My 17 day a-sign-ment

Published on Earth Day 2024 – 22 April

Is it just me, or are there lots of abandoned traffic signs littering hedges, ditches and grass verges, left behind when roadworks are finished?

It was while I was out running in early March that I first noticed a couple of abandoned road traffic signs. It was a relatively remote rural location and they were covered with weeds, leaves and branches that I knew they’d been forgotten rather than earmarked for later collection.

I got back home and discovered that we were just two weeks away from Keep Britain Tidy’s (KBT) annual ‘Great British Spring Clean’ campaign (15-31 March in 2024). Their campaign is all about litter picking – which I avoid on an organised scale because I think it gives a sort of green light to litter louts (as we used to call them in the old days).

So I thought that getting abandoned/ forgotten/ fly-tipped traffic signs returned to their owners would be a novel was to help keep Britain tidy. My first thought was to involve KBT – the organisation. They politely declined – under-resourced they implied [maybe an idea to include in the Great British Spring Clean in 2025?] but they wished me well.

On the positive side, I presume the large number of abandoned signs signifies a high level of repair work after the road ravage of wet and icy weather by a stretched workforce, for which clearing up can get overlooked. It’s good to think that people are getting out there, even if they don’t tidy up afterwards.

The next issue of Private Eye featured a cartoon which I thought exactly summed up the apparently casual attitude to road work signage and traffic management. The artist Tom Armstrong [ https://www.cuckoofarmstudios.org.uk/tom-armstrong ] gave me permission to use it for my small online #StopSignDumping campaign to raise awareness about the problem and find out more about the cause.

What did I learn during those two weeks in March?

• You notice abandoned signs when you start looking for them
• There are loads in my area – it can’t be a local problem
• Abandoned signs with sharp edges are a potential danger to animals and humans
• Traffic Management companies are not regulated – there’s no code of conduct
• Traffic management companies are not the people who do the repair work
• Traffic management services are booked for a period to allow weather conditions to be done in a window, so signs may be booked for two weeks but only needed for two days

• You can usually tell whether signs are abandoned or awaiting collection by whether they’re dumped in a ditch or hedge or relatively neatly tucked away at the side of footpaths (or ‘footways’ as they now seem to call them)
• If there’s a contractors name and number on back of sign, contact them… but be patient – 4 weeks on from my doing so, the sign I reported still remains and I’ve had no feedback.
• If you want to judge how long a sign has been lying on a grass verge, lift it up – what’s growing beneath will tell you a lot!

• It’s not easy to find out about regulations related to abandoned road works signs – I’ve trawled highways guidance, county plans and legislation with little success.
• When a council says that a reported case of ‘sign dumping’ has been resolved, and spectacularly quickly, it’s probably because they’ve decided to do nothing!

That last lesson was learnt from my correspondence with Herts Highways in mid-April. A member of staff e-mailed me to say that they’re over-stretched and under-resourced, but in considerably more words …

Thank you for your email, as I am sure you will appreciate, we receive numerous requests each year from residents regarding various highway maintenance issues.  All identified highways maintenance issues are assessed in line with Hertfordshire County Council’s Defect Management Policy (DMA) which has been agreed through a democratic process.

The Defect Management Approach allocates each request a priority against other highway maintenance requests across the county. This approach enables us to direct the limited funding available in the most effective way possible. High priority faults will be repaired or made safe in line with our response timescales for road repairs. Low priority faults will be considered as part of our future works programme, as such we are unable to provide any timeframes for these. Low priority faults will need to compete for funding against other defects across the county.

Of the nine abandoned signs I reported to Herts Highways, to date just one has been reclaimed – ironically the one that said ‘Littering is Illegal’!

What am I still to find out?

• Who is ultimately responsible for clearing up the signs – the contractor or the council?
• What happens to reclaimed signs – are they re-used, recycled, repaired, sent to landfill, or sold for scrap
• When, if ever, does an abandoned sign become litter, and leaving it become fly-tipping?
• When is a sign that’s been ‘left for the next roadworks’ officially abandoned?

Finally, I wonder what would happen if a member of the public took an abandoned sign to a recycling centre.

Maybe I should find out…

Pie-oneers #1 – Three Recipies

Earlier this year (2024) I learnt about the idea of doing the same number of things in 12 months as the year, so this year would be 24 in 24. In my case I’ve decided to set myself the target of creating 24 pies in 2024 – around one a fortnight.

I like pies – they’re easy to eat, usually tasty, and there’s plenty of variety in terms of the filling and pastry. Note: I’m defining a pie as a savoury or sweet filling, fully enclosed in pastry. This can include a pasty and variations like the Bedfordshire Clanger (look it up) and Italian calzone, it does not include fish pie (much as like the dish) nor a food-filled deep dish with a pastry lid which restaurants are increasingly passing off as a pie.

I only recently discovered British Pie Week (4-10 March this year). The opportunity to launch the 24 in 24 pie series was too good to miss – hence this blog post. So far the first three pies have been vegetarian, and all have been my own creations, this may not continue for the whole year. The starting point for creating the pies is to think of a food-related name to create interest and focus my mind on the filling. The first three pies are Greek Salad, Minestrone, and Bangers & Mash. Next up is Pie Ella (geddit?)

Below are the three recipes (or should that be recipies?) for others to try. I’ve only ever cooked the pies once – they’ll be far from perfect- so do send feedback (pun intended). I’m open to suggested improvements.

Pie 1 – Greek Salad

Does what it says on the tin – Greek salad ingredients (except cucumber) encased in filo pastry and served hot.  

Prep: 20 mins

Cooking: 60 mins (hob 15 minutes) (oven 45 mins, gas mark 5)

Serves: four

Ingredients

2 medium red onions, roughly chopped

1 red pepper, roughly chopped

½ green pepper, roughly chopped

2 large salad tomatoes, roughly chopped

Garlic – as many cloves as you like

1 tbsp oregano

Splash of olive oil

100 gms feta cheese, chopped into small cubes

1S0 gms black and green olives

 5 sheets of filo pastry

Small amount melted butter

Lemon cut into quarters

Cooking

Heat oven to gas 5

Crush garlic and fry in a large covered pan on the hob with olive oil and oregano, add in the chopped onions. Add red and green peppers and cook for 10 minutes until they are softened. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes.

While ingredients are cooking on the hob, line a 20cms diameter x 6cms deep baking tin (ideally one with a removable bottom) with 4 sheets of filo pastry. Brush one side of each sheet with melted butter before putting it butter-side down in the bottom of the tin, until the bottom is 4 sheets thick. Let the edges of each sheet overlap the upper edges of the tin.

