The translucent hues of a semi-precious stone much prized across Asia and readily imported over generations by the British, have given the latest phase of residential development London Dock its name.
Jade Wharf in Wapping is part of St George’s 2,000-home scheme and presents buyers with 99 apartments to choose from ranging in size from studios to three-beds.
Prospective purchasers can expect floor-to-ceiling windows and kitchens set out with oak herringbone flooring, stone-effect worktops, a choice of colours and integrated smart appliances.
There’s also a Curators Collection of apartments that feature add-ons such as app-controlled security and Alexa-controlled lighting and music.
Bathrooms will boast free-standing marble basins and stone floors.
St George, which is part of the Berkeley Group, will also be undertaking extensive landscaping for residents to enjoy, promising a “calming and tranquil” communal garden with water features, trees, plants and places to sit.
Facilities at the development include The Club, which boasts a gym, squash court, virtual golf suite, swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room as well as a private screening room.
Properties at Jade Wharf feature balconies overlooking landscaped gardens
lounge around
Freshly launched alongside Jade Wharf is the scheme’s Mauretania Lounge, offering residents a wealth of facilities themed on a 20th century ocean liner.
Extending to some 6,000sq ft of space, these include a private dining room, an observation lounge, a drawing room and a Palm Room dedicated to relaxation.
St George managing director, Marcus Blake, said: “The London Docks was a bustling area of discovery and travel in its heyday and we have carefully honed this spirit into the creation of our latest collection of homes in Jade Wharf.
“The combination of artfully designed apartments, private gardens and hotel-style amenities, nestled between two of the largest financial centres in the world, creates a captivating offer for buyers.
“An established and friendly community, London Dock is already home to many residents who love the harmonious balance of living amongst 7.5acres of tranquil open space, just moments from the hustle and bustle of some of London’s most dynamic neighbourhoods.”
The Mauretania Lounge will open alongside Jade Wharf
building a community at London Dock
As a major regeneration project, London Dock already offers a selection of on-site amenities including established hospitality businesses such as Champagne Route, Urban Baristas, Slurp Noodles and Motherdough for pizza.
As well as a pharmacy, there’s E1 Crossfit and the recently launched Club Pilates (see Page 12) for those seeking to boost their fitness levels.
Located within walking distance of Shadwell DLR and Overground stations and Tower Hill Tube, the development also benefits from its proximity to the attractions of St Katharine Docks, Tower Bridge and the Tower Of London.
Residents can also easily walk to Whitechapel or Aldgate East for more restaurants, bars, shops and connections to the Elizabeth Line and District and Hammersmith And City lines respectively.
An artist’s impression of the main staircase at the Mauretania Lounge
key details: Jade Wharf at London Dock
Prices at Jade Wharf range from £715,000 to £1,335,000. Interested parties can call the sales team on 020 3966 6164, email sales@londondock.co.uk or visit the London Dock Sales and Marketing Suite at Arrival Square for more information.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
First there’s a visit to the cloakroom where all coats and bags – yes, even the small ones – are surrendered.
Clutching my phone with the precious QR code ticket, I move on to the next stage where I am guided into a dimly-lit waiting area, with an array of tables, each with six chairs.
I sit down with my companion and the other chairs are slowly taken by strangers.
We exchange the odd nervous smile or titter while we are told a little about the experience.
Shoes and socks must be removed, there will be no speaking to each other but also no jump scares.
We then progress to the final stage where shoes are removed and headphones donned and our party waits nervously for the red light to turn on – an invitation to enter the experience.
Through the door we enter a small room with six chairs gathered around a pendant light.
We sit and a voice in my headphones tells me there will be periods of total darkness as we make our way through Viola’s Room.
Audiences explore Viola’s Room on foot
To test our resilience, the light goes out. It’s pitch black and my body’s reaction is primal as my other senses and imagination attempt to fill the void.
The hairs on the back of the neck stand up, confirming the stereotype.
The bulb comes back on and we’re told to make our way into the experience, to follow the light.
What happens next is like stepping into a fairytale.
The story – narrated by Helena Bonham Carter – plays out in front me as I wander through a series of different scenes.
The world is surreal and wondrous and while the plot isn’t complicated, it’s interesting enough emotionally to engage me.
This lack of complexity is especially welcome on the occasions when I’m awed by what’s happening around me and miss a couple of sentences.
The set itself is huge. I find myself at the head of our group, wandering through the labyrinth of walls made of sheets, waiting for lights to appear and guide me to the next location.
Sometimes I am too quick and hover at a crossroads in darkness, waiting for illumination.
At one point, I imagine this is how Lucy must have felt, pushing her way through fur coats in a wardrobe, then fir trees beyond as she entered the land of Narnia.
The darkness provides both a slightly unnerving atmosphere and serves to exaggerate the tingling feelings and emotions created by the story and the startling sets.
The lack of shoes, similarly, creates a certain vulnerability while giving another dimension to the experience.
When, even in the context of immersive theatre, do you ever reach down and touch the floor?
What’s fun about Viola’s Room is that while I know, logically that I am in a warehouse in Woolwich, part of my brain thinks I really have stepped into another world. I know I’m basically enjoying theatre performance, but it feels like I’m in a ghost story.
The experience lasts about an hour but feels much shorter time. I emerge, blinking, back into normal life and grinning at my companions.
It’s been a bonding experience, though no-one has said a word. Conveniently, Punchdrunk’s bar – The Prop Room – is right there for debriefs and cocktails.
It’s a halfway point to linger just a little longer in the fantasy before rejoining the real world. Who wouldn’t want that?
5/5
Viola’s Room: A Christmas Tale is booking now until December 23
key details: Viola’s Room
Viola’s Room: A Christmas Tale, which features an updated festive soundtrack alongside the original plot and narration, is set to run from until December 23, 2024.
Tickets for either show at Woolwich Works start at £28.50 per person.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
“I’m hoping to meet other people, see the things that are going on here, hear stories and make work about them,” said the Forest Hill resident.
