments are complement by a range of unique products such as Ren, Oilixia and Mad Hippie. She’s also religious about using facial sunblock daily to prevent ageing.

My facial started with a double cleanse using Mad Hippie Cleansing Oil and the Oilixia Gummy Cleanser. A quick steam followed by exfoliation with Ren AHA tonic, a Pat

cling film and freeze for up to 3 months. Just chop off discs as and when you need them and bake from frozen.  Drop tablespoons of cookie dough onto the baking sheet allowing for the fact that they will spread whilst baking.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. They will still be soft when you remove them from the oven.

Allow to cool a little on tray before removing.

Prices start from £80 for a 60 min facial.

Address: Y Unit 29, Gossamer Gardens, The Oval, E2 9FN Hackney Tel: 078 9114 2857 For further information visit relax-ldn.com

15% off all services at Re:lax Skin Studio with code RELAX15 for Hackney Magazine readers until 30th of September 2019.

~ Reiki Healing ~ A deep, soothing energy treatment that can help reduce stress, physical pain, depression and support the healing process

£45 for one hour (Reduced price applies when booking slots of 3s onwards)

Accredited Reiki Master

Elizabeth Nott Tel: 07852247775 elizabethnott23@gmail.com

South Hackney, London E9

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INTERVIEW

A blogger and her family on why they swapped Hackney living for Suffolk life

By Yasemin Cusack

H

How long have you been living in Hackney?

We have lived in stoke Newington N16 for 8 years. We picked to buy in Hackney as it was a great place to start a family - with everything we needed on our doorstep. It seemed to be a creative community with good schools and plenty of places to eat and find good coffee! It seemed to be the right area to invest in after being out priced in Islington and we had friends and family who also lived in the area.

Why did you buy your house in Hackney?

We struggled to secure a house when we looked in the area 8 years ago and actually had to move in with my in laws in order to be in with a better chance of securing a house.

We built up a good relationships with estate agents and were lucky to see a rare double fronted Victorian property in Stoke Newington before it even went on the open market - we snapped it up. We started with a double story side return (adding lots of light with big panels of glass at the back) and more 22 HACKNEY MAGAZINE

but we love renovations and interiors - a lot of it I will be sharing on my social media and blog.

Credit: Penny Wincer

ackney is one of those London boroughs where people live in their 20s and early 30s, and move out when they have children. 24,597 people moved out in 2018.

Stoke Newington resident, Emma Paton, 38, started a fashion and lifestyle blog and Instagram platform called Finlay Fox after stopping her career in fashion buying to have children. She’s married to music composer, Liam Paton, and they have two kids: Finn (6) and Violet (3). They have sold their Stoke Newington house and are moving to Suffolk.

Emma Paton recently added a loft extension.

Taking it from a 2 bed to a 5 bed house.

How was life living in Hackney? Your favourites?

We love Hackney! Our neighbourhood brunch fave is Esters and The Prince Pub. Also London Fields (where my husband has worked for 10+ years), Broadway Market, Clissold Park, Dalston Curve Garden, Lizzy’s on Newington Green, Meat N16, The gelato shop on Albion road. So many good independent shops.

We love that Stokey it has its own little village vibe going on yet you can still jump on a 73 and be in the depths of central London in 45 minutes.

Anything you might miss in Hackney?

We are going to miss the amazing neighbours and friends we made the most and Betty Layward school! Also being able to stroll to Clissold Park in 5 minutes and have good coffee so close! Also uber! We will also miss having family nearby. We will miss the amazing authentic Turkish (Testi and Cirrik) and Vietnamese

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(Kingland road) restaurants on our doorstep.

Why did you decide to move outside of London?

For more space, less pollution, a lifestyle change and a new adventure!

Why did you decide to move to Suffolk?

We took ages to find the area we wanted to live in. We always thought we would buy a plot of land and build a house but instead we found an interesting property that needed some love in a small village (that a Hackney friend had also recently moved to) - with an incredible pub only a few doors down. This seemed to be the better option for next steps of moving out of London with young kids.

Not too remote and somewhere with a village school and community vibe still. We can both work from home which means we will only have to occasionally come into London. We will need to build my husband a music studio in the garden!

It will be a bit of a project (a grade 2 listed property that will come with many challenges!)

Was it a tough selling and buying process?

Yes and No. The selling was easy - it went over asking price within the first week of viewings, the house is in a very popular area with good schools in the catchment area. We used The Modern House estate agents as they were so positive about the market, who have been excellent and really take that extra step in selling your property.

The buying part was harder and the chain was very complicated and it got very stressful, especially as we had to try and tie in and agree the completion date so that it would work with my son starting a new school in September. Honestly the whole experience was really emotionally testing having a young family in tow and we realise how bad the system is here.

Any tips?

If you’re thinking of relocating do as much research as you can - schools, pubs, the commute, the people! Really think about what is important to you and how much you are willing to take on.

Also make sure you get a good solicitor! We are getting a removal company to pack our house up for us - a bit of a cost but everyone we have spoken to has said it makes the move much less stressful.

Tell us about your new area?

It’s a small village in south Suffolk with lots of grade 2 listed buildings and beautiful countryside. Bury st Edmunds is not too far and a really lovely market town. We are looking forward to exploring and being much closer to the beaches of Southwold and Aldeborough.

Emma Paton |

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