Remove the pan from the hob and spoon the mixture into the pastry nest. Place the cubes of feta cheese across the vegetable mixture and distribute the olives in between [See photo]

Take the fifth and final sheet of filo pastry, brush one side with melted butter, place butter-side up inside the tin and fold in the overlapping sheets from around the sides.

Place the tin in the middle of oven and cook for 40 minutes and until the top is golden brown (cover with foil if it browns too quickly). If possible, remove the pie from the tin and transfer to a warmed serving plate. [See photos]   

Serve with a green salad (including cucumber if you think it’s an essential ingredient for a Greek salad)

Squeeze lemon juice over your pie portion after lifting the filo lid.

Leftovers (unlikely) can be eaten cold, but better re-heated.      

Pie 2 – Minestrone

Serves four

I served the pie in four ramekins (11cms diameter and 6 cms depth each – I used Hairy Bikers brand from TK Max) – see photo. It could be made in one pie tin.

Preparation to oven is around 50 minutes, cooking in middle of oven (gas mark 5) is 25 minutes

Vegetarian (vegan if you leave out the chosen cheese)

Ingredients

2 medium size carrots, chopped into 1cm cubes

2 celery sticks, chopped into 1 cm cubes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium salad tomato, chopped into small chunks

1 400gms tin of cannellini beans

Large handful of baby spinach (or I used frozen – defrosted on hob for two minutes)

As much garlic as you like, crushed

! tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tbsps tomato puree

 Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, grated

Four tbsps olive oil or rapeseed oil

2 x 145gms packs pizza base mix

Preparation and cooking

Chop carrots, celery sticks, onion and tomato

Pre-heat oven (gas mark 5)

Boil carrots and celery cubes on the hob in a large pan for about 10 minutes, doesn’t matter is carrots are still al dente [a bit crunchy] add spinach to pan after about 8 minutes to sweat it down

While boiling the vegetables, make up the pizza base according to the instructions on the packet (5 minutes for kneading, 10 minutes for proving in my case)

Roll out the base mix into 4 x 16 cms squares – don’t worry if they aren’t exact

Drain vegetables and keep warm

Use vegetable pan for frying chopped onion and garlic in 2 tbsps of oil

Once onions are softened, add tomato puree, oregano, thyme. Add chopped tomato after a couple of minutes and cook for a further minute or two.

Return celery and carrots to the pan (retain the spinach and squeeze as much water out of it as possible) and add the cannellini beans, stir and turn up heat until all are warmed through – see photo.

While the mixed vegetables are warming through, brush the remaining oil on the inside of the ramekins and gently push a pizza base square into the bottom of each one, leaving the excess to hang over the edges.

Fill each ramekin with the filling and lay a portion of the cooked spinach on top of each – see photo

Fold over the pizza base to cover the top of each pie and brush top with remaining oil

Place in middle of the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is cooked and browned, but not burnt – see photo

Serving

I used four ramekins – the pies can be eaten either from the ramekin or transferred to a warmed plate. Open the pie crust and sprinkle with grated cheese before eating – see photo

Any leftover pies (one per person is probably enough) can be frozen for eating at a later date.

Pie 3 – Bangers & Mash

Preparation and cooking time: 90 mins (including 30 mins in oven)

Cooked in a 20cms diameter x 6cms deep baking tin (with detachable bottom)

An oven-proof dish of similar dimensions could be used. 

The recipe below is suitable for vegans. For a meat-eater’s version you can, of course, replace the plant-based sausages. Henderson’s Relish is suitable for vegans, Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce is not vegetarian.

Serves 4 – 6 people, add other vegetables as required

Ingedients

8 (approx 400 gms) plant-based sausages, sliced into 2cms ‘coins’ 

800 gms potatoes suitable for mashing, peeled and cut into chunks

500 gms ready-roll shortcrust pastry

250gms frozen peas (baked beans may be used as alternative)

2 tbsps vegetable oil (1 tbsp if using meat sausages)

2 tbsps (20 gms) tomato puree

1 tbsp (15 ml) Henderson’s Relish (or Lea & Perrins)

2 tsps (10 gms) vegetable gravy mix and 125 mls boiling water

Cooking

Boil potatoes (approx. 20 mins), drain, mash them and keep warm

Heat oven to gas mark 6

Retain the drained water to heat peas and make gravy

Brush vegetable oil on the insides and bottom of the pie tin Roll out pastry on lightly-floured surface. Line the pie tin (leaving enough for the pie lid)

Fry sausage slices in the remaining vegetable oil for approx. 5 mins until browned – remove from frying pan and keep warm

Make vegetable gravy in the frying pan, then stir in tomato puree and Henderson’s Relish and heat through. Taste and add more Henderson’s Relish if required

Add saved sausages to the sauce in the frying pan. Heat long enough to thicken sauce until it clings to sausages (ketchup consistency) – see photo

Boil peas until heated through

Line bottom of tin with sausage mix – see photo – layer mashed potatoes on top, drain peas and add them on top of mash before enclosing with pastry lid, crimped at the edges

Put in middle of oven for 30 mins at gas mark 6 until the pie is golden brown on top and warmed throughout

Liberate the pie from tin (if possible) – see photo – and slice like a birthday cake – see photo

Serve with as much gravy as you like 

Three books of pie recipes

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Hairy-Bikers/The-Hairy-Bikers-Perfect-Pies–The-Ultimate-Pie-Bible-fro/23965616

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jon-Simon/Pieminister–A-Pie-for-All-Seasons-the-ultimate-comfort-f/14986112

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tristan-Hogg/Pieminister-Live-and-Eat-Pie–Ethical–Sustainable-Pie-Making/27585656

Fixing the future

Celebrating the first decade of the Royston Repair Cafe

“Repair is all about keeping items in use for longer. This is, I suppose, why I’ve been organising community repair events for the past decade – I’m trying to steer clear of health and social care services for as long as possible; to keep myself in use for longer.” Chris Lee co-founder, Royston Repair Cafe

The Royston Repair Café is ten years old and there’s much to celebrate. For those that like figures, at 33 Repair Cafes sessions 32 different volunteer repairers attempted 1100 repairs and were successful with over 600 of them. Compared with The Repair Shop on TV, the stars of the show are less the owners and their stories, more the hard-working volunteer repairers saving no longer hard-working household items from the dump.

Top ten broken items

Unlike The Repair Shop, our repairs tend to be of more functional and mundane items, without the back stories that make such good TV viewing. In recent years, the top ten items booked in for a free assessment and, if possible repair, are radios and lamps in top place (or should that be ‘bottom’?) followed by vacuum cleaners, clothing items (including zips), food processors, hi-fi units, clocks, hair products (dryers/straighteners), steam/jet cleaners, and TVs. More unusual items include a musical Christmas decoration with moving little drummers, an indoor ornamental fountain with lights, and a table-top juke box.