“I’ve already met the guys who are restoring the SS Robin and heard about their backgrounds in blacksmithing, cabinet-making and carpentry.
“That research will evolve into finished pieces and there will be an exhibition of those.
“Part of the project is also to run workshops too, although those are still being arranged.
“What is certain is that I’ll be hosting Stitch And Talk sessions at The Orchard Cafe.
“It’s about being here, meeting people, drawing, stitching and seeing what comes out of that.”
The stitching is key to Emily’s practice as she uses appliqué embroidery and silk organza to create her pieces.
Taught to sew by her mother, it’s a style that’s emerged from her background as a crafter.
Emily at work on one of her pieces
a journey through materials
“I grew up in a family of makers and designers and I was passionate about art and making growing up,” she said.
“I actually went to study wood, metals and plastics at Wolverhampton University and it was only in the third year of that course that I started making fashion accessories in textiles and metal.”
Unsure what direction she wanted to pursue, she dabbled in leather work and shoe-making but ultimately found the processes restrictive after the comparative artistic freedom of her university course.
Building on the success of her degree show she managed to secure funding to start a small business making high-end handbags in London.
“That really took off and it was very exciting,” she said.
“It was ironic because I’d been quite intimidated by fashion students when I was doing my degree.
“But I did well because I was interested in materials.
“My bags were featured in Vogue and other magazines, travelling to Paris and Japan.”
After a decade of making, Emily changed direction when she had children, taking a “convenient” admin job.
While the handbag trade was unpredictable, she realised how important having a creative outlet was to her and began making work about her family.
“I used silk organza that I had from making the bags, initially for my own pleasure – portraits in what I call flat-work because they weren’t three dimensional like the accessories,” she said.
“That evolved as well. I went on to do portraits of kids who lived in our street.
“Through Craft Central in Clerkenwell I reconnected with Bridget Bailey who had been on the fashion scene making hats and was repositioning herself as an artist too.
“We got chatting about doing a collaborative project and I wanted to make a portrait of her, but she was quite shy about that.
“That got us thinking about other ways you could depict an artist, so I made a self portrait of her and me by depicting our pin cushions.
“I then did a whole project with seven contemporary makers, meeting them, talking to them and making portraits of them through their tools.”
Emily’s art combines embroidery with translucent layers of silk organza
making work
Emily’s practice involves the combination of delicate stitches – each done by hand – with the translucent, ethereal finery of her chosen fabric.
“It feels really good to say that I’m an artist – I’ve now been doing it longer than the time I spent making the bags,” she said.
“It’s lovely to meet other makers and make work about them.
“There are a lot of artists in the world who may not be working in contemporary craft, who may be quite hidden, and I’m interested in those people.
“I did a nice project with a boatyard in Lymington because it had a really interesting apprenticeship scheme.
“There I took photographs of the people and talked to them, and made work about them.
“Since doing that, I’ve been trying to get a project where I’m embedded and get to know the people better, and see how the work evolves.
“That’s how I came to apply to Trinity Buoy Wharf – they really liked my work and the projects I’ve been doing and selected me for this residency.
“Here I feel there’s lots going on behind closed doors, and I’d like to know what that is.
“The really exciting bit is not knowing exactly what’s to come and what I’m going to make while I’m here, engaged in this project.”
A piece depicting a tradesperson’s tools
key details: Emily Jo Gibbs
Emily Jo Gibbs is artist in residence at Trinity Buoy Wharf for the next six months, culminating with a display of her work during London Craft Week in May.
Dates are yet to be confirmed.
Emily will be hosting drop-in Stitch And Talk sessions from 10am-noon on Tuesdays in November 2024 at The Orchard Cafe in Trinity Buoy Wharf.
These are for anyone interested in creating some art or finding out more about her practice and are free to attend. Materials and ideas provided.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
“The success of our company is down to the success of our customers – if they don’t succeed, we don’t succeed,” said the CEO and co-founder of Bombe.
For Mike, delivering that success means using data.
Having spent much of his career crunching numbers and utilising tech to help boost political campaigns for the likes of Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan – inspired by Moneyball, a book by Michael Lewis and later a film that highlighted the importance of using metrics to drive a run of wins on the baseball field.
After working at the National Education Union for several years and running its campaign to improve teachers’ pay, he saw a commercial niche for the techniques and tech he’d developed to deliver results in the political sphere.
Bombe, named for Alan Turing’s codebreaking Second World War machine that deciphered Enigma messages, was born and Mike quit his job in March this year to run it full-time.
the basis of Bombe
“Our thesis is that there is a lot of data out there which tells you what people are doing, but it’s not that interesting for a lot of businesses because you want to know why people are doing what they’re doing,” said Mike, who is based at Level39 in Canary Wharf’s One Canada Square with his rapidly growing team.
“This kind of machine-learning approach has been absent from products I’ve experienced in my career in marketing.
“I’ve been using machine learning for well over a decade – people think AI is ChatGPT but that’s just a powerful iteration of it.
“The technology has been around for a long time.
“When setting up Bombe, which is strictly non-political, we looked at the market, did an analysis of where we would fit, then developed our data proposition, working with our polling partner Deltapoll.
“A lot of people are obsessed with technology, but it’s not about technology, it’s what you use it for.
“Our tag line is that we’re trying to build the best audience and data targeting model in the world and I think we’ve done that – so do our clients and that’s why they’ve chosen to use us.
“If you’re a business we can tell you for every postcode in the country the likelihood someone will purchase from you and the price they’ll pay for your product.
“Companies may have huge amounts of data, but they don’t necessarily know who is purchasing goods or services from them. That is a necessity.
“We’ve built a number of persona sets to reveal what is actually driving people’s decisions using machine learning.
“Those groups have been battle-tested with our clients and that has propelled our success.”
