In search of a Big Lunch

As you may or may not know, UpMyStreet is a proud ambassador for this year’s Big Lunch 2010. If you haven’t already checked out our action-packed pages do so now and get involved.

In the meantime, we caught up with Helen Graves who’s organising a Big Lunch for charity. This is her personal Big Lunch story so far…

So I’m doing a Big Lunch this year. The people behind it saw me banging on about food and community for The Observer and asked me to put my money where my mouth is. Fair enough. The idea is that you get all your neighbours together and have lunch in the street. I’ve never even met most of the neighbours in my block so the idea of a get together is really exciting and a bit scary at the same time.

The set up process and actual lunch itself will be documented on the slightly scary medium that is video, thanks to the Big Lunch that have sent me a ‘flipcam’ for the purpose. You can therefore actually watch me tearing my hair out rather than just reading about it. Lucky you.

It seemed like an excellent opportunity to raise some money for charity and it took me all of two seconds to decide that I’ll be raising money for Maggie’s – it’s a Scottish cancer charity I used to work for.

So, watch this space. Oh and if any lovely helpful generous folks want to get in touch to help out on the ingredients front then that would be much appreciated. I’ll be making cakes, scones, sandwiches – basically anything English tea themed (with a Peckham twist, of course) because it’s simple and most of it can be cooked in advance. I think that trying to cook hot food on the day would be complete self sabotage and therefore utterly insane.

So, wish me luck! I dare say I’m going to need it. First update will follow shortly and the actual lunch is happening on Sunday 18th July. Over and out!

Could your house number be the reason you were burgled?

The researchers at AXA certainly think so. Their survey looked at the luckiest and unluckiest number houses to live in and uncovered some surprising results.

No. 13, whilst being the number most likely to be shunned by buyers lost out on the unluckiest spot to No. 33. No. 76 is the least likely property to suffer from burglary, flood or fire.

Property numbers most prone to burglary are 84, 34, 33, 88, 94, 62, 53, 55, 82 and 23. If you’re looking to beef up your security check out these handy hints.

Houses most at risk from fire included numbers 33, 34, 68, 22, 55, 92, 96, 36, 69 and 83.

Keep an eye out  for the brand new luxury cars and fabulous holidays of anyone living at no. 91 though – these homeowners are the most likely to have won a cash prize in a draw based on luck.

How accurate do you think this is?

Why you should love your old electricals enough to let them go

Over a third of us have at least one old or unloved appliance unused and probably outdated in our homes.

If you look at that in relation to the estimated number of households in the UK, 26 million according to the Office for National Statistics, you can begin to see the scale of the problem.

Wanting to put my own house in order before encouraging everyone else to follow suit, I ransacked my house to see what kind of things I had lying around.

I kid you not, this is the list of finds: 

• 5 stereo speakers
• 3 computers minus the screens
• a guitar amplifier
• a mini-disc player
• a giant old cd player
• two portable cd players
• various mini-disc and old mp3 players
• a car radio
• a breadmaker
• two blenders
• a hedge trimmer
• a lava lamp
• and three sets of fairy lights – all not working

I think it would be fair to say that I’m accounting for at least three households all on my own and fall into the one in 10 of us who hoard old appliances. If you’re honest I suspect many other households could admit to the same.

‘Love your electricals – set them free’ is the slogan for Recycle Now Week and this encapsulates what I’m trying to say. A vast number of appliances can be recycled, repaired or reused. A recycled iron could go on to become 93 plastic yoghurt pots or 13 steel cans.

So make some time during Recycle Now Week 21st- 21th June and love your old electricals enough to let them go.

The Tweetings on the Wall

The London Wall to be exact. Far from predicting the decline of civilisation (although some people may argue this point) the London Wall is charting the virtual city.

The interactive installation by Thomson and Craighead is being shown in the Museum of London to coincide with the opening of its new Modern Britain galleries.

Made up of everyday tweets from a 3 mile radius of the museum the work constantly changes – although it is worth noting that not all tweets are being used.

Now that would be a challenge.

Subjects range from ‘ I need a drink’, ‘too warm’ and ‘I also hate pigeons’ to witty observations  in 140 characters. Well worth a look if you’re in the area.

Or, take a punt and try something different after work nearer to you.

Cutting from the press

We’re spoilt in the capital with the amount of free magazines that are available.

I will usually try to take a copy of whatever is being handed out, but a particular fashion magazine on a Tuesday – you know the one- always eludes me.

So, imagine my luck when I spied a tell-tale small matt paper on the train home last night. Suddenly catching the slow train home had a distinct upside.

Not only that, but I felt I deserved some kudos for recycling the magazine rather than it languishing unloved to the end of the line.

My smug attitude quickly disappeared however, once I saw that the previous reader had unashamedly ripped out huge sections. Who leaves a mangled magazine behind rather than putting it in the bin, I mean, really?

After some investigating I want to know if it was the lemon torte or the discount tickets to the Taste of London that they were after.

Answers on a postcard.

Potholes still a problem for you?

An estimated 2 million potholes were left in our roads by the end of winter. The one at the bottom of my drive has just been filled, to the relief of my car’s suspension.

But for many others the roads are still treacherous. Despite a 42% increase in the number of potholes being filled this year, councils are still suffering from a severe budget shortfall.

In fact, according to the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey 2010 (ALARM) it would take London authorities 8.6 years to clear the backlog of roadway maintanence.

In light of this should we really be looking at cutting finances to this essential service?

If you need to contact your council about any aspect of your local area find out more with our easy to follow guide.

Train confrontations

Has anyone ever argued over a seat on a train before? I haven’t, but I saw a great one on a packed commuter train the other day.

Several terse words were exchanged when a lady wanted her luggage to have a seat rather than another person.

All the commuters around this individual were standing but they all seemed too polite to ask for a seat that was, effectively, free. I found it refreshing to see someone stand up for themselves – no pun intended.

It’s just a shame that the owner of those extra bags wasn’t more considerate to her fellow travellers in the first place.

Bargain beds

Wow, beds are expensive. Started out with a budget of £300 for the guest bedroom and ended up ordering one just over double the price.

To be sure the quality of the mattress was much better and it should last longer than the advertised 10 years, but still.

Grumbling at the till as the extras were added for drawers, delivery etc. the sales guy tried the old ‘£700? That’s a £1600 bed you’re taking home’. Bargain, I thought, I’ll take three!

FindMyNearest Friday

Huh? What’s that? You don’t know what FindMyNearest Friday is all about I hear you say?

Saunter over to the UpMyStreet Facebook page to find out more.

P.s. maps not needed.

Update

Apologies for the blogger absence – the last week has been hectic, exciting, and I personally am glad to hear so many people taking an interest in politics. Whether it’s to vehemently disagree or simply express an  ambivalence to it all, it’s something I think people should care about.

We’ve been lucky to have some great articles written by our political expert friends; Shamik Das from Left Foot Forward, Simon Griffiths, politics lecturer at Goldsmiths UOL and more recently, Martin Boon from ICM Research.

If you missed any of their commentaries, check them all out here.