Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3

+ Martin Gettings on a BREEAM rating to salute Page 7

Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

inside issue 38

Migrateful - Soap & Glory - Face Masks NipNip - Clarence Court Eggs - Biang - Harbour Central Cinnamon Coffee Shop - Community Development Panel Pontoon Reach - Expressway - Project Hope - Cody Dock BrewLDN - Hybrid Fitness - My London Home - Vertus Chris Ezekiel - David Lefevbre Sell - Puzzles

right the

care

how Pure Sports Medicine’s multi-disciplinary team is structured to deliver the best possible outcome for its patients Page 8

celebrating the best of Canary Wharf, Docklands and the new east London people - events - treasure - property - foolishness

Image by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

Fast, affordable, conveyancing services Call our team on 020 7205 4021 or email rthethy@kiddrapinet.co.uk, ypatel@kiddrapinet.co.uk or mzvarykina@kiddrapinet.co.uk

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

read

feast your eyes on these

four focus

support your local institutions ONLINE Peloton Cabot Place

Welcome to the February issue of Wharf Life. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information about any events featured, but please check with the organisers as things can change quickly in lockdown.

Stay safe and support local businesses

06

EXERCISE | Virtual Consultation Even though the store is currently closed, spin fitness brand Peloton is offering virtual consultations for those looking to boost their fitness at home.

Ongoing, daily, free, onepeloton.co.uk

Why you need a long, spiced string of pulled rice noodles

READ Canary Wharf Across the estate

TOUCHLESS | Short Story Stations Now with hands-free functionality, the tale printers are worth a stop if you’re on the Wharf. Expect a love-based story until February for V-Day. Ongoing, canarywharf.com ONLINE Canary Wharf Virtual

DYE | Natural Tie-Dye At Home Canary Wharf Group has teamed up with Heaps + Stacks for an online workshop designed to give clothes a new lease of life using natural pigments.

Until Mar 31, canarywharf.com

eat up

NipNip offers a free bike safety check to give riders peace of mind

get your ride sorted at NipNip

W

ith lockdown still in full effect and more transmissible variants of Covid-19 in circulation in the population, maintaining social distancing should be high on everyone’s agenda.

Wolford, £30 ideally avoiding public That means transport as much as possible.

Travelling by bike offers numerous benefits in terms of health and fitness, it’s good for the environment and, even on a chilly day, is a great way to experience east London and Docklands with lots of cycle paths and parks to explore.

But how do you ensure the bike you bought in the first lockdown remains fit for purpose?

A good place to start is a visit to the Canary Wharf branch of NipNip, where mechanics are offering free safety checks to pick up small problems before they turn into large, expensive repairs.

The brand also offers free courtesy bikes and same-day servicing and repairs to eliminate off-road time.

The company also offers collection and mobile servicing if people are unable to get to one of its hubs.

In-store servicing starts at £35 for a bronze level package with silver and gold options at £55 and £125.

Work typically takes 20 minutes.

Go to nipnip.co.uk for more information or to make a booking

sign up here to get Wharf Life’s free fortnightly e-edition and newsletter Get yourself down to Canary Riverside, where Gaucho is selling a range of takeaway dishes for around £10. Expect plenty of steak on the menu as well as empanadas and churros (for those who must have something sweet) gauchorestaurants.com Scan this code for more information about Gaucho or to place an order for delivery or collection want more? @wharflifelive

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10

Pure Sports Medicine on offering a wide range of treatments

Food for the soul learning to cook with Migrateful’s classes

the joy of six Every issue Wharf Life covers six areas surrounding Canary Wharf to bring you the best of what’s going on beyond the estate From Page 12

get in touch

correct us

Editorial email info@wharf-life.com call 07765 076 300 Advertising email jess.maddison@wharf-life.com call 07944 000 144

Our editorial team works hard to ensure all information printed in Wharf Life is truthful and accurate. Should you spot any errors that slip through the net or wish to raise any issues about the content of the publication, please get in touch and we will investigate

Go to wharf-life.com for more information

Email info@wharf-life.com

we want to hear from you

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

3

Canary Wharf

on the radar

doing the deals

get more for less in and around the Wharf

need to know

40%

In unlikely news the Lewis Hamilton-backed chain Neat Burger is reportedly set to open a branch in Canary Wharf in April as it races to roll out across London.

Offering vegan food, will it be able to compete with plant-based powerhouse Vurger Co? neat-burger.com

32 For all those wondering what’s going on at 30 South Colonnade, real estate firm Quadrant is in the process of transforming it into YY London – a fully refurbished office space of 408,000sq ft plus cafe, restaurant and retail spaces quadrantestates.com

In need of a new handbag? Kate Spade New York, which has a branch in Canary Wharf’s Jubilee Place, is currently offering big reductions on its stock katespade.co.uk

38

BrewLDN gears up for a festival in May and launches a beer shop

Cody Dock gets more than £1m towards its reactivation programme

£100

30

Get one-on-one personal training now on the Isle Of Dogs with Hybrid Fitness, as the brand prepares to open a gym and studio complex over three floors later this year

Or £130 with wine, Iberica is offering a Valentine’s meal for two including indulgent tapas and scarlet prawn rice. Pre-order from February 4 ibericarestaurants.com

Do you live or work in Poplar or the Isle of Dogs? Would you like to have your say on new developments and community assets?

Frame Projects is working on behalf of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to recruit members for the borough’s first ever Community Development Panel. The Panel will comment and give feedback on development plans in the Isle of Dogs & South Poplar (IoD&SP).

Join the Community Development Panel for the Isle of Dogs & South Poplar

We are looking for people with an interest in their local area who have a strong understanding of community needs and want to help shape development and change within the IoD&SP, and would be willing to give their views in a group setting.

If you’d be interested in joining the Panel or learning more, please send an email to community@frame-projects.co.uk, or call Frame on 020 3971 6167.

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

verb, fake, from Latin

lenity

noun, real, from Old French We all need a bit of lenity in our lives – it’s the quality of being mild or gentle towards others.

Try to cultivate it in yourself, especially when a castigrator has entered the room and is holding forth on their favourite subject

Accessorize

Blue Hour London

To waste time by moaning constantly about how much time one is wasting in lockdown three and how much that is getting on one’s nerves in a way that’s totally different to lockdown one or lockdown two

Edy & Bridge, £3.50

castigrate

Tailor & Forge

words you don’t know you need

style it

write me

H

ow do you feel about wearing a face mask? I hated it at first, it steamed up my glasses. But things can take time to get used to and I’m finding it’s not so bad now. Throw away the disposable itchy blue surgical face coverings and there’s a chance to make a fashion statement too.

Fashion and lifestyle retailers have jumped at the chance to support efforts to fight the pandemic and shore up their businesses at the same time. So, with the aim of supporting firms, I hit the shops online to find the best products available locally. ● Check out Tailor & Forge – a boutique based in Greenwich Market. The store’s hemp fabric masks cost £14.95 and are naturally antibacterial. tailorandforge.com ● Independent fashion brand Edy & Bridge in Deptford offers great value masks from £2 (if you don’t mind one side being in a festive print). Order online and the pieces will be delivered to your home with a personalised handwritten note thanking you for the purchase. edyandbridge.com ● Founded by designer Lauren Clowes, Bethnal Greenbased Blue Hour London is selling beautiful handmade snow leopard and leopard-print masks for £12. bluehourlondon.co.uk ● If the dreaded “maskne” (acne caused by mask wearing – get with the programme) is an issue for you, give the pure silk face coverings at Accessorize a whirl.

These start at £7 and silk is said to be gentler and more breathable on the skin, at least according to New York dermatologist Dr Dendy Engleman, who coined the term.

Accessorize stores at Canada Place and Westfield Stratford City are closed for browsing, but nationwide delivery is available. accessorize.com

Help your loved ones to help you kiddrapinet.co.uk/understandinganlpa

You can’t control what the future holds, but you can control who makes decisions on your behalf.