Commuters come in and out of Canary Wharf Jubilee Line station – image I-Wei Huang
delivering a return on investment
The idea in some senses is simple.
Bombe’s service tells businesses where best to concentrate their marketing to deliver the best return on their investment.
“What our clients are buying from us are models,” said Mike.
“We make our own data – we’re not buying it. It comes from interviews, from machine-learning models, from statistical techniques, from battle-testing and then spending hours making sure it all works.
“However, how we’re doing it is less relevant than whether it works for our customers. What matters is what’s driving their sales, their top line, whether you’re going up or down and how you can change that.
“What we do is tell our customers why their revenue is where it is.
“Some of our clients are seeing results that are 85% better with Bombe.”
Initially the startup is working with medium and large-scale businesses, but plans to launch products for smaller companies next year.
Bombe is open for business
“If you are selling to consumers, come and talk to us,” said Mike.
“Our mission is to help everyone who wants to engage with their audience to be doing it through us.
“We take great enjoyment and pride in doing that.
“We have a team of about 20 people, and we’re growing strategically, which is very important to us.
“We don’t want to grow too quickly, but we are offering something unique and different.
“We’ve seen the market reaction to that and that’s helping us to make sure our product is the best.
“We have to have the best data and we think we do, but we can’t rest on our laurels – the market is changing so quickly and we want to make sure that our customers continue to come to us.
“We think we’ve got an incredible team and Bombe would be nothing without the people working for it.
“Starting the business was a leap of faith.
“It’s hard, it’s tough, there’s always a challenge, always something to solve and always something more to do.
“You’ve got to be level-headed, have a strategy and a team to deliver it and I think we do.
“That’s really where our success has come from.
“Our clients need to see that they’re getting value, seeing an increase in their revenues from our product and that’s when we succeed.
“That’s what drives me to make sure that’s happening.
“I work extremely hard and don’t do much apart from that and look after my young son at the moment.
“If you want to start a business, you’ve got to be all-in.
“Your staff, your investors and your customers need that. If you’re not prepared to do that, don’t start a company.
“I don’t think there’s been a learning curve with Bombe, it’s just hard work. Success is 1% idea and 99% hard work.
“We want the best for our customers, so we’ve got to keep pushing. I like my work so I have no problem with that.”
success and growth
Bombe has attracted clients through the reputation of Mike and his team as well as press exposure.
The company also hosts webinars to showcase its data.
“Most of our work has come from people coming to us,” said Mike.
“We’ve got a growth strategy team who have significant commercial experience and they’re doing a really good job.
“We’re doing a number of webinars over the coming months to showcase what we do via LinkedIn.
“The first will be on November 19 at 11am with Joe Twyman, co-founder of Deltapoll and will reveal key insights into the shifting patterns of Londoners’ transport habits, using the latest data from TfL.
“It should be really interesting for readers.”
Transport links played a part in Mike’s decision to join the tech community at Level39 in Canary Wharf too.
“It’s a really buzzy area,” he said.
“I came to Level39 a few times before I took space here and they’ve done a great job with it.
“It’s a really interesting environment, with so many events and the view is fantastic.
“The wider area is also great – the shopping is amazing and the food offering here is the best in London.
“It’s incredibly accessible, too with the Elizabeth Line.
“It has changed the way a lot of people behave in the capital and between it and the Jubilee Line, pretty much anyone can get here, so that makes Canary Wharf good for recruitment, good for the company and good for clients.”
setting goals
It’s also not a bad environment from which to target fast growth – former Level39 startup Revolut is set to put its name atop YY London in Reuters Plaza in the not too distant future.
“Our objective is to be the best in the world,” said Mike. “We believe we have the best data, and we think that means the market will respond to it.
“Our ambition is to grow rapidly as a business, if that happens and we have the investors backing us and the team to do that.
“We want to be a name that rings out alongside the other market leaders in the space, and we think we’ll do that.
“Perhaps people reading this will be sceptical.
“There are thousands of data companies in this country. What I would say is come and talk to us to understand how we are different.”
key details: Bombe
Bombe is based at Level39’s One Canada Square offices in Canary Wharf.
It currently offers a one-off Targeting Package for businesses priced at £5,000 aimed at telling clients where and what they should be saying and who it should be directed at to best reach their audience.
The firm’s £25,000 yearly package includes monthly reports specific to the client’s industry and access to its platform and AI dashboard on an ongoing basis.
At £5,000 per month, clients also get a strategy manager to run campaigns on behalf of their business.
Those interested in its services should email contact@bombe.io for more details or visit its website.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
It would be nice to think that those living in the prosperous capital of a G7 country would have access to pretty much the best stuff in the world.
But it’s clear London is lagging behind in some areas.
A recent visit to Tokyo left me agog at its bullet trains, spotless streets and high quality cuisine.
Its urban planning makes the City look like a rather unambitious provincial backwater.
Then there’s the astonishing level of hygiene facilities – plentiful and mostly free – in a culture that really wasn’t content for the evolution of the toilet to essentially stop with the invention of the manual flush in 1596.
A trip to Wapping made something else plain – that the UK is also behind on certain health and fitness trends.
Pilates is clearly starting to have a moment in London.
It’s really the extra kit that makes the difference.
Mat-based Pilates sessions are not so rare in community centres across the country.
But studios that allow groups of people to stretch and strengthen their bodies on equipment such as the spring-loaded reformers, Pilates chairs and springboards are far less common.
Club Pilates has opened its third UK branch at London Dock in Wapping
seeing an opportunity
It’s a niche Club Pilates is looking to fill.
Founded in San Diego in 2007, the business has expanded to more than 1,000 locations globally via a franchising model.
Offering classes for up to 12 participants, the Gaughing Square facility is packed with Pilates paraphernalia and offers locals a range of classes to cater for all fitness levels and ages.
Jada-Rae Poku, master Pilates instructor and director of sales, marketing and education at Club Pilates
Club Pilates: a one-stop shop
“It’s an all-inclusive, one-stop shop for all your Pilates needs,” said master Pilates instructor and director of sales, marketing and education at Club Pilates, Jada-Rae Poku.