It’s always a pleasure to fix children’s much-loved and over-used favourite toys. A dragon, clown, penguin and robotic dog have all been given new life at recent sessions. 

Items that fall outside of that top ten list, but in the top twenty, are kitchen items that have regular everyday use such as kettles, toasters and (in summer) fans. This may be because they’re relatively cheap to replace. That low price is part of the problem, firstly the products have poor durability, and then their (cheaper) moulded bodies make it difficult to get inside to try to mend them. Modern electrical equipment in particular is not made to last, nor be mended.

Surprisingly perhaps, bicycles don’t feature even in the top twenty. This may reflect the cycling community’s self-help ethos, or that cyclists grow up tinkering with their bikes from an early age. It may also be the excellent service provided by the bike shop in Royston town centre – the Repair Café has only ever claimed to be a clinic, not a hospital; enthusiasts should never replace professionals.

Favourite fixes

Repairer Frank gets a buzz from inspiring the next generation of fixers. “A mum and son brought in a Nintendo Switch controller that had been dropped and no longer functioned…  Not only was this satisfying to fix, saving them £60 for two minutes of my time, but the interaction was very pleasant. The son wanted to be an inventor… both of them showed great interest in what they might fix in future. To me, that is the most rewarding part – passing on the confidence to fix something themselves.”

Ace tent-repairer and zip-fixer Rebecca (founder of Tentshare) remembers her favourite fix. “It was a coat with a broken zip and a tear in the pocket. Last week, I saw the owner of the coat out walking her dog. The coat is still going strong, being used every day on her twice-daily dog walks – very satisfying!

In a partnership with Revolution Records in Royston, the Repair Café invited people to book in their broken turntables and amplifiers: five record player owners did just that and four were fixed. Repairer Jon is one of those with experience of working on audio equipment, he recalls a memorable mend in his home workshop…

“With the current resurgence of interest in vinyl records, I’m seeing more hi-fi components. I was presented with a Hitachi 50W stereo power amplifier. Only one channel was working and that very faintly. After much online research and hands-on work, I traced the fault to cheap goods and user error. I replaced five fusible resistors, fitted a new lead, and corrected the speaker wiring. The amp is now working fine and the owner is very happy.”

Repair Café repairers have a thirst for learning – most have problem-solving brains, but few think they have all the answers. When asked about his favourite fix, another repairer – John – came back with an unexpected response. “It was at home – my wife and I had been instructed by a sewing expert repairer on how to put pop-fasteners on to a duvet cover.”

Chris Lee – co-founder of the Royston Repair Café – looks back fondly on a couple of early successes. “As someone who likes making rather than mending, it figures that my two favourite fixes both involved minimal skill on my part. The first was a broken piano stool and I helped the owner mend it herself by unbending and refitting a metal bracket and gluing a wooden leg back into one piece. In 45 minutes she had mended an item that had been broken (by her son) six years previously!

The second item was a coffee grinder that wouldn’t grind. The owner explained it had suddenly stopped working and was only six months old (she hadn’t kept the receipt…). It wasn’t a fix really – a quick inspection told me the problem. A bit of peanut (yes, it was a coffee-grinder) was stopping the on-off mechanism from working. I poked the offending nut out with a pencil and it all worked fine.”

Reflecting on repair

Like most simple ideas, a Repair Café is easily understood, organised and sustained, but its value extends way beyond the simple concept of matching volunteer repairers with owners of broken household items to fix them for free.

Repairing our relationship with things: The more we can understand how things work, the more likely we are to consider why they might suddenly, or slowly, stop working. This can be as simple as knowing how to clean and maintain the item properly. For those with enquiring minds, DIY fixing can be very satisfying as money-saving lifelong learning.

Repairing our relationship with the planet: The ultimate purpose of community repair events is to reduce waste. Many household items can be kept out of landfill in the hands of a knowledgeable repairer. It also saves money for the owners and gives them a practical way to reduce their environmental impact.

Repairing our relationship with communities: the repair and re-use community, of which the Repair Café is a very small part, connects like-minded people to support and learn from each other. It’s also part of a global campaign – The Right to Repair – to pressure manufacturers to make their products easier to fix by ‘enthusiastic amateurs’.  

Repairing our relationship with people: The Repair Café has brought together people of all ages to scratch their heads and ask ‘why won’t this work?’ Repairers learn from each other, older repairers inspire the next generation of fixers, and owners are given the confidence to ‘think like repairers’ and do some of their own problem-solving.

Repairer Frank is clear why he’s involved with the Royston Repair Café. “The repair cafe has allowed me to develop my fixing skills, learning from some very experienced repairers. I’m now part of a community. Seeing like-minded people arrive for help with their items, passionate about repairing before replacing, has inspired me to continue learning and fixing.”

Looking ahead

Who knows where there next 10 years may lead the Royston Repair Café – we aim to adapt to changing times, but see the need for repair (rather than replacement) becoming even more important for environmental and economic reasons.

Three ambitions for the Repair Café are:

• Encourage and enable – through skill-sharing – owners of broken items to consider (with due health and safety considerations) DIY repairs. At least to start thinking ‘why won’t this work?’ when a household product fails.

• Inspire others to set up Repair Cafes – every community needs one! We have already supported Cambridge Carbon Footprint in setting up Repair Cafes in and around Cambridge. We are regularly getting request for advice and visits from other would-be Repair Cafes – the best way to make progress is to experience them!

• Grow the next generation of repairers. We are delighted when young people come to the repair café with their parents, and it’s even better when we can then repair their favourite toys. Some repair cafes work with school on generating an interest in how things work at an early age. Others involve young people through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Join the repair revolution

Year on year, there has been increased interest in reducing waste and saving money through repair. When Royston launched its Repair Café in February 2014, it was the first in Hertfordshire and only the 12th in the country. There are now more than 500 community repair groups across the UK (see Restarters.net link below) and there are over 2900 Repair Cafes registered worldwide (see repaircafé.org link below) 

Further information

www.facebook.com/RoystonRepairCafe (Royston)

https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/recycling-waste-and-environment/recycling-and-waste/wasteaware-campaigns/repair-cafes.aspx (Hertfordshire)

www.cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/repair-cafes (Cambridgeshire)

https://www.restarters.net/ (UK)

https://therestartproject.org/ (International)

https://www.repaircafe.org/en/ (Global)

Related blog posts: https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/category/repairing-the-world/

Retirement reflections – the first 12 months

I’ve recently been introduced to the idea of ‘24 for 24’ – doing a number of things that are the same number as the year in question. So 24 would apply in 2024. I suppose it could be 24 different things (like a year-long bucket list) or doing the same thing 24 times (24 piano lessons?) or a combination of both – cooking 24 new recipes.

