Leader's blog

And there was a quote she posted on her social media account in December that has chimed with millions of people.

Like many other Councillors and people in public life, I’ve been on the receiving end of a fair amount of abuse on social media. But one of the best bits about being a Council Leader is I also get to see genuine kindness and compassion and this week was no exception when on Monday night, I spent the evening at the Greenwich Winter Night Shelter. The Christian charity, set up in 2015, has 290 volunteers who help make it work. From cooking, chatting or coordinating, there’s always friendly faces on hand to provide support to shelter guests. It was a true privilege to meet some of the team and all week I’ve been thinking about what a truly inspirational group of people they are - one of the very best of Greenwich. The shelter provides 15 beds for guests who are referred by different agencies and all guests get a bed for the night as well as a hot meal.

I was really struck by their life stories and individual experiences. One woman called C (short for her real name) was employed as a barista. She was helped into employment by Change Please. C spoke animatedly about her new job and we joked about our favourite coffee’s and my never-ending battle to avoid sugar.

But just imagine what it must be like to start and leave work every day and be homeless. I’ve found it impossible to comprehend, but I’ve been haunted by it every day since.

I met other people at the shelter who had severe mental health issues. And while it’s brilliant that one of the volunteers is a doctor who can provide some assistance, it can’t be right that in Britain in 2020 we have to ask our faith communities and volunteers to house people. It also can’t be right that C has a job and not a home. And it can’t be right that we now have over 4,000 people sleeping rough every night.

I am so grateful to everyone at the Greenwich Winter Night Shelter for their compassion, commitment and kindness. Without them C and the 14 other guests would not have been so well looked after that night. In a world that can sometimes be difficult to understand, it is truly uplifting to meet people whose values you not only understand but inspire and motivate you.

2020 Civic Awards

This week has ended with a similarly inspiring experience as I had the challenge of sifting through the 250 incredible applications we’ve received for the 2020 Civic Awards. I got together with our four other judges and read story after story about people in Greenwich doing truly amazing things. Young people, police officers, boxing coach volunteers and brilliant borough wide organisations. Judging was, as you can imagine, a difficult task and I wish I had 250 prizes for every single person who was nominated. But sadly, I don’t! For everyone who nominated someone, thanks for taking the time to do so. I can’t wait to welcome the award winners to the Town Hall in March, so we can celebrate the contributions they are making to our community!

You can let me know what you think about my blog via Twitter: @DanLThorpe