“We’re an American company, founded in California by Allison Beardsley whose mission was to bring Pilates to the masses.
“Historically, it wasn’t accessible to many people, so, by having more equipment, she could have more people at one time and that brought the price point slightly lower.
“It’s about community and bringing people, who might not otherwise take part, into the practice.”
Jada-Rae is currently splitting her time between the States and the UK, having been with the business for seven years.
“At school I did track and field, and my first experience of Pilates was in rehab from an injury – I was a high jumper,” she said.
“I was planning to become a physical therapist, but found Club Pilates along the way, and now I’m involved in the management of the business as well as teaching the practice.
“Having started on the sales team, I was working to open up branches on the coast of New Jersey, then in Irvine, California.
“I also run a certification course at Wapping for people wishing to become instructors themselves.
“We offer a fully comprehensive Club Pilates certification for everything you can see in our studios and those who complete a course can take those skills wherever they like.”
Of course, with a further 47 branches of Club Pilates expected to create some 900 jobs across the UK, those 500-hour programmes could well be a route to employment with the company as it grows.
Jada-Rae takes a class at the Wapping branch
a little history
That interest in this country is increasing feels especially apt given the exercise system’s roots.
Born in Germany, Joseph Pilates had overcome childhood asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever thanks to a passion for exercise and martial arts.
Having become a gymnast and bodybuilder, he moved to England in 1912 and earned a living as a circus performer and a self-defence instructor for the police.
However, when the First World War broke out he and many other German citizens were imprisoned through the Government’s policy of internment, first at Lancaster Castle and then on the Isle Of Man.
It was during these periods of incarceration, teaching his fellow inmates wrestling and self-defence, that he developed the fitness regimen of mat exercises that evolved into Contrology, the basis of modern Pilates.
He taught thousands of men his methods during these years.
While the evidence is inconclusive, the spring systems used to create resistance in his Reformer machines may have been inspired by those in the frames of the hospital beds he helped to rehabilitate injured prisoners of war on.
He returned to Germany after the war but decided to emigrate to the USA, meeting his future wife on the crossing and dedicating his life to teaching his method and spreading its benefits from their base in New York.
Club Pilates shares that mission as it expands to the country where the exercises it teaches had their genesis.
Exercises on the Reformer are often performed on the back making them accessible to people of all abilities
a warm welcome at Club Pilates
“People can expect super-friendly, smiling faces, here to make sure they have the best experience,” said Jada-Rae.
“There is a lot of equipment and it can be overwhelming, but we’ll make sure you have a full-body workout – that you move your spine, feel good and get stronger – in every class.
“You’ll always be working on the stabilisation of muscles, mobility and flexibility, which are all needed for proper functional movement.
“I go to a gym as well and, when I have a solid Pilates practice, I’m not getting injured as frequently and I’m getting stronger more quickly, because I’m rehabbing my muscles in the Pilates classes.
“You’re able to push more if your muscles are more limber, so it’s great for any movement practice.
“Pilates is life-changing. It’s great for rehabilitation, it’s low-impact, so literally everyone can do it.
“The method is a very controlled and precise way of moving your body – we’re very focussed on the mind-body connection.
“The more you do it, the better you get.
“It’s about engaging every single muscle, so there’s a lot to take in when you start, but it becomes easier and easier.”
key details: Club Pilates in Wapping
Club Pilates is located in Gaughing Square at Wapping’s London Dock development.
New clients can take advantage of an early Black Friday offer and purchase three classes for £30 via the link below.
Membership options are also available with prices ranging from £150 to £299 for unlimited classes.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
Having filled the stairwells in One Canada Square with a sea of green last year, Wharfers are once again being invited to take on the tower to raise money for charity.
A spectacular view across the capital and the knowledge that the cash you’ve raised will help save surplus food from the bin and be redirected to feed Londoners in need.
The Felix Project’s Will Savage, right, completes the climb last year
a surge in need
“We’ve experienced a real surge in need this year, and we know that winter is going to be really tough for many people across London,” said Will Savage, head of corporate partnerships at The Felix Project.
“We are London’s largest food re-distribution charity.
“We rescue high-quality surplus food that can’t be sold and would therefore go to waste and deliver it to about 1,000 community organisations, such as food banks, homeless shelters and primary schools – all working on the front line to feed people who are experiencing hunger in the capital.
“A lot of that work is done locally in Tower Hamlets where we deliver to more than 100 organisations and dozens of primary schools.
“We know that more than half of working families are having to turn to food banks to put food on their tables.
“Unfortunately it is a problem that’s getting worse.
“We’ve moved from a pandemic straight into a cost-of-living crisis and we know that’s having a devastating effect on communities across London.
“We also found in our survey that one in four working families are struggling to feed themselves, and for one in seven that’s a daily struggle.
“This demand means many food services are buckling under increased pressure and that’s why The Felix Project wants to save more food and feed more people.”
This year’s event is set to take place on December 8
how the Santa Stair Climb contributes
To do that, like any organisation, it needs both cash and volunteers.
In addition to an entry fee, climbers commit to raising £300 each for the charity – a sum that could provide 825,000 meals for Londoners in need should the maximum number of people take part.
“It’s a really great way for people to support our work and help feed Londoners in need,” said Will. “I went up last year and it was amazing.
“When you’re at the bottom, 1,031 steps feels like a lot but it was great to get to the top and to see the support that was there.
“It’s Santa-themed, so we provide a Felix green Santa outfit for everyone in the spirit of Christmas, which also recalls the fact that Santa was green originally.
“There’s a fantastic atmosphere at the top and beautiful views. Participants’ families can even come along for the celebration.
“We’re hoping as many people as possible sign up this year because it really will have a huge impact on what we can do.
“The climb takes about half an hour to complete although that will vary by who’s taking part.”
