So this week’s been all about romance leading up to Valentine’s Day on Friday - but for The Flower Bank our Valentine’s Day is this week when we start to receive all the unsold red roses. We held a Valentine’s Day workshop on Thursday night for 7 which was fabulous, the attendees left with 2 hand tied arrangements and a quite wonderful feeling of I’ve made this myself. Our next workshop is on the afternoon of Saturday 21st March and is entitled Kids do Mother’s Day. It’s something I did last year on the suggestion of my neighbour Tess who thought it shameful that the kids of single mothers wouldn’t necessarily be encouraged or even think of getting a gift for their mothers - unfortunately it’s an experience I know only too well. On Monday Vicky who I studied at Capel Manor with kindly donated all the materials from a wedding she’d decorated the previous day. It was lovely to see her. I was able to use the beautiful white amaryllis she’d donated straight away that afternoon with an activity of elderly residents with dementia at a care home. The conversation the flowers provoked was breathtaking with everyone recalling the flowers at their own weddings 60 years ago. One lady admitted that she’d been a GI bride and married in New York in 1946. Tomorrow we’re set to receive 15 - 16 vasefuls of donated gypsophila from an exhibitor at the national wedding show so who knows what conversations we’ll have this week!

This has got to be the busiest time of year for florists - first there’s Valentine’s Day on Friday and next month Mother’s Day please spread the word that you can love the planet at the same time as your Val/Galentine by ordering flowers from us. Last Sunday we ran a stall at our second Zero Waste market in Bounds Green - within the first 10 minutes are marquee was blown away but undaunted we continued and met some wonderful people including Simon. Simon contacted me after the market and said he’d like to take a subscription of weekly flowers from us (see picture) so for £10 a week each Thursday I leave a bouquet, we’re looking for more Simon’s. This week I’ll be flower bombing all over London so watch my social media for clues as to their location. Have a wonderful week.

Today, courtesy of my floral friend Anita (thank you) I created a coffin spray for the funeral of an inmate with no family at HMP Bovingdon. This is exactly why I created The Flower Bank to bring joy and beauty into the lives of those who can least afford it and give dignity to everyone. Promoting the concept of affordable funeral flowers is proving difficult to sell to Funeral Directors because they often have retained florists so if anyone knows somebody who would be willing to give us a chance - please send them in my direction. On Tuesday I’ve got a meeting with PriceWaterhouseCoopers - they’re coming to the shop to get a flavour of what we do and how best we can work together which is all fabulous. Last week I collected 6 crates of daffodils from a supermarket - there are 40 bunches in a crate and each bunch sells for £1 - there really was nothing wrong with them and recipients varied from Colindale Food Bank users to Stanmore’s WIZO group. Have a wonderful week I’m off to do some history homework with my youngest daughter.

I’m sending this week’s email early as I have an early start at Tottenham Green market tomorrow but I just wanted to tell you about an email I received an email last night from Angela. She explained that she was organising a memorial for her best friend Yukiko the following day and would I be interested in taking the flowers? She explained that she’d rung round endless care homes and hospitals but to no avail. I said I would be honoured and would use the flowers to spread joy and her love via flower bombing. I collected the flowers this evening and discovered from her friends that Yukiko had contracted cancer whilst undergoing IVF and had died within 3 months of diagnosis. Despite only a brief meeting I feel an enormous sense of duty to her friends to honour her memory so expect some activity over the next couple of days. Yukiko is in the photograph.

My apologies for not posting a message last week but it was sheer pandemonium setting up a stall for Bounds Green’s zero waste market. It was a trip down memory lane too as I’d lived in that area 20 years ago when Myddleton Road was neglected so it was great to see it re-generated - surprise seller of the day macrame hanging baskets! Thanks to everyone who came to see us we’ll be back there on Sunday 2 February - such is our enthusiasm for markets we’ll be at Tottenham Green’s next Sunday, 19th January should you need a quick bunch of flowers and a macrame hanging basket of course. It was back to normal this week with my activities re-commencing. Antonio the builder constructed a long wooden trough outside the shop which is where from March in partnership with Age UK and Friend in Need we’ll be running dementia friendly gardening clubs on a Friday morning - the trough will be where our seedlings and cuttings are planted once they’re germinated and established. Thanks to everyone for all your kind donations of ribbons, vases and time it’s truly overwhelming. If anyone has access to B&Q, or other retailers that I might approach for compost please get in touch. Have a great week. Ursula

