Chiswell Street: A tale of two cities

Please note: this post is 141 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Chiswell Street is in the heart of the City of London. It runs from Bloomberg's head office in Finsbury Square to the Barbican, one of the most famous and vibrant cultural hubs in the world. On both sides of the street, there are the gleaming glass structures, international coffee chains, iconic eateries and buzzing businesspeople that make London the professional services capital of the world. Chiswell Street, at any time of the day or night, is an exciting place to be.

But yesterday we got another reminder of why we set up North London Cares, and why so many volunteers have signed up to be part of a group seeking to build connections to make stronger communities. Because there is another side to our City, less bustling, less networked, less powerful, much less fortunate -- right under our noses.

Not everybody knows that Islington is the 5th most deprived borough in London, and the 14th most deprived in England. 46% of children raised in the borough -- nearly one in every two -- is raised in poverty, an unbelievable statistic. Local men have the lowest life expectancy in London: those in the most underprivileged areas live seven years less than those in the richer areas -- and the gap is increasing.

With food and fuel prices rising dramatically, and reserves of social capital running lowin the borough, many people have become increasingly isolated, and anxious that the world immediately around them is changing beyond recognition and beyond their control.

One of those people is John, a neighbour we met yesterday who has lived in this part of London most of his life. John lives alone, a stone's throw from this bustling City street, and rarely sees other people. Because of a problem with his mobility, John sometimes struggles even to get out of the house for a loaf of bread. He is nervous about his situation, but feels powerless to do anything about it.

We set up North London Cares eighteen months ago to try to mobilise local time and energy to tackle such isolation. So far, we've recruited 350 young professional volunteers -- people who work in the glass buildings and caffeinate in the international coffee chains -- to support their older or isolated neighbours with a little extra support however it might be needed.

For John, that means help connecting with local services, and building a small support network of local people who can help him get out and about -- to get the shopping, to get to an appointment, or even to get out to see a film every now and again. For other people, it might be a phone call to say hi, an occasional cup of tea, a walk in the park, atrip to the London Symphony Orchestra, or just about anything you could imagine. Everybody's different.