Wonderful Chaos

Please note: this post is 55 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

On Wednesday 11th March 2020, older and younger neighbours gathered together in Kentish Town to celebrate International Women's Day. It was our usual Wednesday afternoon affair, and in typical social club fashion the neighbours threw themselves into celebrating some of the amazing women who have changed history.

As always the gang posed for a photo at the end of the club and then went their separate ways, fully expecting to meet up again soon, despite a few whispers about some rather alarming news stories.

As we all know now, the arrival of the Covid-19 virus has meant that the Social Clubs we love – from huge dances to intimate book clubs – have had to be stopped for an indefinite amount of time, to ensure that we keep each other as safe as possible. As a Social Club Programme Coordinator at North London Cares, and one who loves nothing more than putting on a silly hat and singing a rousing song with my neighbours, I have to admit that I found this a tough pill to swallow. Having been on holiday at the time, I came back to a very different London, England, and job, than when I'd boarded a plane to Guatemala two weeks earlier.

The thought of not seeing the people who have made this role and my life so wonderful for the past two years was almost too much to bear. Like most of us, it took me a couple of days to shake that feeling off and start thinking a bit more positively.

Our challenge now was to reassure and remind our neighbours (and ourselves), that the sense of community that North London Cares shared face-to-face, could still thrive, and maybe even grow, without meeting in person...

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

When I finally got back from Guatemala (a story for another day!) my wonderful colleagues had already been working non-stop to reach out to all of our neighbours over the phone, to let them know that their community was still here for them, no matter what. To date, we've called 308 older neighbours, 505 times, leading to 124 offers of deeper support, from food deliveries to getting people set up on Zoom, to introducing neighbours to a new friend over the phone.

The #AloneTogether activity packs, a series of daily challenges, tasks and games, were posted and emailed out to over 1,300 neighbours too, so our pals all over Camden and Islington were united together in staying occupied and creative. Today, we sent our May #AloneTogether pack to the printers, ready to arrive on doorsteps next week.

Having stopped our Social Clubs programme with immediate effect, we now had to find a way to bring the joy of the sessions to living rooms and laptops, and to as many people as possible, using alternative means. Along with Hannah, my new and amazing fellow Social Clubs Programme Coordinator, we began to reach out to all of our neighbours with internet access at home.

Anna became the first of the neighbours I had an online chat with over Zoom, which was a joyous and monumental moment. You can also see from this photo how much better prepared Anna was for the photo above than I was!

What's followed has been an emotional rollercoaster of technical glitches and pure joy, when faces finally pop up on the screen. Some neighbours have made it onto Zoom in 20 minutes, others have taken over four hours (and some we're still trying with – but we'll get there!)

On the 31st March we put on our first Virtual Social Club, a hastily thrown together quiz with 14 older and younger neighbours coming together to talk, laugh and relax.

I remember finishing the club, sitting back on my sofa and feeling content for the first time in weeks, a sense of belonging and normality flooding back and helping me to forget about the unpredictable and scary new world that was happening on the other side of my curtains – if only briefly!

Since then we've trialled karaoke, yoga, dance parties, pub quizzes, and chats about first jobs – a mix of intimate, big, active and chatty, just like our usual affairs!

The amazing North London Cares positivity and can-do spirit got us through the initial few trials and wavering connections. Many of us have gone from dancing in our living rooms to a sea of smiling faces, to taking solace in a packet of Hobnobs when the internet decided that it wasn't going to play ball.

I can't say that it's been easy, but we've definitely kept each other going through the strength of love and support we've been able to offer each other, as a wider community, but also as a small but determined team.

Emily, our Head of Programmes, has been a force of positivity and strength. At times she's resembled a cartoon whirlwind, running from digital meeting to digital meeting, without pausing for breath, but still finding the time to be there for the all of us.

Roxi and Martha, our amazing Outreach team, have called neighbours really struggling with this 'new normal' and quickly finding ways to shine some light into the lives of those who were already suffering from extended bouts of isolation. They have worked tirelessly to ensure that neighbours are up to date with any service in Camden and Islington that can make a difference in this difficult time.

Our sensational Development team Toria and Imo had to deal with the cancellation of six months worth of fundraising challenges and immediately come up with innovative ways to keep the vital funds that keep us going, still heading our way. More than ever, their ability to passionately convey why what we do is so important, has reminded us all how lucky we are to have them behind us, as we plan elaborate ways to keep neighbours connected.

Finally, Harry and Bouchra, our Love Your Neighbour team, have had to think of new ways to ensure that the wonderful intergenerational friendships they've created in person are still able to offer each other love and support at a distance. They've done all this while starting brand new friendships through our new Phone A Friend work – friendships will give the opportunity for some of the most isolated neighbours in our borough to speak regularly to someone on the phone.

Hannah, our new Social Clubs Programme Coordinator, has had to start a new job in one of the most challenging times this country has experienced. She's had to meet neighbours for the first time over the phone and get up to speed with the usual aspects of the role, while entering a world that is new to us all and constantly changing. She's endlessly upbeat, and such a positive presence at Virtual Social Clubs. She's done all this and more while maintaining a sense of calm and unflappability that I am in constant awe of!

While we can't meet up as a team at the moment, we are all doing what we can to keep each other going until we can return to the office and our normal routine of constant tea runs, jokes and hugs, that make this hands down the best place I've ever worked.  

Finally, I have to say how blown away I've been by our incredible older and younger neighbours. Whether it's Orla and Jean keeping their Love Your Neighbour match going with some window waving (this photo had us all in tears), Elizabeth Ann working through the #AloneTogether activity pack until she can have us all cracking up at social clubs again, the hundreds of wonderful people who have donated to our crowdfunder and come up with innovative and downright brilliant ways to keep sponsorship coming in when events they'd been training for had been cancelled, and to everyone for getting up in the morning, putting the kettle on and getting through another day in these uncertain times.

We know that there are more challenges ahead, and we know that only around 40% of our neighbours have the internet, so we need to keep thinking of new ways to invite all of our network to the party.

That's why in May, the reinvention and innovation will keep going. We'll be trialling Phone In Clubs for the first time, allowing anyone with a landline or mobile phone to come and share an hour of chatter. So even though we're working from tiny flats and kitchen tables and cluttered bedrooms, every day, we are endeavouring to do what we can to keep the North London Cares family together at this strange, unprecedented time.

For now though, I'm still aglow with the memories of last night's social club, and in the words of Anna, the "wonderful chaos" that accompanies each North London Cares get together, be they a team meeting, virtual social club, or the usual knees up down Kentish Town.

We're all about wonderful chaos, and we honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

Andy x