It sounds like a sort of mash-up between having a list of New Year resolutions and the theory that it takes an average of 30 days for someone to form a new habit. If I’d known about 23 in 2023, I might have had ‘bake 23 pies’ as one of my ‘ageing adventures’ https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/2022/12/06/beyond-work-ageing-adventures for the past year.

In December 2022 I was looking forward to my first year without any paid work (retirement as opposed to unemployment) and I had a to-do list with 50 entries. Activities on the list were both big and small – from ‘clean carpets’ to ‘try sushi’ – things that I thought would be a useful and/or fun way to spend the extra time on my hands. I wasn’t limiting myself to 12 months and it wasn’t a definitive list – I was open to new opportunities – but I didn’t want to finish my first year of retirement and think ‘Is that it?’

Like many transitioning into a new year [well, it was a new year when I started writing this] I’m reflecting on the past 12 months – comparing the ageing adventures on my list with reality; to see how they compare and, importantly in my opinion, to see if I’ve learnt anything useful.

Walking

In no particular order… when it comes to walking during the past year, I give myself some credit for at least getting started on one ‘big adventure’ – walking the Hertfordshire Way, a 200 miles marked route around the county boundary. Having been encouraged to think about not walking the full distance to start with, I joined the Friends of Hertfordshire Way https://www.fhw.org.uk. As the name suggests, they’re a friendly bunch and, in 2023 I joined them on two 12-mile walks that embraced 1.5 sections of the Hertfordshire Way. Meanwhile, I’ve also enjoyed two more walking weekends – in Kirkby Stephen (in March) and Kent (in October) with friends from the online book group we started in lockdown (the walking group has existed for years). I ‘haven’t yet started’ another new retirement adventure – discovering the delights of Slow Ways https://beta.slowways.org.  That said, I’m pleased to report I did help them reach their crowdfunding target to raise money to open up many more paths around the UK. Is this me feeling guilty about not developing Slow Ways during the year in more active and practical ways?

On the subject of getting from A to B for free, my wife and I have both used our not-so-new ‘concessionary travel’ cards. The Three Men on a Bus ageing adventure https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/2022/11/19/three-men-on-a-bus to discover Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties for free by bus with two male friends has resulted in a first trip to Ely and we’re planning a second trip to St Ives (the one in Cambridgeshire) for spring 2024. I wait with bated breath to see where this idea might go (literally!) over the next 12 months.

Men’s health

Alongside lots of walking, much with older people, Men’s health more generally is an ongoing interest – if only to keep myself out of the health and social care system for as long as possible. In November, my annual commitment to Movember – raising funds and awareness through growing a silly moustache (for a 10^th year https://uk.movember.com/mospace/3760813) was, sadly, given personal motivation by the death of two members of our Letchworth Men’s Shed  www.letchworthshed.org. Mike and Phil died unexpectedly within a two month period – a shocking blow to our close-knit community of 20+ Shed members. More positively, my weekly visits to the Shed have introduced me to a lovely bunch of guys who are looking out for each other’s wellbeing by making, mending and drinking lots of tea, while putting the world to rights.

Around the same time, a heart attack for a fit friend came out of the blue but has, I’m pleased to say, had a much happier outcome. Alan seems to have made a full recovery but it’s a stark reminder to live in the present; you never know what’s around the corner whatever your age and stage in life.

On a happier health-related note – my attempt to integrate a siesta into my daily routine is going very well and is one of my ‘ageing adventure’ successes as far as I’m concerned. Another happy new experience has been donating platelets (as opposed to whole blood) and combining donations with a visit to see my friend who lives close to the donor centre. Achieving my 75^th donation in November was the cherry on the cake.

Make and mend

Returning to my ‘ageing adventures’ list from December 2022 I’ve had mixed success in the make, mend and re-use category. Refurbishing my mother-in-law’s garden bench was completed as planned and, better still, was done earlier enough for it to be used throughout the summer.

In contrast, my ‘Fred in a Shed’ plan to make and sell pallet wood items only amounted to setting up an Instagram page www.instagram.com/afredinashed and acquiring pallets. At least I learnt a bit about Instagram. Another positive note – I think my repair skills developed a bit during the year from my involvement with the Royston Repair Café (see reflections – below).

Writing

From w – walking, to w – writing. Writing for pleasure (alongside making things from reclaimed materials) is the creative activity that I believe keeps me happy and healthy. Most of that writing during the year has taken the form of blog posts – a total of 21 in 2023. Four of those posts are in the ‘Ageing Adventures’ category https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/category/ageing-adventures, but four others are in what I think is a more important blog post series – ‘More Expert by Experience’.

In 20 + years in advice-giving roles, I’ve often wondered whether my advice and support has been useful to people – fundraising and/or trying to run their organisations more effectively or, in the case of working with the Princes Trust, setting up and sustaining a business. One of my retirement tasks was to find out about the success or otherwise of some of those business start-ups. I’d profiled a range of young entrepreneurs five years ago and wanted to revisit some of those interviewees.

I’m pleased to say I tracked down four business owners – all women as it happens – to find out how they’d survived the past five years, particularly through lockdown and the pandemic. I wrote up my follow-up interviews and published them in the run up to Small Business Saturday on 2^nd December 2023. They had not only survived but thrived; their stories make an inspiring read https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/category/more-expert-by-experience.  

At a more light-hearted level, I’ve started a series of TWITS reports for our Shed members. This Week In The Shed is notes and photos to keep our internal communications flowing. Potentially more valuable for members who can’t make it in for one reason or another, I enjoy compiling the information each week and people seem to like receiving it.

Reflections 

This time last year I envisaged building more ‘not work’ elements into my ‘ageing adventures’ plan. I defined ‘not work’ as doing stuff for my own enjoyment.  Apart from not making more pallet wood products, the main surprise is not reading more books for pleasure. I’m taking a sabbatical break from our book group as I seem to spend a lot of time reading books I don’t particularly want to!

A new and enjoyable pastime is listening to two weekly programmes on Radio Royston (itself a new community initiative for 2023). Said programmes are presented by two friends and it’s been interesting to learn a bit about broadcasting from a couple of ‘insiders’. I’m hoping Radio Royston will be featuring our Royston Repair Café 10^th birthday in February [They did!]

One-off/unplanned vs routine: The year has confirmed something I’ve suspected for a number of years – combining some regular fixed points in the week with more spontaneous activity works well for me. The regular stuff – Monday morning Zoom chats, Tuesday Men Shed visits and choir rehearsals, weekly pub chats with a friend, and regular running, including parkrun on Saturdays – continues and creates a comfort blanket of sorts.

The unplanned has the potential for greater ‘adventure’. By definition, home repairs are unplanned, but I’m pleased to have fixed a cat flap, stopped our vacuum cleaner from whistling, and I believe I’ve starting learning to think like a repairer – developing the problem-solving side of my brain https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/2023/08/18/why-wont-this-work.

