Spotlight on David

March 31, 2016

David has been living with Dot Dot Dot in one of our North London properties for the past 7 months, and has amassed over 100 hours of volunteering for a wide range of organisations – from gardening projects to helping feed the homeless as well as getting involved in a community choir in the local area.

One of David’s main volunteering projects was working in a Mind Charity Shop. He commented on this experience:

‘I sell every manner of goods at the till. I provide friendly conversation which my manager says the customers like! On a typical Sunday I freshen the book stock, and am trusted to label and price new books. With the manager I discuss politics and life. It’s wonderful to do good and enjoy friendships at the same time.’

However, this is not the only opportunity David has been involved in. He also spent some time volunteering with The Conservation Volunteers, helping to manage the landscape at Alexandra Park. He described this as:

‘Bramble bashing. We cleared about 20m² of the stuff between the four of us in light rain. So prickly! The toughest part was getting the roots out. Loads of robins started to eye up the disturbed soil, hungry for those worms!’

In other outdoor work, David has also taken part in helping gardening with Dalston Eastern Curve Garden and in packing vegetables for an organic vegetable box scheme, Crop Drop.

He has also taken part in some one-off opportunities such as Crisis at Christmas, where he helped out people who were homeless and spoke to some interesting characters.

We are all really impressed by the amount and variety of volunteering that David has set up – and hope that this continues into the future!

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Testimonials

“Dot Dot Dot has been a perfect springboard to the city.”
Tom, Croydon
“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
I feel strongly connected with my guardian neighbours. I am getting to know other parts of the community too, through my volunteering.
Jon, Wycombe
“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
“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
“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
“Dot Dot Dot has helped me get to know people around my area and it has been a great introduction to volunteering.”
Lamonte, Sutton
“Living in a Dot Dot Dot property has enabled me to do much more volunteering and reduce my hours at my day job.”
David, Croydon