As is the custom at this time of year it’s a time for reflection. I was reminded of the attached photograph when someone asked me where the flowers that I collect end up. This bootfull of loveliness was collected by me from a corporate event in the city at 5.00 am one sunny June morning. I expected that it would be a quiet collection but on the contrary the venue was teeming with hi viz vests on a tight schedule to vacate the premises within 2 hours. I did my bit and stealthily removed my allotted flowers and by 12.00 pm that afternoon the flowers had been put to good use in a workshop at Lordship Recreation hub, Tottenham. I’m extremely grateful to the lovely Jo Wise for finding us. Increasingly this year we’re picking up more flowers from corporate companies and I even have an event in the diary to collect from the V&A in September 2020. It’s been pure luck so far that we’ve been contacted by some corporate firms this year but in 2020 I’m going to target the corporates properly - as increasing our supply of flowers means that we’re able to do more in the community. Next Sunday 5 January you’ll find The Flower Bank joining the zero waste market at Myddleton Road, N11 where we’ll be one stall of many promoting zero waste and selling everything from confetti to re-purposed bunches of flowers - thank goodness the kids are on school holidays! This week the amazing Simon Lycett posted a magazine article on The Flower Bank that had appeared in a March edition of Midweek on his Instagram page, As a result I received 80 new followers and counting on Instagram. The comments that these new followers made have been incredibly heartening and humbling, more so as they are from fellow florists. Their comments co-incided with Max’s first visit, Max is the first Barnet young offender to visit us at the shop. He arrived with a grunt but after an hour’s flower arranging for his mum and nan he was positively bubbly. Flowers really do have the power to reach the parts that other’s can’t!

This week has been about inspirational older people. The gentleman featured in the photograph came to a session at Barnet’s well-being hub to create a wreath for his wife with dementia - he was a natural and needed no help from me. The next inspirational person was the sprightly 92 year old Elsa Shamash who I met as she was assembling tables for Barnet Refugee Service’s Christmas party - she came to this country on the kindertransport age 11 from Berlin. I spent a wonderful hour there meeting and watching women share dances from their respective countries. The third person has just retired at 88 from teaching yoga in East Barnet, her group thanks to their member and my amazingly supportive neighbour Paula were part of the crowdfund last year. Thanks also to Paula for introducing me to Crunchy Tales which is an online magazine that celebrates women in mid life. They’ve kindly featured me in tomorrow’s issue. One of the questions asked was the inevitable what advice can you give to others thinking about doing something similar - after some reflection I replied “Go for it - but remember you can’t do it all by yourself. I was extremely fortunate to have a wonderful group of crowdfunders last year made up of family, friends and strangers and now I’m gathering a wonderful group of volunteers.” I’m also indebted to Lucy Bridgers from High Living who took the time to visit The Flower Bank and has written a wonderful for their website http://www.highlivingbarnet.com/the-flower-bank/. Happy Christmas & Chanukah which fall together this year. Ursula

I was interviewed this week by a journalist from the Observer for an article on redundancy and it’s aftermath. I recounted how I was asked by one HR Manager mid-redundancy meeting to tell him “what I actually brought to the party” and in another organisation’s redundancy round that “my face no longer fitted’. I hadn’t thought about those humiliating words for a long time but know that I’ve absorbed them and that they’re my motivation to move mountains. Meanwhile back at the shop we’re drowning in Poinsettias and basket arrangements so if you need a last minute gift for a teacher or colleague look no further. We’ve also been making up wreaths galore either at workshops or for orders. The activities with Barnet’s community groups are growing and from January I’ll be working with Barnet’s refugee service. The photograph attached is of flower cakes created by the people who attends Barnet’s well-being hub. Thanks to Helen and Laura from CommUNITY Barnet whose social media expertise is able to capture the moment brilliantly - my New Year’s resolution to improve my social media game!!

Without wishing to sound too much like an acceptance speech at the Oscars I have a few thank you’s to make. Firstly, thank you to everyone who came to The Flower Bank opening, stall holders, visitors (all be it flying ones Floyd & Martin Laheen) the wonderful Simon Lycett and to everyone who just got in touch - we made it! Thanks too to everybody who kindly donated their unwanted coats, the photograph is of Lisa from Colindale Food Bank holding 2 of the 23 we collected. Thanks too to Lizzie Hawkins who was a complete trooper preparing and then mingling with the mulled wine and of course my sister who tombola’ed away the afternoon. Helen Harte my apologies for disastrously failing to tell you we’d cut the ribbon and for doubting the power of social media. Julie and Lesley who worked so hard in the run up and on the day itself. And finally In true Oscar style I’d like to thank my parents particularly my mother who died during the crowdfunding campaign and in whose memory I continued. I’ll be at the Arts Depot winter fair today making winter decorations, should any of you be passing please drop in.

It’s T minus 8 hours to launch and I’m excited at the prospect of meeting Simon Lycett and having the opportunity to say thank you face to face to my crowdfunders. If you do come please introduce yourself. This week has been a frenzy of preparation for this afternoon’s official launch and I’m indebted to so many people for the help they’ve given - today’s event is brought to you by a wonderful community. A few people have asked me what The Flower Bank’s opening hours will be, they are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 2 - 5 and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 11 - 5 with other times by appointment. We’ve got lots of workshops planned such as a foam free workshop to start the year in January and Kids do Mother’s Day in March but please check our website www.theflowerbank.org.uk for the exhaustive list. I’m off to erect marquees and gazebos and prepare some mulled wine. Have a lovely week. Ursula