 Two new experiences border on the ‘unplanned’ in the sense that I’d not been anticipating them much in advance. I’d been to the Proms once before – and queued for standing tickets – but never for The First Night. The system has moved on – the queuing is now done online on the day – and I’m pleased to say prices are still very affordable at £8. It was a brilliant night and we even had a ‘performance’ from Just Stop Oil! The second, new (standing) experience was seeing ‘As you like it’ at the Globe Theatre. The good weather (it’s was open to the elements where we were standing) helped, and the price – £10 – made it again very accessible.

While I like to anticipate experiences – assuming I’m expecting them to be pleasurable (I can even get excited thinking about a meal a week ahead of eating it…) I think I’ll make more space for a bit of spontaneity during 2024.

Wise words from Start Up 2024

24 insights into starting and sustaining a business, and navigating life

Another of Enterprise Nation’s astonishingly valuable (in all senses of the word) Start Up Show comes to an end. My head is about to explode with an over-consumption of good common sense and not-so-common jargon-free advice from a wide range of business ‘experts by experience’.

As in other years (this was my sixth Start Up Show) I’m sharing some of those insights and would recommend any would-be business founder to book a place at Start Up 2025 as soon as you can.  

What does it take?

“What makes a person suitable as an entrepreneur? Evidence of a competitive nature from an early age; a person who has taken risks; a level of naivety and arrogance.” James White, author of ‘Start-Up Century’ https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/James-Wise/Start-Up-Century–Why-were-all-becoming-entrepreneurs—a/28702655

“You need to have a burning ball of excitement to keep going with your business.” Jake Bucknall https://www.dinnerforonehundred.com

“You need to be the same person online as you are on a market stall” Dan Goode https://www.makinggoode.com

“Rather than trying to conform, hold your values close to you… purpose [in business] is not for profit, it’s for life.” Joe Kaul on finding your ‘guiding north star’. https://onqor.com

“Entrepreneurs should work on their strengths and outsource their weaknesses” A re-quote from an audience member

On authenticity in business

“People are generally pretty good at smelling bullshit” Joe Kaul on business values https://onqor.com

“Communicating purpose is done badly by businesses – you need to be authentic. Greenwashing is dumb – you need to tell your brand story with pride.” Joe Kaul on personal and professional values https://onqor.com

“When you start your business you [in PR terms] are the business… you must be authentic with Your Self – comfortable with the story you tell.” Gaby Jesson on founder stories https://www.prospectsociety.com

“When you share your authentic [business] voice with the world it’s amazing – it has a powerful effect on customers” Dan Goode https://www.makinggoode.com

“Environmental impact is directly related to the financial viability of the business.” Saasha Celestial-One on balancing purpose and profit to grow Olio https://olioapp.com/en

Connecting with your customers

“Often we know so much about our product we don’t say enough about it [in publicity]. Face-to-face contact helps you find out what customers want to know” Dan Goode https://www.makinggoode.com

“Sharing your authentic [founder] story on LinkedIn can work really well – you don’t have to present a perfect version of yourself.” Gaby Jesson on PR https://www.prospectsociety.com

“Treat every customer as a long lost cousin” Jake Bucknall https://www.dinnerforonehundred.com

“We often undervalue in-person feedback from customers about their experiences” Nicole Compen on the value of pop-ups https://www.weareraye.com

 “A lot of people don’t want what’s on the high street – they are buying what’s unique, bespoke and sustainable.” Jason Brett https://www.dapperandsuave.uk

“We are drowning in anonymous stuff – what’s so magic about a business with a person [the maker] behind it is the provenance. The spirit behind your business is worth its weight in gold.”  Dan Goode https://www.makinggoode.com

PR tools

“These days media outlets are much more open to short films – it’s an easy way to illustrate your story” Gaby Jesson on your PR toolbox https://www.prospectsociety.com

“Brand partners can be more influential [in PR terms] than many, more traditional, media channels” Gaby Jesson https://www.prospectsociety.com

“LinkedIn is valuable for showcasing your [entrepreneurial] journey if you’re happy to show vulnerability. You get more bangs for your buck (except it’s free!)” Teddie Levenfiche https://www.perfectted.com

Getting support – online and in person

“Every time technology has made self-employment easier, entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity.”  James White, author of ‘Start-Up Century’, on generative AI

“Selling at a market is more than that, it’s about community – getting support and learning from others.”  Jason Brett https://www.dapperandsuave.uk

Final thoughts

“Product publicity photos should include lifestyle shots [of the product is use] to give people a better idea about things like scale.”  Dan Goode https://www.makinggoode.com

“If your choice is doing something your way, my way, or a compromise, compromise is rarely the best option” Rob Pierre https://www.linkedin.com/in/robapierre

“There is no formula you can follow to guarantee success. So go into business with that mindset – there is no golden path.” James White, author of ‘Start-Up Century’

For more wise words from other Enterprise Nation Start Up Shows, go to https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/?s=Start+Up

Sustaining healthy habits – The Mindset Development Group

In advance of Small Business Saturday 2023 (2 December) I decided to re-interview – 5 years on – four women entrepreneurs I’d worked with as part of the Prince’s Trust entrepreneurship programme. I was keen to see how they were progressing since our earlier interview, particularly following the pandemic and lockdown.

I’ve been interested in words and effective communication for all of my 40 year so-called career in marketing with/for not-for-profit organisations. Some words and phrases adopted in business can enrage me, but others are more intriguing and invite further exploration; they engage me. Many years ago I learnt the phrase ‘drown your puppies’ (and wrote a blog post with that title!) which means ceasing areas of your business operation that may be pet projects – you love doing them – but they don’t benefit the bottom line.

Eat your own dog food

In my conversation with Elise Williams – founder of The Mindset Development Group – I learnt another evocative phrase with canine connotations – ‘eat your own dog food’. This means, to use another idiom, taking some of your own medicine.

Traditionally the suggestion is that ‘the medicine’ is not willingly taken but, in Elise’s case, it’s what sustained her and her business through the pandemic. That and technology (which caused pain and possibilities in equal measure). When we last spoke, Elise has developed a ‘pocket mentor’ phone app to benefit young people by giving them tools to build their resilience and mental fitness. Elise explains how the business has developed since then.

“Originally we were targeting young people and working with schools with the standalone app. It was tough, so we broadened our marketing when we learned the tools had relevance and impact for a much wider audience. Covid also forced us to pivot the business and, after many failings and much learning, we developed a series of online daily mental fitness workouts – bite-size tools for busy people.

That rebranding took the best part of the first year of lockdown, including huge learning around the fast-changing technology – which called on my own mental resilience. We really had to apply the tools in the kit to work our way through the app development stage!