Download our FREE guide to MAKING A LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY (LPA) Book a consultation with Tatiana Zenia today on 020 7925 0303 or email tzenia@kiddrapinet.co.uk

Lastly, if anyone reading this has found a face mask that doesn’t steam your glasses up, please get in touch – that’s the holy grail.

Natasha Maddison @pazzanatasha on Insta

treat yourself top ingredients

Old Cotswold Legbar Eggs (large) Clarence Court, Waitrose, Canada Place, £2.90 (6) As sure as eggs is eggs – nobody knows the origin of the phrase but make no mistake, it’s inaccurate.

Examine the top shelf products in the egg section of Canary Wharf’s Waitrose and you’ll find these beauties. Pale blue on the outside, inside you’ll find yolks of a deep, rich yellow. Crack one into a bowl alongside an egg from a lower shelf and you’ll see why trading up isn’t an absurd luxury but a love letter to your body.

There’s a lockdown on, after all, the premium for price isn’t excessive and you probably deserve something a bit special, whether boiled, scrambled or whipped into an omelette. Just make sure you select your box carefully – with great yolks comes great fragility of shell.

Jon Massey

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

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skin deep

Canary Wharf

tester kit

Soap & Glory, Boots, Canada Place or Jubilee Place, from £8 What are we testing here?

With limited stores open in Canary Wharf I’ve zoomed in on Boot’s cheery, in-house range Soap & Glory – namely, Face Soap & Clarity Vitamin C Facial Wash (£8), Puffy Eye Attack Turbo-Boost Hydragel (£12.50) and Speed Plump AllDay Moisturiser (£13).

refreshing, fruity smell that suggests health, while the eye cream is nondescript.

What are they for?

Part of your skincare routine or prep for make up – a face wash, an eye cream and a moisturiser.

I want to see if the colourful packaging, elaborate names and smiling vintage girls deliver.

First impressions?

While I’m a Soap & Glory fan, I’m worried the tiny pink beads in the facial wash won’t do much for the environment – am I going to be washing small, damaging pieces of plastic down the plughole just so I can have something pretty on the sink?

Boots’ website reassures – the specks are biodegradable wax, so full points.

The moisturiser has a vaguely

How does it perform?

The facial wash removes all make up and leaves my skin soft and smooth – just beware pink microbeads in your hair.

The eye cream feels like little cucumber slices over my eyes (actually one of the ingredients), while the moisturiser extends the cooling effect to the rest of my face.

Of the three products Mary tried, the eye cream was her favourite

The verdict?

I’m sold on the eye cream – a week on and my fine lines are reduced. I like how smooth the facial soap makes my skin feel too, although I’d prefer something with a bit more of a moisture boost.

Fortunately, the moisturiser is great, perfect for cooling down after a session in the (home) gym. All in all, this range lives up to its fun and light-hearted image – and we could all do with a bit of a lift right now.

Go to boots.com Mary Tadpole

BIKE SERVICING

AND REPAIRS CANARY WHARF | BOROUGH | TOWER BRIDGE

Book online a t nipnip.co.uk

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

£7.50

The cost of stir fry egg and tomato biang biang noodle at Wharf Kitchen

Scan this code for more on Biang Right, the potent, toothsome soup of a stir fry from Biang, below

it might not be pretty, but there’s nothing else quite like Biang

GRAYSON PHOTOS INTERIORS - PORTRAITS - LANDSCAPES CORPORATE - PUBLIC RELATIONS - CHARITY DISTINCTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY IN DOCKLANDS & EAST LONDON

by Jon Massey

O

CREATING IMAGES THAT STAND OUT INFO@MATTGRAYSON.CO.UK CALL 07790 775 981 GRAYSONPHOTOS.CO.UK

n a chilly winter’s day, there’s no doubt what Canary Wharf needs is a big spicy bowl of noodles from Biang.

Quite unlike anything else currently available on the estate, the latest opening in Jubilee Place boasts a high-powered menu based on Xi’an street food dishes built around hand pulled noodles.

Descend to the mall’s lowest floor and you’ll find staff stretching out these thick ribbons with almost casual expertise.

I order the veggie option of stir fry egg and tomato with biang biang noodle for what seems like a costly £7.50. And the cardboard bowl the dish arrives in seems half full on opening, the visible portion of its bare walls coated with beads of condensation.

But to get overly critical

about the look of the dish would be to miss the point.

What’s important here is the miscellaneous melange of beansprouts, pak choi and scrambled eggs sit in a bath of deeply spiced, rich broth that serves as home to that long, firm snake of a noodle.

Warming, tongue-tickling, it’s a wonderful beast that demands to be devoured.

It’s not a pretty dish to look at or consume, but what it lacks in presentational finesse, it more than makes up for in flavour. Slurp away.

our verdict

eaten outside on the Wharf Quality Quantity Price Overall Star ratings are Wharf Life’s opinion and are in no way robust or scientific

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

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Canary Wharf

10m getting greener

by Martin Gettings

D

id you know Canary Wharf is one of the most certified sustainable urban districts in the UK? We were early adopters of a sustainable certification called BREEAM back in 1998 and have since achieved environmental certification on more than 10million sq ft of office and retail space.

We continue to push the boundaries by going well beyond the requirements of legislation.

In 2020 we delivered 1.2million sq ft of BREEAM Outstanding space, the highest rating possible, at One And Five Bank Street, making it one of the largest buildings to achieve that ranking of its class in the world.

Its Energy Performance Certificate was A-rated, similar to the EPC on your kitchen appliances at home.

What’s more, we are now targeting BREEAM Outstanding rated buildings and even public spaces at our new district – Wood Wharf – as well.

So why is this certification important? Achieving high levels of environmental certification is a key part of our sustainability strategy, providing a way to measure and communicate our performance and provide very clear instructions to what is expected to be delivered by design and construction teams throughout the development process.

BREEAM, which stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, offers certification of both public spaces and buildings.

BREEAM-rated developments are more sustainable places because they follow a very thorough set of criteria that ensures the project actively enhances climate resilience and the wellbeing of people that live and work in them, which is essential.

BREEAM helps project teams to stay on track with delivering sustainability under pressure, making sure that agreed targets are safeguarded as the design evolves and construction work gets underway.

Sometimes good intentions on the drawing board don’t make it onto site, but BREEAM takes care of that.

To achieve certification, each project must adhere to detailed requirements that guide project teams across a range of criteria, namely community engagement, health and wellbeing, energy efficiency, air quality and biodiversity.

Reduction of waste, pollution and water use are also key categories in a BREEAM assessment.

All are independently checked by experts at the design stage, throughout construction and after the project is completed.

This way, the good intentions at design stage make it through to completion. The specifics of certifica-

Square footage of office and retail space certified by BREEAM on the Canary Wharf estate

A BREEAM assessment means experts checking the sustainability of a scheme at the design stage, during construction and after works have been completed

One And Five Bank Street, above, is certified as BREEAM Outstanding and is A-rated on its Energy Performance Certificate

every keeping watch at

stage of development

“

Next time you walk past a building on the Wharf, spare a thought for all the hard work that is going into making sure that every square foot of development is as sustainable as it can be Martin Gettings, Canary Wharf Group

tion may vary from project to project because all projects are different, but this robust verification process is the same no matter if you’re building a skyscraper or a single-storey home.

Therefore, when a completed building achieves its certification, it is a cause for celebration for the entire development team.

So next time you walk past a building site on the Wharf, spare a thought for all the hard work that is going into making sure that every square foot of development is as sustainable as it can be.

To get in touch with our team to hear more about our sustainability programme, please email us via sustainability@canarywharf.com

Martin Gettings is group head of sustainability at Canary Wharf Group Go to canarywharf.com or breakingtheplastichabit.co.uk Scan this code for more information on sustainability in Canary Wharf

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

10

Years, this year, since Pure Sports Medicine opened in Canary Wharf – the brand now has seven clinics

how Pure Sports Medicine provides healthcare across a range of disciplines to achieve the best outcome for clients

by Jon Massey

G

et it checked out”.