The Felix Project gathers surplus food that would otherwise go to waste
filling the stairwells
Last year saw hundreds of participants take on the challenge – a mixture of corporate supporters and individuals.
“The Santa Stair Climb is both challenging and rewarding and Morgan Stanley is looking forward to taking part again this year as we continue to support The Felix Project,” said Anish Shah, Morgan Stanley’s managing director, global capital markets.
Will said: “We know CWG aims to achieve net zero by 2030 and one way is to help reduce food waste.
“In the first year of the Canary Wharf Green Scheme, we got seven restaurants signed up.
“In practice, teams of people pick up food from retailers and outlets based on the estate and they take it by bike or electric van directly to organisations who are feeding people in the vicinity.
“In that first year we saw 118 individuals volunteer with us, which equates to 26,000 hours of work and this meant that over 6,900kg of food was redistributed.
“That’s about 16,500 meals that we’ve been able to rescue and save from going in the bin.
“The mission to tackle the twin problems of food waste and hunger really resonated with me – it’s why I wanted to join the charity.
“Seeing what it does, it’s not difficult to understand it’s very valuable.
“I remember going to our Park Royal depot at the time to meet the team and see what it was about.
“Seeing the volumes of really high quality food that would have otherwise gone to waste made me think how insane it was that this resource was available but could have gone to landfill, even though people are hungry.
“Having been here for four years and seeing the need is still growing, I know there’s still much more that we need to do.
“I’m really proud to play a small part in that mission.
“You never quite get used to the idea that food would have been thrown away if it wasn’t with us.
“It’s great that The Felix Project is there to redistribute it and make such a difference to people’s lives at the same time.”
Slots are still available for the Santa Stair Climb so Wharfers can play their part in supporting the charity’s work.
The Felix Project is also looking for volunteers on an ongoing basis to support its activities.
The charity distributes food and meals to charities and organisations across London
case study: EastendHomes – why the Santa Stair Climb matters
>> The housing association provides homes to people based in Tower Hamlets.
In early 2020 it started offering a food service to just a handful of residents but now supports around 225 households a week.
EastendHomes’ community engagement manager, Paul Wilson, said: “We get new people each week.
“The hardest thing for us and our volunteers, is when we have to send people away.
“That is always dispiriting, but at least we are doing what we can.
“The service we provide could not happen without the ongoing support of The Felix Project.
“We would not be able to afford to give people this food – if each bag is just £10 worth, it would cost thousands of pounds a week to fund.
“That’s why it’s so important that Felix gets more support and funding, because it means we can do this and fewer people get turned away.
“This service is helping. We supplement people’s budget and that might give a family a bit of slack in the autumn to buy their kids school uniform, a pair of shoes or a treat for a child.
“All parents want to do that whenever they can and Felix is permitting that, it’s wholly positive.”
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
Its 2024 Open Studios event offers visitors the chance to meet resident creatives, hear the stories behind the objects they have made and perhaps to do some shopping.
This year, Cockpit Arts will extend its opening hours, with sessions running from 4pm-8pm on November 29 and from noon-6pm on November 30 and December 1.
It has more than 175 residents spread over sites in Deptford and Bloomsbury, working in disciplines from fine jewellery and ceramics to woodworking, fashion, textiles and even antiques restoration.
I sat down with Ashley Gerling, Cockpit’s head of marketing and digital, to find out more:
what’s the history of Open Studios?
It’s been running for nearly 15 years, providing collectors and lovers of fine art and crafts the opportunity to visit makers in the studios where they create their incredible work.
what’s new this year?
We’ll be welcoming back several Cockpit alumni who will be exhibiting and selling their work.
We’re also planning a cross-site exhibition of some of our makers’ most exciting new work and are offering half-price admission for local residents.
Cockpit’s studios are located at Creekside in Deptford
what can visitors expect to see?
An authentic look behind the scenes of a working makers’ studio – seeing the spaces where craftspeople work.
They’ll be able to discover pieces in progress and, in Deptford, visit our shared leather, weaving and woodworking hubs where makers have access to specialist equipment and the chance to work at scale and collaborate on new projects.
Open Studios is also a shopping destination, where you can buy pieces direct from makers while learning the stories behind each one.
why is the event important?
Open Studios is important as it not only provides our makers with a chance to connect with collectors, curators, buyers, students, other craftspeople and the public – it’s also a chance for Cockpit to share its work.
Cockpit is the only remaining specialist craft studios in London.
Despite having helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in contemporary craft, it remains a hidden gem.
Maker Darren Appiagyei shows members of the public some of his creations
are there any new makers?
Ten new makers have joined Cockpit since our last Open Studios, including leatherworkers, weavers, textile designers, basket makers, jewellers and a sculptor specialising in mould making and casting.
who’s your longest-standing maker?
Sally Lees, a jewellery designer and enameller has had a studio at Cockpit for more than 20 years.
Several of our Bloomsbury makers are coming up on their 30-year anniversaries.
which makers are creating a buzz?
Wood sculptor Eleanor Lakelin – a Loewe Craft Prize finalist, whose studio is at Cockpit Arts in Deptford – opened her first solo exhibition in London this summer and was commissioned by The Fine Art Society to create a series of vessels for its Extinction Collection using 875,000 year old wood found at Happisburgh beach.
One of sustainable fashion designer Phoebe English’s dresses was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum Of Art’s Costume Institute this year.
In other news, she recently showed her latest collection, entitled Cloud Cover, at London Fashion Week.
JIhyun Kim’s Salty Fairy Ring series at Cockpit
key details: Cockpit Arts Open Studios
Open Studios is set to run at Cockpit Deptford on November 29 from 4pm-8m and on November 30 and December 1 from noon-6pm.
A three-day pass for the event costs £25. General admission is £10, while visitors can get on the Friday for £5. Children, 16 and under, go free.
