This morning I opened an email from my mum in Autralia, expecting the normal family gossip; who my brother is dating now, how hot the weather is there compared to London- the usual stuff. But I was completely gobsmacked by her email, reading something that I never expected to read.
Three months ago I had lost my Oyster Card, with my Australian Driving License inside it and twenty pounds. To mine, and my mum’s surpise, it has turned up at my home address in Melbourne with a little note saying, ‘I found this somewhere in Old Street’. No return address, no reward wanted, just a simple act of kindness. This got me thinking, what good deed can I do to make someone’s day that little bit better? And the chain reaction of paying it forward ensues.
One of our Wedgers, Katherine, was subject to a simple act of kindness. She was buying juice in a newsagents during our last long, cold Winter. She handed over the carton and coins, when the shop keeper remarked, ‘It’s cold outside,’ looking at Katherine’s naked hands. ‘Here, have some gloves,’ he said, taking a pair from behind his counter and handing them to her. She was completely warmed, not just her hands, by this lovely gesture.
What small things make your day? A smile in a shop, and a shopkeeper engaging in conversation with you? Someone holding the door open, or letting you out of the tube before people pour in? Small gestures like this can turn around someone’s day, and make that figure next to you a fellow human being.
Written by Lauren Ottaway.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
One for the Local Shops!
As an Australian living in this city, independent shops really speak London to me, and for many Londoners, it is important to keep this link with the past alive. It is not only the shops and the shopkeepers though; it is the spaces they inhabit. The little alleys, cobbled little streets, decorative pub fronts and unique markets are not only great for tourists, but they are where you can discover London from years passed.
The Brixton Market, including the three arcades Reliance, Market Row and Granville, are now listed as Grade II buildings. This was in response to outrageous redevelopment proposals, and this time the little guy won.
The Brixton market is the largest thriving hub of Afro-Caribbean culture in the UK that seamlessly combines its 19th century charm of tiny, irregularly shaped independent shops, with a small amount of modern retail. Can you imagine this place, with its smells, sounds, the flavour and essence of Brixton, being replaced with one giant modern retailer? It is nearly impossible to capture this with modern architecture. Now the unique Brixton Market is a little bit safer, for the time being.
Enjoy your local shops, markets, spaces and any little places you love near you, because they are part of us, that’s where our memories are, and hopefully, will continue to be made.
Written by Lauren Ottaway.
The Brixton Market, including the three arcades Reliance, Market Row and Granville, are now listed as Grade II buildings. This was in response to outrageous redevelopment proposals, and this time the little guy won.
The Brixton market is the largest thriving hub of Afro-Caribbean culture in the UK that seamlessly combines its 19th century charm of tiny, irregularly shaped independent shops, with a small amount of modern retail. Can you imagine this place, with its smells, sounds, the flavour and essence of Brixton, being replaced with one giant modern retailer? It is nearly impossible to capture this with modern architecture. Now the unique Brixton Market is a little bit safer, for the time being.
Enjoy your local shops, markets, spaces and any little places you love near you, because they are part of us, that’s where our memories are, and hopefully, will continue to be made.
Written by Lauren Ottaway.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Take your Lunch to the Park
Buds are blossoming, birds are tweeting (and the rest of the world is too), days are getting longer and dresses are getting shorter; spring is upon us! But a lot of people, including us in the basement in Lower Marsh, struggle to see the sun and get our daily hit of Vitamin D. We have a small luxcrete behind a curtain where the new spring rays fight to get through, but that is all the sunshine we get here at Wedge. We have improvised by plastering a lush green forest to the back wall, and dotted our office with palms and greenery; but this is not enough when you enter the basement leaving the beautiful sunshine behind.
We have a lunch rota where we take turns in making lunch for the team, which means everyday we get a different home-cooked meal and save a wedge at the same time. Yesterday our Wedger on lunch duty, Claire, suggested a Wedge picnic. What a brilliant idea we all thought! She popped up to our local independent grocer, Greensmiths and bought:
1. 1 loaf of brown bread
2. 1 tasty cucumber
3. 1 block of mature cheddar cheese
4. 8 boxes of apple juice
5. 8 big red juicy apples
6. 8 packets of crisps
We each had a little packed lunch to take to the local Waterloo Millennium Park and Chrissy’s yoga mats (because she was off to teach yoga later that night). Sat on a grassy knoll, in between the huge, fiery tulips and daffodils worshiping the sun, we devoured our sandwiches in daylight, our skin prickling with natural heat, rather than the bar heaters beside our desks. This was a natural boost to our day.
It was inspiring to sit outside all together for lunch. There is something about a sunny spring day that makes you breathe in a little deeper, hold your head up a little higher, and forge that wintery frown into a blossoming smile.
We urge you to open your plastic-wrapped sandwiches in a park today with your colleagues and enjoy the warming weather. Fresh air and rosy cheeks can change the perspective of your office in an instant. And you may even discover something about the street you work on during the bustling lunch hour. Instead of running in and out of the sandwich shop and then back into the office, take your time and sit somewhere to watch your street go by.
We will certainly be taking advantage of this every sunny day in Lower Marsh, so you may just happen to us see enjoying our lunch in the park.
Written by Lauren Ottaway
We have a lunch rota where we take turns in making lunch for the team, which means everyday we get a different home-cooked meal and save a wedge at the same time. Yesterday our Wedger on lunch duty, Claire, suggested a Wedge picnic. What a brilliant idea we all thought! She popped up to our local independent grocer, Greensmiths and bought:
1. 1 loaf of brown bread
2. 1 tasty cucumber
3. 1 block of mature cheddar cheese
4. 8 boxes of apple juice
5. 8 big red juicy apples
6. 8 packets of crisps
We each had a little packed lunch to take to the local Waterloo Millennium Park and Chrissy’s yoga mats (because she was off to teach yoga later that night). Sat on a grassy knoll, in between the huge, fiery tulips and daffodils worshiping the sun, we devoured our sandwiches in daylight, our skin prickling with natural heat, rather than the bar heaters beside our desks. This was a natural boost to our day.
It was inspiring to sit outside all together for lunch. There is something about a sunny spring day that makes you breathe in a little deeper, hold your head up a little higher, and forge that wintery frown into a blossoming smile.
We urge you to open your plastic-wrapped sandwiches in a park today with your colleagues and enjoy the warming weather. Fresh air and rosy cheeks can change the perspective of your office in an instant. And you may even discover something about the street you work on during the bustling lunch hour. Instead of running in and out of the sandwich shop and then back into the office, take your time and sit somewhere to watch your street go by.
We will certainly be taking advantage of this every sunny day in Lower Marsh, so you may just happen to us see enjoying our lunch in the park.
Written by Lauren Ottaway
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