Adam Goode is unequivocal in his advice to those in pain. Whether it’s discomfort in the back from working long hours at home, an injury from daily exercise in lockdown or simply a crick in the neck, Pure Sports Medicine’s Swiss Army knife of services is here to help.

With seven clinics across London, including an extensive suite of treatment rooms and gym spaces in Canary Wharf’s Cabot Place, the company’s multi-disciplinary approach means it’s capable of tackling a plethora of problems with a wide range of tools. As medical facilities, the brand’s sites remain open in lockdown with strict safety measures in place, including medical grade PPE. As group clinical manager, Adam oversees operations at three of Pure Sports Medicine’s branches.

He said: “In the first lockdown, we had loads of people who had to delay treatment for their conditions and had larger issues and problems develop as a result.

“Our message is to get in touch if you have an injury. Sometimes people don’t want to travel – that’s absolutely fine and understandable, given the circumstances.

“We can offer them a virtual consultation during which we can do the majority of things we need to for an assessment and get people on a positive footing and a path to recovery. We are also comfortable with people simply emailing in with questions.

“Things are different to the first lockdown in March when nobody knew how to approach operating as a healthcare provider.

“As a medical facility we are allowed to open and we reassure our staff and patients that the risk assessments and positive procedures we have in place – the checks that we do – are very robust.”

Pure Sports Medicine, which opened its Canary Wharf branch in 2011, brings a large number of

Scan this code for more information on Pure Sports Medicine

clinicians together under a single umbrella with the aim of offering its clients the most effective treatment possible.

“We have the same level of approach and breadth and quality of staff as a professional sports team to optimise people’s lifestyles, whether that’s dealing with injuries, performance or general health and well-being.,” said Adam who spent more than a decade working for the NHS in musculoskeletal health at the Royal London Hospital.

“Our team is wide and varied, from sports doctors, including physiotherapists, osteopaths, soft tissue therapists and nutritionists to instructors, coaches and podiatrists.

“We all work together to engage with clients, whether they’ve been referred to us or have been told about us by people they know.

“Our job is to plan that person’s recovery, to optimise it, to get them as good as they can be, as quickly as possible.

“We’ll do that through a combination of treatments and approaches from clinicians in our team, as appropriate to the case.

That’s what sets us apart really – we are the most comprehensive offering in the UK to have all those services under one roof.

“People can access our services at any point. They might come to the soft tissue therapists or myself as a physiotherapist, as a first port of call. The first assessment is to assess what the problem is, and then outline a treatment plan.

“That may well include more diagnoses, where we bring the doctors in, use ultrasound scanning, for example, and then offer treatments, that might include injections, or a secondary referral to our orthopaedic partners.

“We work with surgeons and that can be a two-way street – we send patients to them for a surgical input and they send patients to us who they feel don’t need surgery, or are recovering from it.

“It could be something that’s acute, such as a sprained ankle or a sporting injury such as a twisted knee in football. It could be something that is slow onset, such as, in lockdown, neck pain, lumbar and lower back pain.

“In the first lockdown we saw a number of people with run-related injuries, and those sorts of injuries are often a function of or a change in the activity. Those problems have continued through last year.

“We have had a large number of

heal Image by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

helping to

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

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Canary Wharf

That’s what sets us apart really – we are the most comprehensive offering in the UK to have all those services under one roof Adam Goode, Pure Sports Medicine

postures, but it’s primarily about extremes of movement and posture. If, along the way, we then change their habits and their day-to-day routines, by putting in some structures, that’s the positive thing that people actually need.”

C Above, Pure Sports Medicine has extensive facilities to help its clients recover from injuries

A wide range of treatments are available at the Canary Wharf facility, which operates in a risk-assessed, Covid-secure manner

new runners, or people increasing the amount of running, which can result in a range of injuries to the chilles tendon, lower ankle injuries or knee problems. “ s a company, we ve always seen a number of desk-related problems and we’re now seeing more of those, but issues that differ slightly from the norm. “ eople will still be suffering from lower back pain, shoulder pain and neck pain but these seem to be centred on the desk settings at home.

“They are largely related to inactivity and a lack of movement.

Being crouched over your desk at home is no different from being crouched over your desk at the o ce, but at work, you have the commute and lots of natural breaks where you’re walking 10 or 15 yards – a distance not normally available at home.

“The old saying in physiotherapy is: ‘Your next posture is your best posture’. If you stand for long periods of time, you will get as many problems as if you sit for long periods of time.

“Neither is bad, but the measure of the balance between the two is key. For people at home, we try to get people into a neutral posture when they are sitting.

“We would review their desk

ovid-19 is the health issue on most people’s minds right now and, in addition to offering virtual services, Pure Sports Medicine has also developed a programme to help those still dealing with ongoing symptoms after contracting the disease.

“Long Covid is a very complex issue, and it affects everybody in different ways, said dam.

“Our programme looks to assess where people are in their recovery from a bout of Covid, how that has in uenced them, whether psychologically or via cardio-respiratory distress – do they have fatigue-type symptoms, or muscular issues?

“Long Covid is not just a respiratory issue, there’s the psychology of it and the weakness. Dealing with it takes specialist provision and planning for a safe, functional return.

“The vaccine has been developed so quickly because there’s a lot of collaboration at the moment. lot of time and effort are being invested in understanding these conditions. We have nearly a year’s worth of data already to go on and we have a number of fingers in a number of pies at the moment to do with healthcare forums – we are party to the developments on the medical treatments.

“It’s an area that’s really going to be evolving and that’s why we’re in a really good place to in uence people positively if they are suffering.

Prices for treatment vary depending on the service provided but include an hour’s strength and conditioning one-to-one for £98 or Pilates for £85. Other services include massage therapy and diet and nutrition programmes. n initial, minute consultation with Pure Sports Medicine medical director and consultant rheumatologist Dr John Etherington, for those suffering with Long Covid, costs £260.

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

virtual viewpoint

by Chris Ezekiel

by Jon Massey

O Will you know whether you’re conversing with a person or a machine in the future?

W

hat does the future look like for chatbots?

At Creative Virtual, our artificial intelligence-powered conversational chatbots (V-Person) are able to converse with users in a highly personalised way across all channels – even completing transactions.

They are also deployed within contact centres as virtual contact centre agents, listening into conversations and advising humans on the best answer or next best action. The most effective deployments are where the AI and humans work in harmony to provide the best possible customer experience. In 2021 and beyond, as such conversational chatbots and humans become even more integrated, the line between people and machines will become even more blurred.

AI-based chatbots will become an integral part of all the interactions we have with some companies, and the organisation and customer will not even have to think about the distinction.

The days of separate channels and disparate conversations are numbered. Contact will become one continAI-based chatbots uous, personalised interaction. will become an Chatbots will also integral part of all grow in popularity outside of customer the interactions service. We will have our own personal we have with some systems to take care companies of life’s mundane Chris Ezekiel, Creative Virtual operations. They will be having conversations with our friends (or their chatbots) when we’re sleeping. They will be ultra-connected via the internet of things, from fridges to chairs. They will extend our personal capabilities to 24/7.

There are dangers though. Today, we see instances where people are not sure if they’re communicating with a person or bot. Imagine a world where we’re not sure if we’re talking to a loved one or their chatbot.

Could this be the tipping point where machines become more human and people become immortal?

“

Chris Ezekiel is founder and CEO of customer engagement solutions specialist Creative Virtual based at West India Quay’s Cannon Workshops Scan this code for more information about Creative Virtual or follow @creativevirtual and @chrisezekiel on Twitter

ne of the few pleasures to be found in lockdown is cooking. But where to get fresh ideas? Fortunately Canary Wharf Group has teamed up with culinary social enterprise Migrateful to solve this problem, offering a quintet of recipe cards available to download online until the end of March.

