As an activator at climate and social action not-for-profit Think&Do Camden, we work on a huge variety of projects.
Among them, opening a café was a project I never saw coming! But two weeks ago, we opened a pop-up café called ‘Cholo Kha i.’ This means, Come Eat, in Bengali.
It’s open every Thursday at STCA, Ossulston Street in Somers Town.
Serving planet-friendly Asian bites, the café is being run by a team of talented local Bengali ladies who will be learning all the skills required to run their own café – most of them are working for the first time.
While we all thought it would be a worthwhile social enterprise, what we weren’t expecting were queues down the road!
But with three Bengali ‘Rasta’ snacks for £1.50, homemade parathas, mouth-watering Bengali Rashmalai cake on the menu, or curry of the day with rice, salad, and sides for £6, I hope I don’t sound arrogant when I say, Dishoom watch out!
Talking about watching out (apologies for the cheap segue), I’ve published a second book in my Eco-Romance series.
It’s an Eco-Comedy called: The High-Heeled Eco Worrier and follows the adventures of Camden eco-heroes Nat and Deb, (no relation!) as they bumble their way through a hilarious year of climate action around Camden.
Will they manage to turn a dilapidated church into a successful eco-hub? - prize, dear reader, if you can guess which church it is! Or will a scheming property developer replace the site with another private block of flats?
Fact or fiction? You decide!
The eco-worrier in me is once again going into anxiety over-drive as it’s being sold on Amazon. Amazon is the environmental campaigner’s arch enemy. Tax avoider. Encourager of excessive consumerism and pollution.
But in these times of ‘climate’ being weaponised as a public disinformation tool, it’s more important than ever that we all find ways to combat this. I hope each of you dear readers can find your own way to inspire people; to show them that getting involved in climate action is fun and rewarding and helps connect you to the wonderful community around you.
My way of doing this is to write eco-rom coms which try and reach a wider audience, including selling through Amazon, and its search engines. Plus of course, working with Thinkanddocamden.org.uk to develop great fun grassroots campaigns… which fill our hearts… and our tummies!
High-Heeled Eco-Worrier is for sale at: amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C2WQ3TJF or in Owl Books, Kentish Town.
- Debbie Bourne is head of imagination at thinkanddocamden.org.uk
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