Cockpit Arts Deptford has undergone a £3.42million project this year to revitalise the former 1960s council office next to a railway viaduct on Creekside.
It came about after the site was under threat in 2015 from a mixed-use development plan.
Cockpit commissioned Cooke Fawcett to unlock the potential of the premises and the project won the support of Lewisham Council and the Mayor Of London’s Good Growth Fund.
Completed in June, it includes London’s first Craft Garden, a new public entrance and a café.
The garden was designed by Sebastian Cox and features furniture from his first outdoor dining range embedded into a textured landscape intended to emulate Deptford Creekside’s environment.
Plants have been selected for their use in craft processes, including willow, used in basketry, and madder, used in natural dyes.
The new entrance includes artwork Head, Heart, Hand created by Cockpit-based artist and designer Amber Khokhar, in collaboration with the local community.
It celebrates stories and characters from the local area across 1,300 hand-glazed tiles featuring nearly 100 hand-drawn illustrations as well as a series of tiles showcasing more than 40 locally spoken languages.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
Even before his final, rousing performance as the Evil Queen last Christmas, Anthony Spargo had begun grappling with Dick.
The veteran villain will, this year, be in his 11th season as the baddie at Greenwich Theatre’s annual pantomime, having also taken over writing the shows in 2022.
It’s a daunting task, with work beginning on the panto of Christmas future even before the curtain has fallen on the current offering.
“I was writing bits and coming up with ideas for Dick Whittington And His Cat, while we were doing Snow White in 2023,” said Anthony.
“What’s great about that is you’re in the right mindset and the physical space – you can start thinking about what we might do with next year’s story and then ideas spring to mind.
“Uncle Steve is in the dressing room with me and, between shows, we’re able to discuss those ideas and start work.”
Steve Markwick (the aforementioned ‘Uncle’) has been musical director for the annual pantos for the past 19 years and returns, alongside artistic director James Haddrell who, well, directs.
“Every year, the three of us sit down for a tete-a-tete and go through which pantos we’d like to do,” said Anthony.
“I’m already thinking tentatively about what we might do in 2025 and we haven’t even started this one.
“I just love it – creating the shows from the beginning. It’s great fun and it beats working for a living or doing a proper job.
“We get to escape into it for two or three months every year. It’s knackering, but it’s so enjoyable.
“We all have to look after each other and it becomes like a family.
“Acting in one of the longest festive runs does take a physical and mental toll.
“We have to make sure we take our vitamins, not have too many drinks and get our sleep.
“But you get into a routine and it’s lovely.”
Anthony as the Evil Queen in Snow White – this year he’ll be King Rat in Dick Whittington And His Cat
a twist on Dick Whittington And His Cat
While Anthony – who plays supervillain King Rat in the show – is remaining traditionally tight-lipped, audiences can expect a “mind-blowing” cliff hanger at the end of act one that takes the show in a completely different direction in the second half.
“When you start writing a panto, there’s the moral – what it teaches us and all that,” he said.
“Dick Whittington is a rags-to-riches story. Our hero comes to London with his cat to seek his fortune, because he’s penniless.
“Usually things go well and, after a bit of an adventure, he does do well.
“But I’ve always thought that telling kids everything will be OK if you can become rich and famous, isn’t quite right.
“So, I’ve mixed things up a bit.
“Act One is traditional, setting up all the characters and, while Dick does come to London to seek his fame and fortune, he realises that’s not the most important thing in life. It’s friendship and love.
“A person with a handful of friends is rich indeed.
“Instead, in our show, it’s King Rat who goes on the journey to find fame and fortune, but discovers it doesn’t really lead him anywhere – we’ve inverted things a bit.
“It wouldn’t be a Greenwich panto without a twist – last year it was the Seven Dwarves using a B-52 Bomber to melt the Evil Queen’s ice palace with salt from their mine.
“No-one remembers that from the original story.
“Fortunately, James is really cool and when I ask him whether we can do things that are weird and whacky, he usually says: ‘Great, we should do it.’.
“The audiences we get are amazing because no matter how mad we thought it might be when we’re making the show, they go with it, revel in it and that’s just so lovely.
“That gives you so much confidence to be silly and stupid.”
Louise Cielecki, seen here as Mutley in Robin Hood at Greenwich Theatre, will also be in the cast
familiar faces returning
Anthony has also relished writing for some familiar faces, who will return to Greenwich’s stage for the production.
“One of the characters is Tommie The Cat, who’s played by Inés Ruiz, fresh from her role in Beauty And The Beast at the theatre over the summer,” said Anthony.
“She’s Spanish and, while it wasn’t my original intention to have that as the character’s nationality, we’ve incorporated it.
“So now Tommie is Spanish, she’s got castanets and it adds another level to things.
“Louise Cielecki is also back as King Rat’s sidekick Muffy Mouse.
“I know her well now, as she played jester Muddles in Snow White and Mutley in Robin Hood, and it’s lovely to write when you can hear the words in an actor’s voice.
“I’m really looking forward to working with her again.
“I’m also looking forward to my scenes with the dame.
“I can’t tell you the name of the character because it would give too much of what we’re doing today, but we’ve cast a guy called Phil Yarrow in the part, who Uncle Steve knew from another production.
“He’s really good – an affable guy – and, rather than feeling the need to do a stand-up routine in the audition, he was all about the script and the character.
“That fits perfectly with what we do here – first and foremost we’re about story. King Rat has quite a few scenes with him and I’m really looking forward to those too.
“It’s such an intense thing to do, it’s important that we all get on whether it’s the musicians, the cast or the crew.
“Having had such a weird time over the Covid years when we had to pull back on set design and the cast, it’s wonderful to properly be back, following on from last year.
“We’ll be having the revolving stage back again, which we had last year – and that helps really make the show.
“We always get a lovely response from the audience and that was especially true last year for Snow White.
“As for next year, I can’t reveal which show we’ll be doing but we’ve been talking about Peter Pan.