Founded in 2017 by Jess Thompson, the charity runs cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants struggling to integrate and get jobs.

While based in Brixton, the idea for Migrateful came while Jess was working with refugee women in Tower Hamlets and, before the pandemic, the charity hosted sold-out sessions in Canary Wharf for those living or working locally.

Jess said: “It started when I was running a skills exchange project with them.

“The women were all very qualified but were unemployed because their qualifications didn t count in this country and there were language barriers.

“I asked everyone in the group to name a skill they would like to share with their community. All of them said they d be happy to teach people to cook because that was something they felt confident doing.

“In that room there were women from all over the world, so I was sure there were lots of people in this country who would love to learn how to cook their amazing cuisines.” the right ingredients “We take our chefs through a four-to-six month training programme to train them to become professional cookery class teachers,” said Jess.

“They then go on to teach our customers. The idea was this would be a platform for them to go on and get other work that they d be more confident and their level of English would have improved. Also it was to get them out of isolation and to help their mental health.

Scan this code for more info on Migrateful

fed the grateful

how cooking a Migrateful recipe or taking part in one of its classes can break the grind of lockdown and support refugees in the UK

“There s also the benefit to our customers who attend the cookery classes – that helps address negative perceptions of migration in the UK – seeing it as something really to be celebrated. It was a way to support refugees in feeling welcome in this country and we d started running cookery classes in person all over London before the pandemic.” going digital Jess said: “Since the pandemic, we ve pivoted to online classes. It s actually been a real success story for the organisation.

“We re running twice as many classes as we were before the pandemic, on oom, and we re often sold out. The lockdown has really

Migrateful gives refugees, asylum seekers and migrants a chance to share their culinary skills

Jess Thompson founded the social enterprise in 2017

helped our sales because everybody is cooking at home and it s a nice way for people to link up with friends and family in different homes.

“We normally have about 12 participants in a class – the refugee chefs will take them through the steps and tell them stories about their country.” how it works “Customers get sent the list of ingredients before the class and the chef then goes through the recipe step-bystep,” said Jess. “ veryone s cooking the

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

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Canary Wharf

12

Participants typically take part in an online cookery class from Migrateful

learn to cook

Adas - Red Lentils With Berberé Pepper

O

Migrateful’s chefs take part in extensive training before going on to host cookery classes – now available online

We’re running twice as many classes as we were before the pandemic, on Zoom, and we’re often sold out – everybody is cooking at home Jess Thompson, Migrateful

same thing and there are stories that are told about different ingredients. It s a great thing for family and friends to do if they can t be together physically.

“We re currently working on building our own cookery school in arringdon.

“That should be open in une and we re hoping, as people transition back to normal life, we ll be able to run our own classes there. away from the classroom Those who don t wish to participate in a class which cost . per device can download any or all of the five recipes from anary Wharf s website. ooks can try their hands at moutabal yrian aubergine dip a smoky dip ideal with atbread by chef a eda.

There s also a hmed s rkakat ebneh ebanese cheese pastries, lahe s kashk o badem an Iranian aubergine dip and kuku Iranian herb frittata and, lastly, Helen s darho ritrean spicy chicken.

The recipes are accompa nied by the chef s story and images of them teaching classes for igrateful.

impact assessment “I think a big benefit is the sense of community, said ess, who has spent much of her career working with refugees in the UK and overseas. “ ll the chefs know each other well from going through the training programme together. “ lso, all the people they get to meet at the classes help them to feel much more connected to the country they are in. “ oming to the UK as a refugee, I think you feel like you re having to plead with the overnment for help from a very vulnerable position.

“In our cookery classes, our chefs are the leaders the people teaching the group. It s a nice way to ip the power dynamic. “ t present, around of refugees in the UK are unemployed despite usually being more qualified than the average ritish person so this is also intended to be a way to get them into employment.

“The refugee crisis is very close to our front door and I founded igrateful because I was interested in how a business idea could address social problems in the UK. “That was why I started to think how a social enterprise could tackle some of the issues refugees were facing here. nline classes are currently booking up to ebruary , with more announced weekly.

ne of Eritrea’s most popular vegan dishes, adas, packs a punch. Even the most devoted carnivores won’t miss the meat in this one. The magic ingredient is berberé pepper, Eritrea’s famous spice mixture that forms the foundation of the country’s cuisine.

Any substitute really won’t do justice to the dish and berberé can be found in any Ethiopian or Eritrean food store.

If these kind of shops aren’t available locally, you can make your own by combining roughly one part of each of the following spices – all toasted lightly and ground – allspice, cumin, coriander, garlic, cardamom, cloves, fenugreek, ginger, black pepper and salt plus five parts hot red chilli pepper.

Adas has a pretty serious chilli kick so, if that’s not your thing, either reduce the amount of shop bought berberé you add to the dish or limit the amount of chilli in your home-made mix.

Ingredients Serves 8 Cooking time - 40 minutes 500g red lentils 6 red onions, finely chopped 200ml sunflower or vegetable oil 5 tbsp berberé 1 bulb of garlic, crushed 1 thumb size piece of ginger - peeled, crushed 6 tomatoes, finely chopped 1 small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

1 large sprig of rosemary 1 tbsp salt 3 green chillies, sliced in half lengthwise Method Wash the lentils and add to a pan with plenty of water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until cooked.

In a large pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the onions for about 10 minutes or until soft.

Add the berberé, garlic and ginger, tomatoes, parsley, rosemary, salt and 300ml water and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the cooked lentils and cook, stirring continuously for a further 10 minutes.

Add the green chillies and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve warm with Injera (this fermented flat bread can be ordered online or made fresh at home (check the net for recipes).

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

Wapping - Limehouse - Shadwell

£2.50

The cost of a chunk of rocky road at Cinnamon Coffee Shop, best served with a pain au chocolat and a cup of English Breakfast tea Cinnamon Coffee Shop in Wapping is a welcome sight on a grey day

four focus

support your local institutions ONLINE Half Moon Theatre Limehouse

KIDS | Winter Warmer Festival Storytelling, body percussion and crafts – Half Moon starts 2021 with a succession of videos designed to get everyone warm and toasty on a frosty night.

Mar 7, anytime, free, halfmoon.org.uk

treats finding the

why a trip to Cinnamon Coffee Shop is a breath of fresh air

by Jon Massey

T

oo long has the tyranny of the supermarket-bought pain au chocolat been allowed to stand. Even in lockdown there must be some relief from the tired, stodgy bite of an unloved pastry, chilled in a lonely warehouse before being shoved in a quick-cook oven with little care.

Is the trip to a local cafe essential? I say it is. I mean, there’s no need to be an idiot – socially distance, wear a mask, sanitise your hands. But also get outside your home, have a walk and spend a few quid supporting a local business.

Wapping s innamon offee Shop seduced me the other day – it s staff busily preparing food and drinks in the warm yellow glow of their little shop.

It was raining (of course) and chilly and, it is a truth universally accepted that when such conditions pertain during a national lockdown, the purchase of dual

sweet treats for breakfast is an acceptable course of action.

But how to choose? Would it be a pecan and walnut slice, honeycomb ti n or vegan banana bread?

How about a slice of lemon and blueberry loaf, a slab of vegan brownie or a hunk of caramel shortbread to go with my pain au chocolat – the latter being non-negotiable?

The weather was so poor, only one thing would do – an enormous lump of rocky road for £2.50.

I’m quite aware this sweet treat – which has something Looney Tunes about its name – is a thuggy, unsophisticated snack when compared to its more refined brethren.

But there’s something about a slice indecently packed with marshmallows, little boulders of

biscuit and the odd piece of dried fruit that turbo-charges the body’s response. It’s a drug.

Not only is the chocolate mouth-watering, the sheer density of the sugar rush is a wave worth riding in the morning. Just make sure you have lots of things to do.

And what of the pain in my heart (see what I did there?). Well, it was crisp and fine on the outside and wonderfully light within.

