I read this article in Time Out London this week (in a real paper copy I am currently holding in my hand and everything!) and thought I would pick out some of the things from the list of 28 I’d be interested in doing.

The sub title of this article states – Want things to change, but don’t know where to start? You don’t need to do much to help improve your city. Here are 28 great initiatives to be getting on with.

Buy bread and support refugees

E5 Bakehouse make bread that has been kneaded by refugee women under a railway arch near London Fields. Hackney is really easy to get to for me and who doesn’t love bread!

Fly a homemade protest banner

Those who know me know I love a good protest, but unfortunately I do lack some creative skills so I’m definitely going to get my hands on one or two of the mini banner kits from Craftivist Collective

Buy clothes from shops that fund sustainable fashion

If you follow this blog you will know I (rather successfully) try to source my clothes second hand. Traid have 11 charity shops in London and fund eco-friendly fashion initiatives around the world. This brand seems familiar to me, I’m sure I’ve had some of their own brand items from when I was a child in the 90s and my Mum belonged to our Church’s Justice & Peace group. They also run upcycling workshops which definitely sound like my kind of thing!

Pop in for coffee  cake at a charity shop

I was already aware of Cafe from Crisis on Commercial Street and had intended going there one lunchtime, I just haven’t got round to it yet. They help ex-offenders and homeless people back into work via the cafe’s training scheme.

Visit London’s first “Happy Café” 

Woop woop! This is something I have already done multiple times! I love The Canvas Café and have written about them previously on the blog. They are a not-for-profit venue hosting loads of events and supporting pop up caterers and their vegan freakshakes are divine!

Join the campaign to declare London a national park

As London is 40% green space this campaign wants to make London the world’s first National Park City so we can protect those spaces for future generations. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Buy a colouring book and help victims of domestic abuse

I really admire the work of Sisters Uncut who I have been aware of for some time, and I hope to attend some of their events this year. In the meantime I will buy this in order fund their campaign for better services for victims of domestic violence.

Go to a punk event to support positive mental health 

I’ve written previously about my own mental health so this event to fund mental health research by Dr Joel Vos at Roehampton University speaks to me personally. There will be many activities from live music and a punk art installation to mental health talks over 5 days from 27th to 31st March.

Raising money for people living with cancer at a Bowie night

Through typing this I am formally inviting my Mum (hey Mum!) to come to this event Ashes to Ashes II with me on March 1st (Ash Wednesday – see what they did there?!) to raise money for people living with cancer. My Dad was a big music fan and died of cancer a month before David Bowie did.

Get chatting to strangers and make this city a less lonely place

This week Jo Cox Commission on Lonliness launched a campaign to get people talking. I am one of those nutters that says good morning to people in the street and get chatting in the supermarket queue so this is another easy one to do!

So I’ve picked 10 out of the 28 that I can realistically see myself doing. Not all of them are exclusively London based so take a look through the full list and let me know in the comments which ones you fancy taking a bash at!

Plumes x