Five years on

The app now provides daily workouts, but we realise we need to do more to encourage people to sustain their involvement – a standalone app is not enough. So we’ve created an affordable monthly subscription offer with a focus on pro-active support around preventative measures. I think of it as a mental fitness gym membership. There’s no minimum subscription period, which puts the emphasis on us to keeping people engaged – to ensure customers feel they’re benefitting.

Our recent work with HR [human resources] leaders has confirmed that, traditionally, wellbeing tools for the workplace have focused on fixing things when they go wrong – they tend to be reactive. You wait until the workplace challenges – productivity, engagement, retention, absenteeism and sickness – arise before presenting or signposting solutions. In contrast, we’re looking at how we can best service ourselves continually so we don’t break down.”

Five years on, the original ‘pocket mentor’ is now part of a wider umbrella – The Mindset Development Group – addressing mental fitness and resilience in the workplace. At a personal level, the growth of the business means Elise is no longer ‘the business’; something she welcomes. “If you’re doing everything on your own, you can get snow blind – you can’t step back and see things which are so obvious to someone else. It’s good to have others also doing the thinking.”  

In relation to mental wellbeing in the workplace, I speculate that the pandemic and lockdown must have affected both Elise’s own working practices and wellbeing, as well as the demand for arm’s length support for employees. Post-pandemic, working from home persists with associated isolation and limitations on face-to-face team work. I wonder how this has affected the business?

“Immediately after lockdown, we transformed the business from being all face-to-face workshops to providing Zoom-based sessions four mornings a week (previously it was two full days in person) and we saw a huge increase in the demand for what we do. The pandemic brought mental wellbeing to the front of people’s mind which resulted in a big increase in the need for our online workshops.

This past 18 months we’ve combined face-to-face delivery in a room with online support – many have missed the human connection. Part one of the new programme is learning about the mental fitness tools – provided in 15 x 1-hour bite-size online live workshops. An important element is part two – ongoing support to embed the learning; tailored implementation to suit individual needs. It’s all about developing helpful habits to sustain long term change.

Final thoughts

With hindsight, I’m not sure I’d have taken that first step to start the business more than five years ago. That said, my naivety served me well – I jumped in with a faith it would work. I’ve also learned that things always take longer than you think they’re going to.

I recommend people starting out seek help through conversations with people who are a few steps further down the line with running a business. The community aspect – having someone like The Princes Trust around was good at the start – and I think I’ve missed out on that in the past couple of years. There are big challenges now around working in isolation. I personally aim to prioritise interacting with people – even through working in a coffee shop for a couple of hours, or making time for socialising.”

 Many entrepreneurs describe their business start-up and development as ‘a journey’. As befits any journey into the unknown, Elise concludes “I could never have envisaged being where I am now when we last spoke five years ago – but looking back I can see how the dots join up.”

Importantly, it sounds like the journey has been bumpy, but exciting and healthy. “The positive feedback we now get from clients is a real boost, affirming the initial thought that sparked the business in the first place.”

To learn more about Elise and The Mindset Development Group, click here https://www.mindsetdevgroup.com

Changing mindsets

My love affair with Movember

Published in association with UK Men’s Sheds Association www.menssheds.org.uk

As someone who celebrated his 60^th birthday some months after the ‘big day’ because of mental ill health, I take a keen interest in what Movember stands for – starting conversations (particularly amongst men) about ways to stay healthier and happier for longer.

Those fine folk at Movember HQ tell me I’ve now been growing a mo [moustache] each November for ten years, which is exactly half the time they’ve been raising awareness and funds for research into testicular and prostate cancer, and into men’s mental ill health, particularly suicide.

I can actually claim to be an award-winning moustache-grower. It was in 2015 – a competition on Twitter – and I won a moustache-shaped doormat; I walk all over it in my garden shed on a daily basis. I also have happy memories of growing two moustaches at once one year – creating a ‘Swiss army penknife’ effect – because a friend said he’d sponsor me twice if I grew two. I did but he didn’t.

This year, I’m got lots of suggestions from friends (some more helpful than others…) about what mo I should grow. Ignoring their advice, I’m creating The Poirmo – celebrating the thing on Kenneth Branagh’s top lip in Murder on the Orient Express.

Each year my main aim with my toplip topiary is to make it silly. Men’s health is certainly a serious subject but that shouldn’t stop us having a laugh to get the message across. I’m no stranger to facial hair – I had a beard for 25 years, growing it to make myself look older, and removing it to make myself look younger. Also, each summer I allow myself the luxury of not shaving when on holiday – it’s like giving a hedge the opportunity to go wild once a year before giving it a good prune. 

Each year I try to get others to join in the fun. Notable successes (notable because they’ve been so few and far between) have been with my local parkrun, where women and dogs took up the challenge almost more enthusiastically than the men. My fellow tenors in our local choir joined in for the relevant concert in November one year (but have resisted all encouragement to do so again).

What mo-tivates me each year?

This year it’s three widowers – friends who are still coming to terms with their losses many years later. As I get older, I’m increasingly aware of my own mortality. I’m writing this a day after attending a funeral – the untimely death of one of the founder members of the Men’s Shed I joined back in January. Mike was 80 and had only been unwell with kidney problems for a relatively short time. As I get older, I don’t know what constitutes ‘a good innings’ as my dear old dad used to say. I suppose it’s about quality as well as quantity. Mike had a good life and a loving family, but the first death of a Shed member has shocked our close-knit and caring little community.  

But it’s not all gloom. Earlier in the year, I regularly saw a work colleague who was having some very dark thoughts at the time. I’m pleased to say he’s come through that period and can see a future ahead of him. I like to think that my being there for him helped.

So don’t sit on the symptoms guys and, remember – talking is for life, not just November!

To keep abreast of my mo-growing effort, click here https://uk.movember.com/mospace/3760813

Related reading https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/2020/11/13/remembering-kenneth

On the move – Hannah Stobbs Holistic Health

In advance of Small Business Saturday 2023 (2 December) I decided to re-interview – 5 years on – four women entrepreneurs I’d worked with as part of the Prince’s Trust entrepreneurship programme. I was keen to see how they were progressing since our earlier interview, particularly following the pandemic and lockdown.

For some entrepreneurs their personal passions are so much a part of the business they run, that separation between home and work is near impossible. From the start of our conversation, I can see that Hannah Stobbs is one such entrepreneur, with her business fitness almost taking a backseat to talking about her passion for sport.

 “I have what I’d call a lifestyle business – it suits how I am, it pays the bills, and I get by. I enjoy helping people and that’s my motivation, rather than creating a valuable business. In reality, many of my sports massage clients are family, friends and team members, so home and work are closely inter-linked. The sport is important – I play cricket for Harpenden’s women’s team, and the men’s 4^th team [the only woman player in the division] and I go to the gym regularly to try to keep fit.”