Warmed up it was head and shoulders above the pale imitation Tesco sold me the other day and, for a few pence more it came with the warm fuzzy feeling of helping out an independent establishment and the ruddy ush of cheek that fresh air brings. Go.

Scan this code for more about Cinnamon Coffee Shop in Wapping

TAKEAWAY Urban Baristas Wapping

TRY | A Coffee So cool, this cafe can charge a premium for its avocados and not even blink. Great brews though from this brand inspired by Aussie brunch culture.

Open daily, urbanbaristas.co.uk ONLINE Tower Bridge St Katherine Docks

JOIN | Further Along The Thames Zoom with Heritage And Arts as the group leads a virtual tour in the vicinity of London’s most famous bridge including a spell in St Katherine Docks Feb 25, 6pm, £10, heritageandarts.com

go explore

There’s still plenty of time during lockdown for a musical stroll. From Cable Street To Bethnal Green takes a route through east London to the strains of the Grand Union Orchestra. Get those headphones, hunt the QR codes grandunion.org.uk Scan this code for an interactive map of the trail’s East End route, starting in Limehouse want more? @wharflifelive

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

29

Creative Space

this space is yours

working from home or in the office? take a break for some colouring in – share it with @wharflifelive or #keepittoyourself

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

mix it’s all in the

3

Floors of dedicated exercise space that Hybrid will be operating on the Isle Of Dogs

how Hybrid Fitness is looking to put its own slant on the perfect recipe for combining a gym with studio spaces

by Jon Massey

W

hen other people are zigging, I’m zagging,” said Matt Payne.

The managing director and owner of Hybrid Fitness – set to open fully on the Isle Of Dogs when the pandemic permits – is a man who sees opportunity, even as the sector he works in is reeling from the impact of forced closures.

Having launched his franchise, he’s busy working to establish it.

There are deals to be done and gyms to be opened.

But Matt is no maverick chancer.

Having started out in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, he moved into the management side of things, opening sites for PureGym and spearheading the arrival of Russian brand Alex Fitness in the capital.

“There’s so much behind the scenes,” he said. “A million things go into opening a gym that no-one ever sees. That’s what I do and what I know.

“I started at PureGym in about 2011 as a regional manager.

In those days everyone did everything – it was all hands on deck.

“As the company grew, I moved into a more managerial role, so I got to understand the full scope of taking a derelict site or a plan on a piece of paper right the way through lease negotiations and planning, then build, cost control and project management through to the point of opening a club.”

It was, coupled with his expertise as a personal trainer, the ideal foundation for when the opportunity to start Hybrid arose.

It was also Matt’s opportunity to put his own spin on things and come up with a fresh concept.

“Putting my PT head on, I love boutique fitness studios they re fantastic but they’re quite exclusive

and I want to be inclusive,” he said. “When I was working on the concept for Hybrid, it didn’t have a name – I was just working out how it could be structured.

“When you plan a gym, you usually identify what equipment you need and whatever space is left over becomes the studios.

“We do it the other way round – we start with the studios.

That enables us to sell both gym memberships, which gives us recurring revenue, as well as individual studio sessions like boutique operations.

“It’s a very similar product but at a lower price because it’s subsidised by a large commercial gym.

“To keep the costs down we strip out a lot of stuff our model is very much people come to do a workout, achieve what they came to achieve, have a shower and go home. We have fridges and vending, but we don’t have large areas for people to sit down.”

L

ocated at Harbour Central’s Stratus Point in Harbour Way, Hybrid’s Isle Of Dogs facility promises three oors of studio space, kitted out with Matrix gym equipment.

Classes will include combat-based sessions, strength and conditioning, HIIT and cycle workouts.

A range of membership options will be available, with clients also able to attend studio sessions via booking app ClassPass.

Matt said: “I’ve spent my life in gyms, but I still feel intimidated walking into some of them. We want to be friendly and inclusive.

“At our core on the studio side is strength and conditioning and that involves a range of classes from beginner level through to Olympic lifting. “ nother bit part of our offering is combat, which also follows the hybrid concept – it’s not one thing. We don’t just do boxing, we

Matt Payne’s vision is to build a friendly, inclusive fitness brand that offers the quality of boutique fitness studios as well as gym membership

How the gym space will look when Hybrid is up and running

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

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Isle Of Dogs - Poplar - Blackwall

personal training

We’ve got the opportunity to do some outside training so that’s why we’ve launched this.

It’s a way of keeping our message going

trying a one-on-one session in lockdown

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support your local institutions ONLINE Poplar Union Poplar

Matt Payne, Hybrid Fitness

offer iu itsu and then we ll have specialists and guest instructors come in. “ ersonal training is also a massive part of what we do.

Having run my own business in that area for years I do have an a nity with the Ts, whereas a lot of gyms treat them like second class citi ens.

“Here they re the main guys. ome of them come and teach for us, but not for free we re not like some gyms where they have to take exercise sessions ust to work there.

“I don t believe you get good classes that way. These are the people who teach our members, who speak to them on a regular basis and are role models for them.

C

urrent lockdown restrictions mean gyms nationwide are closed, but one on one personal training sessions are allowed, provided they take place outside.

The design of the building where Hybrid is based means the brand has access to an outdoor area, sheltered from the rain.

Having already recruited a team of personal trainers, the club is currently offering one off taster sessions for , designed as an introduction to what it s able to offer until lockdown rules are eased. or those who are a little more serious about their training, blocks of sessions are available for as its ome ack tronger package and at each include access to a full suite of gym equipment. att said: “We ve got the opportunity to do some outside training, and we ve got a really good relationship with alliard the landlords, so that s why we ve launched this.

“While we re not able to open, it s a way of keeping our message going and a way to keep the personal trainers engaged until we can launch properly.

Scan this code for more information about Hybrid Fitness

RECORDING | The Breakup Monologues Comedian Rosie Wilby presents a double live recording of her podcast featuring fellow comics Sindhu Vee and Jessica Fostekew.

Mar 8, 7pm, pay as you feel, poplarunion.com ONLINE Moira Isle Of Dogs Mark demonstrates a Bulgarian split squat

T

Hybrid Fitness on the Isle Of Dogs combines well-equipped gym space with studio classes over three floors at the Harbour Central development

rying out a one-on-one personal training session at Hybrid Fitness felt like pure indulgence – served with a side of heart-pumping effort.

The club’s general manager, Mark Hughes, took me through a lengthy workout that was certainly a step up from the nonsense I’d been convincing myself was proper exercise in my flat. While the opportunity to make use of a rowing machine and a proper barbell was something of a luxury, the real value came from Mark himself.

Clad in a mask and always at a distance, he was constantly there with an upbeat word or encouragement or to verbally correct poor form when necessary. Although my lower body may never forgive him for the Bulgarian split squats, the session was perfectly pitched as an intro to the vibe of Hybrid combined with a practical set of tips for ongoing training. Well worth it.

Jon Massey ...a word from the PT “Personal training is for everyone, regardless of your goals,” said Mark, who has been in the industry for about 10 years. “All trainers want to help and we love it when people ask us questions. We’re always open to offering tips and sharing best practice.

“It’s fantastic that we have this space and it’s undercover so we don’t have to worry about the weather. The way people train has changed completely. “More people are doing strength training that ever and that’s extremely important, especially later in life as it’s great for bone density. It’s fantastic that everyone is working out at home, but one of the downsides is there isn’t always someone there to make sure the exercises are being done correctly. That’s where personal training can make a difference.”

SOCIAL | Last Night On Earth Party Missing the bar at The Space? Here’s the next best digital version in the form of a monthly party over Zoom. A little slice of the pub until it can reopen.

Feb 28, 7pm, free, space.org.uk ONLINE The Space Isle Of Dogs

STAGE | A Game Not Lost Fancy playing Mahjong with one of the most powerful women of all time? Female pirate Ching Shih is she, and she’s full of tales. Live stream.

