Having a Lark in the Park

September 23, 2013

Instead of yawning at the TV one September Saturday, I whizzed off on my rickety bike to find The Stockwell Festival. Luckily, when I eventually found Brixton People’s Kitchen, they’d come far better prepared, with a custom-built mobile-kitchen bike, built for free, from recycled materials, by two lovely Germans.

Bike envy aside, the day turned out to be a great one – the weather mocked the forecast and came out in (patchy) sunshine and we transformed an intimidating mound of mushrooms (weighing at least half of the 19ish kilos of saved fruit and veg) into very popular tempera titbits.

Celebrated as a great alternative to popcorn by one happy mum, they were also easy pickings whilst cooking, although decidedly trickier to photograph…

Cooking alfresco with music from the bandstand wafting over was pretty cool. Mixing this with free food that would have otherwise been landfill, and a bit of teaching kids from the children’s centre what I’d just learnt myself, made it a great day.

Other highlights were working out how to up-sell a stuffed marrow to suspicious punters and chatting over a frying pan outside with a Portuguese lady, who gave a vivid description of fruit orchards back home in Madeira, previously known only to me by the cake.

Filed Under Volunteering · Leave a Comment

Dot Dot Dot stands for property guardianship done well

We are a social enterprise which houses people in buildings that would otherwise be empty

We respect our guardians, selecting only the very best while supporting them to further the interests of their neighbourhood and to provide a high level of service to the property’s owner. This is a win-win-win for property guardians, owners and communities.

Find out more

Quick Links

Testimonials

“There’s an instant community feel here which is great. Looking forward to organising movie nights and board games nights with the other guardians.”
Caitlin, Whitechapel
“I was drawn to property guardianship because I wanted to live affordably in London which is pretty hard to do – and the volunteering aspect of guardianship with Dot Dot Dot really appealed to me as a way of giving back to the community.”
Carl, High Barnet
“Being a guardian gives me the freedom to do good, invest time in work I believe in and be part of a fascinating community. It’s a no-brainer.”
Sam, Thamesmead
“If I wasn’t a property guardian I would either be paying a ridiculous amount of money on renting in London or unable to move out of my grandmother’s house at all. I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford to spend time volunteering.”
Bella, Bow
“It’s a really cool place – I can use it to work in like an office, and there’s already a great community.”
Pete, Whitechapel
“I love the idea that you are part of a community in such a large city. I like the fact we are allowed to be creative with the decoration of the flat and getting involved with local charities is something which I have missed doing over the last few years.”
Jasmine, Peckham
“As a property guardian with Dot Dot Dot I save £450 per month compared with what I used to pay on rent – that’s a significant difference.”
Josh, Poplar
Local people have been very positive. They like the fact an empty building in their neighbourhood is being used again and is being maintained.
Conor, Shoreham-by-Sea
“When I started investigating guardianship options, Dot Dot Dot stood out because of the emphasis on volunteering and contributing to the local community.”
Alison, Bow
“It’s great because I often work from home. Because it’s a huge building you have you’re own space, but if you want to hang out with other guardians you can.”
Sarah, Whitechapel