“I’d also love to have a go at Jack And The Beanstalk, which would be great fun and nothing is set in stone.
“Until then, I can’t wait to take on King Rat.”
Anthony Spargo as the Sheriff Of Nottingham in Robin Hood
key details: Dick Whittington And His Cat
Dick Whittington And His Cat is set to run at Greenwich Theatre from November 22, 2024, until January 5, 2025.
Matinee and evening performances are available.
Tickets start at £15.50 with restricted view. Standard tickets start at £32.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
Perhaps, if a weighty tome hadn’t fallen off a shelf onto the head of Bethany Sharp’s mother in a bookshop in Frinton-On-Sea, her daughter would never have discovered A Kiss For Cinderella.
“When I was 12, I was into old, weird plays and I was given this very big book of JM Barrie’s plays, which I found fascinating,” said the interim deputy artistic director at The Space on the Isle Of Dogs.
“He wrote so many fantastic pieces, although you wouldn’t perform a lot of them today because they’re too strange.
“Very few of his works have survived with such fame as Peter Pan, but many were very popular.
“Quality Street, for example, gave its name to the chocolates, despite there being no chocolate in the play at all.
“It’s a romance and they borrowed the costuming and put it on the tin.
“It’s kind of an anti-Peter Pan because there’s no magic in it – although we won’t be telling that explicitly to the children who come to see it.
“It’s not a pantomime, but it is very funny and very snowy.
“The play has the elements of something like It’s A Wonderful Life – being grateful for things in the best possible way.
“The festive season can be a time for gathering round and traditional storytelling.
“People often ask if we have shows for families and we do a lot of that kind of thing at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf.
“But I think there should be a festive play here at The Space. It’s a building where lots of people feel at home.”
A Kiss For Cinderella is set to run from December 3-15, 2024
family friendly: A Kiss For Cinderella
Suitable for ages eight and up, Bethany has adapted A Kiss For Cinderella for the 21st century and is directing the production.
“It was written in 1916 and is set in that year in a poorer part of London,” she said.
“We’ve put it in the East End and it’s about a girl who has been made to think she’s Cinderella by her employer, a posh, patronising sculptor.
“She takes this to extremes because she doesn’t have much hope in life and convinces herself that a fairy godmother will come, grant her a wish and that she’ll marry the Prince Of Wales.
“She’s slightly deluded, slightly unwell and indulging in a fantasy.
“The magic stuff does happen, but it’s all in her mind. Then it turns into her convalescing and discovering she’s not the real Cinderella.”
Set against a backdrop of the First World War – with Zeppelins bombing London from the skies – the fear of death from above proves a key plot point in the piece.
“Cinderella is actually harbouring illegal immigrants – she shouldn’t have a set of children she’s looking after in war time, but she’s desperate to help people,” said Bethany, whose love of the performing arts began with a trip to see a panto at the age of three.
“She’s very good-hearted, but she’s incredibly poor and can barely feed herself let alone the children she’s taken on.
“Then a policeman turns up to investigate the sculptor who has a light on in his apartment, fearing it might attract the bombing.
“He is very suspicious of Cinderella but eventually falls in love with her.
“Not all the best aspects of the police are in this person – he’s very gruff – so it’s also a transformative story for him as he changes a lot of his opinions along the way.”
The show will run at The Space in Westferry Road on the Isle Of Dogs
a darkness alongside the light
In similar fashion to The Snowman and A Christmas Carol the play contains darker elements, but nevertheless promises audiences much more than misery.
“The main thing to say about it, is that it’s very funny,” said Bethany.
“JM Barrie is very underrated as a comic playwright.
“The jokes in it are fantastic and we’re having a physical comedy director to bring out a lot of the more visual material out.
“There’s a ball scene, for example, which happens in Cinderella’s brain – it’s her idea of what such an occasion might be like.
“George V is handing out party bags with sandwiches in them and she’s been to see a horse show so she imagines the women are lined up to have their teeth examined.
“It’s all a bit confused because they are the best things she can imagine.
“There’s also a lot of class criticism.
“It’s clear that the posh sculptor has set up a lot of the problems, although he is redeemed by helping Cinderella out.
“It’s not an angry class comedy, though – it’s all very subtle.
“It is ridiculously layered and detailed – I’m hoping it will come together as a lovely Christmas entertainment.
“We’ll be performing it in the round and the atmosphere changes when that happens.
“There’s a scene where the policeman meets the children and they all sit down together – it’s really nice and I hope people will feel that.”
comfort and joy
Bethany, who is also a stand-up comedian, writer and actor, said she hoped the production would leave people with a sense of warmth.
“I would like people to feel very comforted, which is not often a very popular thing to say with theatre,” she said.
“I come from comedy and I think everyone should be happy by the end.
“Obviously, it’s great, if they’re crying and emotional, but I also want them to be comforted as well.
“I would like people to have laughed and appreciated the darker bits too.
“There is a strong message of love, comfort and hope, even if we know what the ending is going to be.”
A Kiss For Cinderella is a co-production between Bethany’s company On Point and Space Productions and is set to play for two weeks on various dates at the start of December.
Tickets have just gone on sale, with purchases contributing to the work of The Space, which supports and champions new writing in theatre.
key details: A Kiss For Cinderella
A Kiss For Cinderella is set to run at The Space on the Isle Of Dogs from December 3-15 with shows on various days at 7.30pm, 2.30pm and 4pm.
Audiences can pay either £10, £16 or £25 for tickets to support the production.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
“Close your eyes in the darkened auditorium of Wilton’s Music Hall this autumn and you will truly believe there are virginal Victorian women on stage,” said Sasha Regan.
But, once you open them, you will actually see young men dashing about as swarthy swashbucklers one minute, then fluttering across the stage as petticoated ladies, the next.
Her new production is set to run at the Wapping venue until November 23, 2024, and challenges its cast to sing everything from falsetto to bass.
“When they become girls, there’s no drag, wigs or fake boobs,” she said.
