UK housing crisis

To celebrate seven years of my photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, in which I have been posting a photo a day for the last two years, from my archive of photos covering all 120 of the capital’s postcodes, here are my reflections on how the project began, and what it has come to mean.

My pledge of commitment to the struggle to save ourselves and much of life on earth from the worst effects of man-made catastrophic climate change and species extinction, which is already underway. With thanks to those who have recently led me to this commitment: Dahr Jamail, Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough. Please get involved!

Exactly six months ago, the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, a beautiful community space and environmental asset, which had been occupied for two months by members of the local community (the Save Reginald Save Tidemill campaign) to prevent its destruction by Lewisham Council for a housing scheme, was violently evicted by bailiffs hired by the council. Here’s the story six months on.

700 days ago, on May 11, 2017, I began posting a photo a day on a new Facebook page I’d set up, called ‘The State of London’, marking five years to the day since I’d consciously embarked on a project that was very ambitious — or perhaps slightly unhinged would be a better description: to take photos of the whole of London by bike.

On the eighth anniversary of when I was hospitalised with a rare blood disease, I recall how those dark days ended up inspiring me to cycle the whole of London taking photos, for what became my ongoing photo-journalism project ‘The State of London.’

As a reader-funded journalist, activist and photographer, every three months I ask you, if you can, to make a donation to support my work, as I do not receive any sort of institutional backing for it. Any donation you can make, however large or small, will be very gratefully received.

On my birthday, my reflections on the destruction of all the trees in the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, a community garden that I have been fighting to save as part of a local campaign, which reflects a London-wide and countrywide struggle against a cynical ‘regeneration’ industry facilitated by Labour and Tory councils.

A link to, and discussion of the Dissident Island Radio show I took part in with filmmaker Nikita Woolfe, to promote ‘Concrete Soldiers UK’, the documentary about the housing crisis, directed by Niki, which I narrate, and ‘Inspire2Resist’, the new handbook to assist those facing ‘regeneration.’

Promoting the latest screening, at the Rio Cinema in Dalston, of the documentary film, ‘Concrete Soldiers UK’, directed by Nikita Woolfe, about the housing crisis in the UK, which I narrate. Do get in touch if you’d like to arrange a screening.

Please support my work as a reader-funded investigative journalist, commentator and activist. If you can help, please click on the button below to donate via PayPal.   A week last Friday, the Save Reginald Save Tidemill campaign — which I’m part of, and which is trying to save a community garden and a block of […]