Hannah’s business

Almost as an afterthought, Hannah mentions that she’s also a cricket coach; it reminds me we’re here to talk about her business – Hannah Stobbs Holistic Health. “The business has three main strands. I use sports-science based massage therapy to improve sports performance. I treat people holistically – mind and body – in their homes in north London and Hertfordshire. A second strand is the cricket coaching – for my club and county [Hertfordshire] taking a whole-person approach to that as well. Thirdly, I mentor within my cricket team, particularly the younger players, and I’ve also done some mentoring on the sports massage therapy side of the business.”

The impact of the pandemic

As in my interviews with other entrepreneurs, I wonder how far Hannah’s business was affected by the pandemic, and I’m pleased to hear it isn’t a story of doom and gloom. “Cricket was not so badly affected by the pandemic – it was only interrupted for a few months – and I’ve been able to increase my coaching hours since then. On the sports massage side, during lockdown from March to July 2020, I filmed a stretch or mobility exercise each day, and put it on my Instagram. That was very popular and kept my clients moving! I also made the films available on a subscription basis which appealed to the 60+ age group, for support in between one-to-one sessions. It was only because of the pandemic that I had the time to do all the filming!  

Images from the Time-Lord

Almost casually, Hannah informs me of another string to her bow resulting from the pandemic. “Look back at lockdown, I qualified as a teacher! Throughout 2021 – 22, I did a primary PGCE [Post Graduate Certificate in Education] with some distance learning for a short time. I reduced my business client base and shared the work with another couple of therapists. I then learnt that teaching wasn’t something I wanted to do immediately and I re-built my sports therapy client numbers.”

Balancing the business

I wonder whether there’s a seasonality to the business of sports massage – when people are either recovering from their sports season or getting ready for a new one. “I see fewer people for massage in the summer – people may be away and the warmer weather can also help with muscle movement. But the cricket coaching increases in the summer so that nicely balances the two strands of the business.   

 Every three months, I can detect a seasonal change in people’s bodies – their backs in particular seem to throw up problems all at the same time. Ideally people don’t want to get to crisis point; preventative work is much preferable, but it’s harder to get some clients to come in regularly. People still view sports massage as more of a luxury than regular personal training.”

Advice to other entrepreneurs

Hannah has some wise words for anyone thinking of starting their own business. “I would recommend that people seek business support, whether it’s from The Prince’s Trust (if they’re young entrepreneurs) or an organisation like Wenta [a Hertfordshire-wide business support agency]. Mentoring – having someone to bounce ideas off – and having a business plan was crucial for me as it helped me get stuff out of my head and down on paper. I’d also advise people that, once they have a plan, to set monthly goals and trust the overall process – without worrying about all the different outcomes all the time.” Yes, this makes sense – and being able to focus without over-thinking is both a life skill and a business skill!     

Images from the Time-Lord

I can confirm the value of Hannah’s next bit of advice (even though I was accused of ‘boring for England’ when I was setting up a social business venture nearly a decade ago). “I’d recommend they tell as many people as possible about their business, particularly if it’s service-based. I was at an end of season cricket club awards evening standing at the bar. One of the guys mentioned he’d ‘just done his back in’ and it resulted in a booking for a total of ten massage sessions! Another time I was at a friend’s party, what I do came up in conversation with someone and she later got my number from a mutual friend. I treated her the other day with potential for more sessions. Most new business comes from trusted referrals, or people I meet – as I go into their homes it’s also a safety consideration. To date my business has grown through word of mouth and I think it will continue to do so if I keep upskilling.”

Future plans

I’d like to develop the coaching side of the business. I haven’t done a course in some time and I want to get the level 3 advance coaching qualification with the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board]. I’m toying with the idea of a year abroad – cricket coaching and sports massage in Australia is one idea. It might be a pipedream, but if I take the plunge – who knows what other doors may open.”

Our conversation returns to an assessment of the impact of the pandemic on the development of Hannah Stobbs Holistic Health – the business and Hannah herself. I look back quite fondly on that time. In 2020, I’d just got back from the Cricket World Cup in Australia. I was then volunteering at a foodbank, I got really fit, and I was studying random courses online. I also started filming the daily stretches for clients… It was a good ‘pit stop’ for me and my business – it meant I had to stand back and reflect. I could then almost rebuild the business – to streamline it – when I went back.”

Images from the Time-Lord

We end our conversation with Hannah still sounding like someone who loves what she does, and knows where she’s going. “My goal is to continue growing, professionally and personally, and to enjoy what I’m doing.”

Read more about Hanah Stobbs Holistic Health

https://www.hannahstobbsholistichealth.co.uk/

Getting hands on

Lisa takes the lead – St Paws Training Academy

In advance of Small Business Saturday 2023 (2 December) I decided to re-interview – 5 years on – four women entrepreneurs I’d worked with as part of the Prince’s Trust entrepreneurship programme. I was keen to see how they were progressing since our earlier interview, particularly following the pandemic and lockdown.

Little did I realise when I started interviewing Lisa Sinnott, founder of St Paws Training Academy, that I was talking to a finalist for a prestigious business award. If I’d known I’d have worn a bow tie and polished my shoes!

Lisa has been shortlisted from over 1000 nominations down to 30, and is one of three finalists for the Everywoman Entrepreneurs award in the ‘solopreneur’ category. I’ll be crossing everything in early December when she attends a big dinner in London – well done Lisa for getting this far!

Clearly St Paws Training Academy is doing something right – but what is the business? Lisa sums it up… “I’m a one-woman business offering dog training and animal behaviour services. If people are having problems with their pets, I can help them work out the motivation for the behaviour.”

I think Lisa is diplomatically saying that her business is as much for problem people as their problem pets. She’s helping educate owners, about how different breeds behave and a myriad of other issues – people are buying her knowledge and experience. Clearly Lisa knows what she’s talking about and she confirms her professional development since we last spoke. “I did a post-graduate diploma in Clinical Animal Behaviour University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. It involved hundreds of hours of study and work experience with qualified behaviourists – I’ve learnt so much along the way and never stop learning.

Pandemic puppies

In business development terms, the pandemic and lockdown was a particularly important time for people in Lisa’s sector – working with dogs. “During the pandemic lots of people got pets for the first time. They discovered that puppies have razor sharp teeth, they pee and poo everywhere – I helped people with that [at arm’s length]. Also a lot of elderly people with pets were scared to leave the house for pet food and medication, so I offered a pet prescription service.

I had staff when lockdown started, then as everyone was at home they didn’t need pet care so much [Lisa’s earlier business focus was on dog walking and pet sitting, rather than their behaviour]. I was able to pivot the business and offer support online, including training.