Mar 2-6, times vary, £15, space.org.uk

in the arts

Take a virtual gander at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition, which has been set up in the chainstore and converted into a digital gallery to peruse. No need to hurry, it’s up until January 1, 2022 trinitybuoywharf.com Scan this code to be beamed directly inside the exhibition, featuring all the winners’ work want more? @wharflifelive

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

four focus

support your local institutions ONLINE Virtual Tour Bermondsey

how BrewLDN is working towards a Covid-secure beer festival for lovers of finely crafted beverages

by Jon Massey

LEARN | Ada Salter: Beautifying Bermondsey Oonagh Gay of Footprints Of London takes you to the world of Ada Salter, the first female mayor in London and examines her impact on the area.

Feb 19, 7pm, from £6, footprintsoflondon.com ONLINE Sands Films Studio Rotherhithe

CONCERT | La Riturnella Musica Antica perform works by Montiverdi, Cavalli and Strozzi – three generations of composers who made their names in Venice. Streamed live.

Feb 21, 8pm, free (donations), musicaantica.org.uk ONLINE Deptford Does Art Deptford

BUY | Virtual Indie Shop Support a local business, hit up this brand’s Instagram stories once a week, browse the stock and swipe up if you want to buy it.

Sundays, 3pm-4pm, details at deptforddoesart.com

don’t miss

You’ll need to be quick to catch it, but Speak With My Voice – an exhibition of work by vulnerable adults in Lewisham will be in the windows of Deptford Lounge until February 10, at least, and it’s free to view createarts.org.uk Scan this code for more info on Create’s work in creating this exhibition during the pandemic want more? @wharflifelive

I

t might seem like a lifetime ago, but in the dim and distant past, before the pandemic, people were allowed to gather in groups of more or less any size to enjoy food, drink and music.

Nobody even mentioned the word “household”.

Since the brakes of Covid were applied to the events industry in March last year, those in hospitality have been itching to get back up and running. Planning, biding their time and working to ensure their gatherings comply with whatever government restrictions demand.

While the future remains uncertain with lockdown in place, that hasn’t stopped BrewLDN quietly re-tooling in anticipation of a return from May 20-22.

The craft beer festival has relocated from the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane to Printworks in Rotherhite, primarily to allow for maximum social distancing in the venue’s massive press halls.

Co-founder Jack Fallon said: “The first rew took place in February last year. I’m one of four co-founders – we all used to work at an agency together and had organised Craft Beer Rising there for seven years when it was bought by a big company who we felt were going to mess it up.

“That was an opportunity for us to evolve the ideas behind that and to create an independent festival along the same lines as the original.

“BrewLDN was our eighth year doing events at the Old Truman Brewery – it’s a stunning piece of architecture with loads of cool nooks and crannies – but with the di culties we re facing and the pandemic restrictions in place doing anything socially distanced there is nigh on impossible.

“A bigger events space had always been on the horizon, which would allow us to grow the event – although the climate this year won’t allow us to expand in terms of scale, production or operation.

“But moving to Printworks does give us the space to put on an event that’s safe and has everyone’s wellbeing at the heart of it.

“Covid has obviously been a

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Exhibitor stands planned for BrewLDN 2021 at Printworks in Rotherhithe

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

33

Rotherhithe - Deptford - Bermondsey

While the next BrewLDN may involve a bit more PPE, the organisers are hoping to go ahead with the event in May

What we’re doing is taking the same infrastructure we had at the Old Truman Brewery and spreading it out at Printworks Jack Fallon, BrewLDN

Henri, Jack’s 18-monthold French Bulldog poses with the festival logo, which he inspired

brew making time for a

shock, but we ve all got to evolve and live with it for the foreseeable future. “ ven with the vaccines, there will be some restrictions in place, so it won t be a case of ust getting back to normal.

That means rew will be somewhat different to the event that saw visitors hunting their favourite craft beers in close proximity.

“We re not in a position to scale up this year, with respect to the number of exhibitors, said ack.

“What we re doing is taking the same infrastructure as we had at Truman and spreading it out at rintworks. “ or example, in other years, with limited seating, the ma ority of people would be standing at the post tables or bars. ne of the measures we ve put in place this year is, alongside all the bars, there is seating for well over , people.

“I m sure that will be welcome to all the people who go, because there s always a struggle for seats everyone likes to sit down now and then. ur solution was in view of the fact that everyone needs to be seated and have table service. “ ne thing we don t want to do, while being respectful of the regulations, is to compromise the event itself, because it would be damaging to everyone who associates with us we ust want to put on the best, safe event possible.

“There will still be the rows and rows of individual breweries who rock up so the biggest thing visitors will notice is the vast increase in seating that s in place. rew is expected to showcase more than , beers to , attendees over its three day run with exhibitor stands showcasing independent breweries.

Those confirmed so far include Tiny ebel, rewpoint, Toast, lack torm rewery, on alley rewery, ulpt ider, lowerhorn rewery and ocation rewery. range of spirits, wines and hard selt ers will also be available for those who prefer something other than beer in their festival glass. ntry which starts at . for the few super early bird tickets still available includes the drinking vessel, a festival manual

and talks from brewers and other industry figures.

“We are not like some events where everything s included, said ack. “We prefer people to pay as little as possible they can come with the money they ve saved to try what they want to.

“We also have a fantastic music programme, although that might look a bit different this year as we may not be able to have a dance oor. We re improving our food arena this year too, which will be outside and is based on the Brew ining concept we launched last year.

Should the event need to be rescheduled due to the pandemic, tickets will be transferred to an alternative date within a year of the original schedule. Ticket holders will be given a refund if the organisers are unable to arrange a new event within a year.

A

ssuming rew goes ahead, only a certain number of people will be able to attend. or those who want access to a wide range of craft beer ahead of the summer, the team behind the festival has also launched rewT a marketplace for independent breweries to sell their products online during lockdown.

“Breweries have to deliver everything in order to stay alive, so we thought we would tap into this market by assisting the firms we work with, said ack.

“The larger breweries have their own direct avenues to market or online platforms, but a lot of the smaller breweries don t have such access and don t have the finances to crate it. “ rewT is kind of an tsy for beer and brewers, because they can go onto the platform and set up their own online shop.

“We give them access to our own databases to market their products. rders go direct to the brewers and are shipped direct to the consumers. “ ustomers get the beer at the same price they would pay if they went direct to the brewers and it s giving those companies a helping hand. or ack it s ha y I s that have been getting him through the latest weeks of lockdown.

“I was sent some from a brewery called oodoo anger and it is dangerously fantastic really fruity a lovely drop of beer, he said. “Ha y ane from rewdog is another great drink. It hits the spot in lockdown.

Scan this code for more info on BrewLDN and BrewTAPP

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Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

take a breath

by David Lefebvre Sell

£10k

Fundraising target for Project Hope in Greenwich

With the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital reaching record levels in the latest lockdown, members of the community are working to support NHS staff and patients Life is either a daring adventure or nothing...

E

veryone is struggling right now, in some shape or form, but some are struggling more than others. Money helps, no doubt about that, but better mental resilience is not solely related to financial status.

The story we tell ourselves about our struggles can be the difference between heroism and victimhood. Helen Keller is quoted as saying: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”.

This may seem a rather bleak statement at first but there are two challenges here – the first is to make of our lives a daring adventure, the second is to see our lives as a daring adventure.

The stories we tell ourselves are shaped in part by our past but they can be changed if we take the time to bring them into consciousness and examine them.

For example, how many people have it in their heads that they are bad at maths?

Most of them were Just because you probably told they were – perhaps they have a thought, doesn’t had a poor teacher, mean you have to or were placed in an educational system believe it. Your thinking that could not accomhabits don’t have modate their individual way of learning. to define you When we carry David Lefebvre Sell around a narrative that undermines our ability to see possibilities for ourselves or pursue our sense of purpose, then that old story is sabotaging our resilience to stress.