“They have these little white corsets and skirts and it’s about trying to keep it very innocent and fresh.
“You have to steer them away from the RuPaul idea of what a woman is – really sexualised and quite overt.
“These women are good girls and when they meet these sexy pirates for the first time, that clashing with the innocence is a really lovely moment.
“We had to teach them to walk with books on their heads, like the old days of etiquette and be very dainty, which is where the humour comes from.”
Sasha Regan with some of the cast
an all-male The Pirates Of Penzance
She got the idea for the show as a 20-something running The Union Theatre in Southwark, a venue she set up in 1998 using a Prince’s Trust loan and that still exists today.
“I think it came from the fact I’d done an all-female version of HMS Pinafore at school when I was about eight,” said Sasha.
“I was trying to find interesting things to do and the beauty of Gilbert and Sullivan is there’s no rights to it any more, so you have freedom.
“I was thinking about how to take something a little bit dusty and refresh it, to bring out the humour. I imagined what it would be like if a boys school put on a production.”
That inaugural show, first performed to an audience of 50, drew gasps of horror from the traditionalists.
“We had Gilbert And Sullivan Society members coming in sitting with scores on their laps and there was a bit of an uproar,” said Sasha.
“But we won them all over and now we’re in their newsletter.
“I think if you respect something and do it well, people can’t complain too much.”
Acclaimed all-male productions of HMS Pinafore and The Mikado have followed and the 52-year-old was recently awarded the Special Achievement Award at the Off West End Awards for her contribution to musical theatre.
The Pirates Of Penzance, the show that started it all, still has a special place in her heart and cast members have returned again and again over the years to return it to the stage.
However, this new version by Regan De Wynter Williams Productions – the company Sasha has co-run since 2008 – will feature a line-up of fresh blood, including many recent graduates.
“This is the first cast with only one person that’s been in it before – David McKechnie who plays the Major General – so it’s a whole bunch of newbies,” said Sasha.
“We always do availability checks on previous cast members because it’s a bit of a family but they’re all working right now.
“It wasn’t a choice but it’s really refreshing, because we have almost started from the beginning and brought new ideas in.”
The production is currently running at the Wapping venue
casting the show
Finding actors who were up to the challenge was no easy task.
“They need to be able to play multiple characters – the pirates, the policemen and the sisters- and be able to sing in falsetto and bass and dance, because we treat it like a musical rather than an old fashioned operetta,” said Sasha.
“It means we have to search a little bit harder but casting director Adam Brown did the rounds of the performing arts schools and he had a list of agents it was advertised through.
“When we did the workshops we had them do quite simple things like: ‘You’re these Victorian girls and there’s a muddy puddle and you’ve got to get over from that side of the room to this one’.
“It was quite funny because they were all so high-pitched and I had to tell them we’re not all like that as woman.
“Falsetto was a lot less common when we started, but now it’s part of the voice that people do at drama school, probably for things like Jersey Boys.
“It is getting easier to find men who can do it.
“Sam Kipling, who played Mabel last time and is now in Les Mis, has been popping in and helping this cast and handing down his tools of the trade to the next generation.”
In these days of equality and equity and women fighting for more time on stage, why not stage an all-female version?
“With all-male we can get the full vocal range,” said Sasha.
“If you close your eyes, you wouldn’t know that they’re not girls, which is quite stunning. They are singing top Bs.
“Most of our creative team has been female and mums. We’ve got Lizzy Gee as a choreographer.
“Her baby was about six weeks old when we first created the show and the designer – Robyn Wilson Owen – is now a children’s illustrator and has got children.
“My little one was three when we started.
“So it is a female team looking after their own kids and dealing with childcare at the same time as creating something with a room full of men.
“It is a fun dynamic.”
Men play all the roles, including the women
evolving The Pirates Of Penzance
Sasha said the show had definitely evolved over the years and, this time around, Lee Greenaway from the original cast was working as associate choreographer to help avoid stereotypes.
“Back when we started it was just all a bit bonkers.” she said.
“Some of the boys were wearing pearls and earrings because that was their idea of what a woman should be.
“Now it’s much more refined and less ridiculous.
“The Pirates Of Penzance is already physically funny and then if you’re a male identify person in a white corset, long dress and ballet shoes, that is funny in itself.
“So then you don’t really have to pretend to be that gender or it becomes like Carry On and actually not funny.”
The set is also pared back, using just wooden blocks and imagination to create a pirate ship, with the auditorium as the passageway the sisters take through the Rocky Mountains into the spotlight – Sasha’s favourite moment of the show.
“You can hear them before you can see them,” she said.
“When they all arrive on the stage sometimes we have to stop for a moment to let the laughter finish because the vision of all these boys in skirts is so magical.”
The Pirates Of Penzance is by Gilbert and Sullivan
going against the grain
How does she imagine the late great writers themselves would react if they were in the audience?
“I think they would laugh,” she said. “We totally respect their score and script and they were satirical and poked fun at the government and went against the norm.
“I’ve definitely gone against their norm and I think they would respect that and enjoy it.”
This is by no means her first time at Wilton’s having toured there almost every year since 2010.
But Sasha hopes to attract a new generation to the “magical” theatre with this production.
“I would love to think that when people watch it, they don’t realize they’re watching a really old fashioned piece of theatre written in 1879 because it’s so fast-moving and physical,” she said.
“We do get a lot of return customers.
“People bring their kids or grandkids, because it’s very innocent, old fashioned fun.
“That, for me, is an achievement of knowing these shows aren’t going to die out.
“I haven’t become bored with them yet and our audiences haven’t either so I’m hoping this time we get more young people coming in because we have this younger cast and we can introduce them to Gilbert and Sullivan’s work.”
Tickets for the show start at £10.50
key details: The Pirates Of Penzance at Wilton’s Music Hall
The Pirates Of Penzance will be at Wiltons Music Hall until November 23, 2024, with shows at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