I’m now working on my own which suits me. The responsibility is all on me and it takes less coordination. The business is based at home but I visit people in their homes, have a local hall for group classes (mainly for new puppies) or I’ll meet people in the park.”

Building relationships

As we talk, I reflect that Lisa’s relationship with her clients is not unlike the relationship between those clients and their dogs… building trust and respect, trying to understand what motivates their behaviour.  I think it’s a sign of Lisa’s confidence that she is honest about what she can and can’t do.

“Not all behavioural problems are fixable. Avoid anyone who says they can fix everything because an animal’s behaviour is dependent on so many different factors – their genes, previous experiences – some things we do can help, but there are no magic wands.”

Lisa’s honesty, along with her qualifications and experience and testimony on her website from happy customers, no doubt builds trust with her clients. Five years on from our first interview, I’m shocked to hear that the animal behaviour business is still unregulated with no pre-qualification or assessment for people to set up in business. 

Advice to others starting and developing a business?

“Build a really good business community around you – others with complementary skills. You won’t be able to do everything; outsource things you don’t like doing, such as finance. I have a good overview of my finances but I aim not to get too bogged down with the balance sheet, there’s a danger of over-thinking. I have a bookkeeper and accountant. I tried to do my own tax returns once, but it took so long and it was really stressful.

There’s lots of support out there for small businesses, including The Princes Trust and Small Business Britain. I’m doing the NatWest Accelerator programme at the moment which involves coaching. That support is particularly important if you’re working on your own – you can spend hours trying to work something out when you could be making a phone call instead – it saves so much time!”

As a final thought, Lisa suggests that would-be business owners should, in her words, ‘go for it’. “If you’re worried about doing something – there will be help out there. It’s probably a fulltime job, and it’s important to make time for things outside of work. I love what I do and couldn’t imagine doing anything else right now.

For more about St Paws Training Academy, and the entrepreneur behind it, go to

https://www.stpawstrainingacademy.co.uk

https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/2018/10/30/our-best-friends-best-friend

Talking to strangers

When our daughter was in primary school (around 25 years ago) ‘stranger danger’ was the big thing, probably still is, not least because it trips off the tongue so easily.

I wouldn’t have anything to do with it; I refused to bring up my child thinking that every strange man (and yes – at that time it was assumed that women weren’t abusers) should be treated with suspicion. And this especially when it was acknowledged that most child abuse is by people known to the victim. Towards the end of his life, my dad used to say that he avoided hugging his granddaughter, our daughter, in public because of what others may think. What a sad state of affairs for someone who (like many men) found it hard to show affection at the best of times.

 That said, my dad was good with words – he liked nothing better than having a deep conversation around world events (and beyond – he liked science fiction and astronomy) with anyone. What he didn’t like was making ‘light conversation’ with people and, when he was in a job that required this, he tried very hard to think up suitable lightweight topics. I once overheard him asking my mum ‘how am I doing with my small talk?’  

A reluctance to talk to anyone, let alone strangers, may of course have something to do with personality types. I’ve always maintained I’m shy and tend towards introversion (as does my wife – it’s amazing we ever got together!) But over the years I’ve come up with coping strategies to get over the shyness. What works for me is having a series of stock questions lined up for different occasions when I might be standing next to someone I don’t know. In a coffee queue at the start of a day conference, it’s ‘did you have to get up ridiculously early to get here?’ At a funeral or wedding, I’ll probably ask the person’s connection with the event. An added bonus – by asking a question to break the ice and showing interest in the stranger,  they will think I’m a terribly nice person (without knowing anything about me) – we all like to be liked.

I do think that having something in common with the stranger makes the approach much easier. I’m writing this two days after sitting in a stand (the kind with seats) at an away ground with 176 other supporters of ‘my’ football team. When you follow this particular team (I’ll keep them anonymous to save their blushes) it’s more a matter of weeping into each other’s handkerchiefs, but supporting the same team, through ups and downs, is a great way to bring strangers together. My first conversation at last Saturday’s match was with a father and son who, like me, lived locally to the away ground. My second conversation was with a bloke I’d met a couple of years before – when ‘our team’ were last in town. We reminisced about that earlier match (which we’d won!) and he even remembered where I lived. Our team lost this time, since you ask.

Talking of men not being very good at conversation with strangers, but being aided by having a common interest… Regular readers of these blog posts will know I have a passion for Men’s Sheds – communal workspaces that bring older men together to stay healthier and happier for longer by making, mending and learning. There’s a much-quoted piece to illustrate the Men’s Sheds mantra that ‘men talk shoulder-to-shoulder not face-to-face’. It goes something like this…

Put a dozen older men in a room and ask them to find out about each other. Half may chat awkwardly and the other half will stand around like they’re at a school dance. Throw in a broken lawnmower and ask them to mend it and, in 30 minutes they’ll know lots about each other, and the mower might even be mended!

The shoulder-to-shoulder theory is challenged when I’m running down a pavement with a pedestrian coming towards me. I check to see if there’s eye contact with this stranger (less likely with young people looking at their mobile screens). If there is some connection, we often exchange a word or two and a smile as we pass (usually socially distanced – a post-pandemic hangover).

Even if it’s not really talking to strangers, I think we shouldn’t underestimate the value of even brief exchanges. A long time ago, on my first day off work because of mental ill-health – something which was to dog me (Churchill described depression as his ‘black dog’) for many years – I was out walking on our local heath, trying to clear my head. A dog walker was coming towards me and as he passed he smiled and said “You’re not a runner, you haven’t got a dog – you must be doing this just for fun!” That friendly observation was made 25 years ago and I’ve tamed my black dog for the past decade, but I still treasure that smile and the brief encounter with the ‘strange’ dog walker.

Going back to the ‘stranger danger’ theme, I do think that people still harbour suspicions if someone they don’t know tries to make conversation (unless it’s having a communal moan on a delayed commuter train). It seems we need to have permission to talk to strangers and one brilliant example of how to do this is the ‘Chumbrella’, initiative trialled in Stoke nearly a decade ago. From what I remember, it started as someone (a local artist) at bus stops with a bright yellow umbrella with the hashtag #chumbrella on it. It gave people permission to have a chat (and shelter if it was raining). The Chumbrella experiment then moved to the town centre and other spaces to be used in any weather (thinks – they could have one for the summer called a ‘palasol’). Since then people have created chatty benches and friendly benches if you prefer to do your talking to strangers sitting down, so seek them out or create one locally, and get chatting!  

Further reading and resources for talking to strangers https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/06/the-big-idea-why-we-should-spend-more-time-talking-to-strangers

Chumbrella https://mrdanthompson.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/chumbrella/

Chatty benches https://nowwithpurpose.com/chatty-benches-have-a-seat-have-a-chat/

The Friendly Bench https://www.thefriendlybench.co.uk