Recognising these unhelpful stories can be difficult. Therapy can help, or the support of a friend or group, but it takes time to undo the habit of many years of negative self talk.

You can help yourself by noticing those moments and making them more conscious.

Try writing them down. Look at the negative message. Is it something someone has said to you in the past? A criticism you’ve come to believe about yourself?

Just because you have a thought, doesn’t mean you have to believe it.

Some of your thinking habits have been inherited, but they don’t have to define you.

David Lefebvre Sell is a Greenwich-based psychotherapist and Yoga instructor who teaches at Third Space in Canary Wharf Follow @davetheyogi on Twitter and Instagram and @DavidLefebvreSellYogaAndPsychotherapy on FB Scan this code for more on David’s work as a psychotherapist and details of his online Vinyasa and Hatha Yoga classes

care sharing the

Image by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

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Greenwich - Peninsula - Woolwich

how Project Hope is supporting NHS staff and patients with the help and generous donations of the local community

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support your local institutions

by Jon Massey

W

hile staying at home as much as possible in lockdown is the best way everyone can help the NHS in its titanic effort to care for the victims of the pandemic, it’s not the only thing people can do to help out.

Launched last month, Project Hope is a joint initiative between the Royal Borough Of Greenwich, Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) and Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust to raise £10,000 to support the wellbeing of H staff and patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Woolwich.

With the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 at record levels, the organisations involved have banded together to appeal for donations.

With more than a third of the total raised so far, the money will be used to help provide food and

Everyone at QEH has had it hard, and their families too, so anything we can do to bring a little bit of respite or cheer is the least we can do Cllr Danny Thorpe, Greenwich Council

Cllr Thorpe, second from left, joins volunteers at QEH as part of Project Hope

refreshments, toiletries for staff who are taking a break and, perhaps most crucially, accommodation for workers who are unable to go home between shifts so they can recuperate in clean, safe surroundings.

The aim of the project is simply to support people fighting for the lives of those in their care, working long hours under intense physical and emotionally demanding conditions.

Leader of the Royal Borough Of Greenwich, Cllr Danny Thorpe, said: “I visited QEH recently, to say thank you to staff and talk to patients on the wards.

“Everyone there has had it hard, and their families too, so anything we can do to bring a little bit of respite or cheer is the least we can do to show our appreciation.

“It was an absolute privilege to lead our teams and volunteers out onto the wards – more than 80 people are now volunteering for Project Hope – what an amazing thing each person is doing.

“I would also like to say a big thank you to Volunteers Centre Greenwich for mobilising so many people.”

An online JustGiving page has been launched so people can donate money, which will be gathered by CACT, acting as a central hub on behalf of the three organisations involved.

CACT chief executive Jason Morgan said: “We’re very proud to be involved in a project like this with Royal Greenwich.

“We have worked very closely throughout the whole pandemic with the creation of the community hub and I think it’s vital that we support

our amazing NHS workers in any way that we can.”

While organisations and people are welcome to donate money to the Project Hope fund, the appeal is also keen to hear from individuals or businesses that would like to donate food, drink or even places for NHS staff to stay.

Organisers would also welcome hand creams and bathing items as well as contact from therapists living locally who would be interested in supporting NHS workers on the frontline.

Those who would like more information about making such a donation should call CACT on 0800 470 4831 or email projecthope@cact.org.uk.

Deliveries should be arranged directly with CACT rather than made directly to the hospital.

If the appeal raises more than the funds necessary to spend on items for Project Hope, the surplus will be spent on other efforts to support frontline workers.

“Over the past few months, we have been absolutely bowled over by the generosity and positive energy from our residents and local businesses,” said Cllr Thorpe.

“Once again, we know we will see each other through this dark time and, with your support, the NHS will triumph over this awful situation.”

Scan this code for more info on Project Hope or to donate

ORDER Ardoa Peninsula

EAT | Basque Food And Fine Wines Restaurant and wine bar Ardoa’s dishes and vintages are now available to order via Deliveroo if you fancy a complete break from Nando’s.

Ongoing, ardoabyvinotheccompass.com ONLINE Royal Observatory Greenwich

SEE | Stellar Encounters Enjoy this cosmic show exploring the life of stars from the Peter Harrison Planetarium, presented by an astronomer from the Royal Observatory.

Various times, weekly, £5 per device, rmg.co.uk SEE Greenwich Theatre Greenwich

STAGE | Notflix Here’s one to keep on the radar – an all female improv troupe promise musical versions of your favourite films inspired by audience suggestions.

Mar 20, 7.30pm, £16, greenwichtheatre.org.uk

behind the scenes

Every Thursday staff at Royal Museums Greenwich host Zoom tours of the stores for free (donations welcome). Expect ship models on Feb 11 and paintings on Feb 18. Check online for more details rmg.co.uk Scan this code to find out more about RMG’s behind the scenes tour or to book tickets for the streams want more? @wharflifelive

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Advertising Directory - Classified

find our advertisers’ messages here Kidd Rapinet print Pages 1, 4, 26 online kiddrapinet.co.uk Frame print Page 3 online frame-projects.co.uk NipNip print Page 5 online nipnip.co.uk Creative Virtual print Page 11 online creativevirtual.com My London Home print Pages 13, 22, 23 online mylondonhome.com Landmark Estates print Pages 20, 21 online lmlondon.com Galliard Homes print Page 26 online galliardhomes.com Handyman Services London print Page 36 online handyman-services-london.co.uk

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Royal Docks - Canning Town

30

Entrepreneurs sought for Expressway’s next Youth Incubator Programme – applications open on March 1

four focus

support your local institutions ONLINE Lightship 93 Royal Victoria Dock

space Expressway provides a wide range of solutions for small businesses including co-working spaces

SEE | Braintown Arts development organisation Certain Blacks, brought Svalbard to E16 and carefully captured chaos ensued. Expect circus and nudity.

Ongoing, royaldocks.london FIND Royal Docks Across the area

SIT | Pews And Perches The Royal Docks Team has unveiled five new benches across the area for the public to enjoy thanks to a London Festival Of Architecture contest.

Ongoing, royaldocks.london ONLINE Royal Docks Newham

for growth

how Expressway is helping nurture the work of young entrepreneurs with its regular six-monthly programme

H

aving successfully launched spaces for small businesses and light industry beneath the Silvertown Way yover in ctober last year, Expressway is hunting for a fresh crop of entrepreneurs for its Youth Incubator Programme.

The scheme aims to support cohorts of 30 young people every six months, offering them free membership of the space and mentoring to help them develop prototypes, raise money or launch social enterprises.

The programme, launched in response to mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz’s Community Wealth Building platform, is currently looking for candidates to apply for its March intake.

Those successfully selected are then paired with mentors from Expressway’s existing community of nearly 170 businesses, introduced to the space and given assistance to help their ideas blossom. Under the control of

developer General Projects, the scheme has seen the commercial units under the yover renovated.

The design, led by Architecture 00, is aimed at nurturing and promoting small companies by providing a range of spaces including hot-desking facilities, studios, workshops and warehouses.

The project kept existing occupiers in place while adding areas for collaboration, learning and interaction including an event and co working space, a coffee shop operated by specialist roaster Perky Blenders and publicly available meeting space.

Jacob Sandelson at General Projects, comments: “At Expressway we have created a beautiful space, with pioneering amenities, and a programme prioritising networking, interaction and skills promotion.

“In the wake of Covid-19, never has it been more important for us to operate as we do in nurturing local businesses, supporting

young people and ensuring that xpressway is a benefit to the whole community, whether that be through our skills and training workshops or in supporting local teenagers in starting their careers.”

Expressway has also launched an apprenticeship partnership with Newham College and an Expressway Genius Bar. Both aim to promote profitability to local businesses through upskilling, educating members on the benefits of apprenticeships and other government grant funding that has been launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic – so far assisting firms.

For more on the Youth Incubator Programme or any other general query, call 020 7476 9707 or email hello@expressway.london.

Scan this code for more info on Expressway and its offering

SEE | Message In A Bottle Queer Zine Library and Queer Newham have teamed up for zine producing workshops and an online exhibition. Delve into five rooms of works.

Ongoing, part of Join The Docks, royaldocks.london

watch this

As part of Join The Docks 2020, artist Jonny Wooster is developing Silvertown – a new play inspired by tales of the Kent Arms pub in Royal Docks. As part of the process he’s filmed monologues from some of the play’s cast royaldocks.london Scan this code for to see the monologues from Silvertown, captured at the Silver Building want more? @wharflifelive

38

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

tide

Wildlife spotted at Cody Dock – a project is now underway to survey what flora and fauna are to be found in the lower Lea. Images by Andrew Cameron, andrew-cameron.com

as the

comes in

how an injection of cash has come at just the right time for Cody Dock’s ambitious programme for the lower Lea

by Jon Massey

I

n essence this is a simple story. the Gasworks Dock Partnership (GDP), which is engaged in a long-term project to renovate, redevelop and reopen Cody Dock on the river Lea has been awarded more than £1million by the Government to advance its plans.

But even a quick visit to the ever-growing site in Bow is enough to see the extraordinary breadth of ambition in the organisation this cash injection will supercharge.

Look a little closer and the money, which comes from the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund, will not only be used for bricks and mortar.

It will touch and enrich the lives of hundreds of volunteers as well as those passing though the area for generations to come.

Co-founder and CEO of the GDP, Simon Myers, has been working on the project since it started in 2009. structural investment “We’re at a stage now where we need a cash injection,” he said.

“We’d been teetering around the edges, done a clean-up, created popular, public access and done our design work.

“But the substantial capital projects were going to require us to do serious work to the dock so that we can re ood it and reactivate it.

“Silt has built up on the bottom, over the last 30 years – the result of surface water run off from the surrounding industrial estate – and it’s got high concentrations of nasties such as dust from brake disc pads, oil and heavy metals.

“It’s a concentrated layer about a

Scan this code for more info on volunteering at Cody Dock

foot deep that needs to be cleaned or removed and it’s something we can’t do with volunteers alone.

“The dock also needs restoration to its walls – serious amounts of heritage bricks, tools and equipment. Part of the project is being aware that, like all the derelict spaces up and down the river, there’s a danger of sanitising them as you clean them up.

“We want to make sure we preserve and enhance the habitats of the wildlife affected by the renovation, so applying for this grant seemed like a good fit. river wild “The other thing we’re doing with Cody Dock is that the whole purpose of the project is to introduce people who live locally to the Lea as an important environmental habitat,” said Simon.

“We’ve discovered, through the work our citizen science and environment manager Ben Bishop has been doing with our volunteers, that a huge amount of the wildlife is dependent on the Lea for foraging, nesting or travelling up the Thames to the Lea Valley.

“But a lot of that is undocumented at the moment, so we applied for this funding to also include a significant citi en science project to ensure that, when developments are being built in this area, they will have a broad set of data to inform the impact they will have and how to mitigate the loss of all this derelict land.” next steps “We got the call at the end of November, announcing we’d got this funding,” said Simon. “It will be split between restoration and our environmental work.

“It means we’ve now got the lion’s share of what’s necessary to deliver a rolling bridge at the mouth of the dock and that’s important for re-opening, because we’ll be taking away the barrier to the Lea, which provides access

Simon, left, and Ben are keen to get more people involved in the renovation of Cody Dock and the study of local wildlife living and visiting the area

to the dock for boats. The funding has enabled us to deliver employment for about 16 months for up to 20 people who will manage projects with about 1,000 volunteer opportunities and somewhere in the region of 500 trainee places.

“We’re working with colleges providing work experience across the board, whether that’s with the construction work, the heritage restoration work, or the environmental work.”

These projects, while mammoth, are a small proportion of all the things GDP is doing to transform what was a unk filled, derelict strip of industrial waterway into a place that provides a natural anchor for local residents, helping connect their lives to the river.

Also on the slate is a plan, set for March this year, to install a series of makers and craftspeople in converted shipping containers along the dock’s edge. A permanent visitor’s centre and cafe are also in the pipeline, as well as a heritage space that uses the

upturned keel of a boat as a roof.

Volunteers will be at the heart of all of these schemes, but, perhaps, most key in GDP’s work to improve the environment of the lower Lea. essential habitat “The environmental work splits into three parts,” said Simon. “The first is a complete audit of what s here. The second will be working with neighbouring properties to improve the wildlife habitat, and help mitigate any losses. That will involve planting 500 trees this year and another 500 in 2022, as well as new reed beds going in.

“The third element of the environmental work will be a big clean-up, working in tandem with the wildlife that’s here and creating places for creatures to live.

“We’ve now got some boats, so we can get down on the foreshore of the Lea, and start clearing the rubbish and waste that’s there, for the first time since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.”

The river Lea is used by numerous species as a corridor to travel up from the Thames through east London

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

39

Stratford - Bow - Hackney Wick

The funding has enabled us to provide employment for up to 20 people who will manage projects with about 1,000 volunteers

four focus

support your local institutions ONLINE Grow Hackney Wick

Simon Myers, Gasworks Dock Partnership

citizen science Ben said: “A lot of the work we’ve done so far has been pilot projects on an ad hoc basis to see what engagement there was with the local community.

“Now we can create a platform for citizen involvement based on scientific methodologies, exploring the value of all the habitats along the lower Lea ecosystem.

“We’ll be surveying what sort of species live here and how they support the wide variety of birds that are resident on or migrate along the river. There are all sorts of ways to get involved.

“Winter’s a really good time for birdwatching, for example, for those who want to see everything, because the trees don’t have leaves so you can see where the birds are nesting, foraging and hiding away from all the people.”

Work at the site involves installing sand martin habitats, above right, as well as cleaning up the dock and the river Lea

Main images by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

get involved There are numerous opportunities for involvement with the pro ect, whether it’s working to install nesting burrows for sand martins in the dock walls as part of the repair works, helping identify invertebrate populations on the site, clearing rubbish from the Lea or studying bat species whizzing up and down the river.

Simon said: “People don’t require any previous experience. verything is heavily risk assessed, with method statements, and at the moment is being done in a Covid-secure environment.

“Throughout the year there’ll be opportunities for big events where people can take part.

“On a weekly basis we also have a programme where very small groups can come in and help us with the weekly water testing, wildlife surveying.

“We re looking for pioneers, people with an interest in anything from heritage to conservation of our staff started out as volunteers and many of the posts here have been moulded around their interests. Come along and get involved.”

TALK | Techno Talk Writers Julia Bell and David Stubbs discuss their experiences of electronic music, facilitated by Dr Kaye Mitchell. Expect tales of Berghain in Berlin.

Feb 22, 7pm, free, growhackney.co.uk ONLINE Bromley-ByBow Centre Bow

SOCIAL | Buddies Of Bow A virtual coffee afternoon is running on a weekly basis to tackle loneliness and isolation during lockdown. Contact Mina on 07507 556 923.

Thursdays, 1.30pm, bbbc.org.uk WALK Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park Bow FORAGE | Wild Food Walk Join wild food enthusiast and site manager at the park Ken Greenway for a two-hour, Covid-secure foraging expedition among the memorials.

Feb 27, 10.30am, £40, madeinhackney.org

and in the arts

Theatre Royal Stratford East presents online mini shows Press Play Here as a love letter to the audiences it’s currently unable to welcome in person. Log on quickly though as they’ll only be available until February 17 stratfordeast.com Scan this code to go straight to Press Play Here, created during lockdown a delivered on a map want more? @wharflifelive

40

Wharf Life Feb 3-Mar 3, 2021 wharf-life.com

SUDOKU

Crossword - Sudoku

No. 936

2

Medium

Previous solution - Easy

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Cryptic Solution

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last issue’s solution

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Notes

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© 2020 Syndicated Puzzles

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