A Final Push!

Map drawn by Adam Dant

Thanks to your generosity, over the past month we have already reached over 90% of our target and now we have until midnight on Monday to raise the final £400.

The amount of goodwill has been truly uplifting with over three hundred and fifty supporters so far from across London, UK and the world.

If you know of anyone who you think might like to help, please drop them a line this weekend or forward this email to your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues.

Tours will commence at Easter and run throughout the summer.

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

A FEW SELECTED COMMENTS FROM OVER 100 BY SUPPORTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

There are more stories to be told about Spitalfields and I want to hear them !

Jonathan Pryce

Wishing you great success!

Hallie Rubenhold

It is wonderful to be able to support such a lovely project telling the true human stories of the people of the East End of London. Thank you to The Gentle Author who has brought us so much pleasure to start our day with such a gentle morning blog . This Community Tourism Project is a privilege to contribute to. It is going to be a real enhancement to this part of London. I love London. I am a Londoner I proudly have my name on the Globe, the Millennium Bridge, the National Theatre, the William Morris Gallery. We are proud to be in the stones of London.

Jane Jewell

My father’s family came from the area. My great-grandfather who was a cabinet maker had a workshop off Brick Lane and met his wife there. The Gentle Author deserves our support for this wonderful work revealing the history and characters of the East End.

Novel Entertainment

Oh what a truly wonderful endeavour – I think Polly, Annie, Elizabeth Catherine and Mary Jane will be soo glad and proud and relieved too wish they were here to join in … perhaps they will…

Sophie Thompson

Another brilliant initiative from that most gentle of authors and showing a steely determination not only to push back against naff exploitation tourism but to practically offer something much more interesting.

Iain B

I am pleased to support this project. I have ancestors who lived and worked in Spitalfields in the weaving and carpentry industries. My paternal family owned a furniture business in Old Castle Street. I have a 5x great grandfather who was a Master Weaver trading in Grey Eagle Street.

Sarah Cartwright

What a great idea. I’ve long thought that the emphasis on the negative sides of London’s East End was a bad thing for both the people of the area and education. This will go some way towards righting that wrong.

Marie Nicholson

We wish you every success with these tours celebrating the rich and diverse history of Spitalfields. They will be a superb alternative to the awful and exploitative tours which troop through the area in their fifties and more. Thank you.

Jonathan Critchley

Sharing stories of real people is so important. It will help ‘populate’ this incredible area with figures from the past in our imaginations; and I know that The Gentle Author will genuinely represent that past with accuracy too!

Ngaire Bushell

Yvonne Cheyney, Southern California follows the Gentle Author each day. Her sister, Audrey Kneller, was featured in one of the stories about Elder Street and the Jewish East End. We look forward to going on one of the tours in the future.

Yvonne Cheyney

This is an absolutely necessary project, and one I support with every atom I have. Although I am not from the East End of London, or even the UK, the opposition to the darker and sinister tours of the same area, this project by The Gentle Author needs all the support possible.

Sebastiaan Eldritch-Boersen

It’s very simple really – the truth does set us free – so we need to learn the truth about the world we have all come from. And it is an amazing story.

George Staw

Best of luck to you, from Arizona!

Leah Wolfe 

Thank you for your much needed example.

Susan Thorne

Have been reading your blog for many years and now want to walk with those beautiful words in my head.

David Warwick 

Great project and initiative – which should have a really positive impact in ensuring the amazing story of this special area of London is properly shared and in a sustainable way. All the very best.

Howard Davies

In honour of our Gentle Author

Ellen R Sippel 

I worked on Fashion Street for seven years — it’s a fascinating area, with a fascinating history, and deserves so much more than the ghoulish tours. I do hope you get this project off the ground.

Andrew Beaven 

Dear Gentle Author, I totally support your cause to share the extraordinarily rich history of the people and buildings of Spitalfields with a wider audience and to take back the subject matter from the ghoulish, crowd-pleasing topic of Jack the Ripper. I have for years brought groups for tours of Spitalfields with Charlie de Wet but at present, she is, as you may know, unable to do them but I have an audience who would love to discover the important history of Spitalfields on one of your tours. Very best wishes with the project.

Sue Stamp

Hello from Australia. Always read your ‘feed’. Best of luck!

Jim Carroll 

You are the only person, Gentle Author, to tell my school life story on a public site. You gave me back my dignity and heralded my poetry. Thank you.

Andy Strowman

Thanks from a Canadian fan for all the entertaining stories about the life and times of the people & places in Spitalfields.

Bonnie Burgess

Particularly admire your calling out the misogyny which is all too endemic and has to be challenged. I hope you wont overlook, by name, the profound influence of many out and proud same-sex attracted people in the neighbourhood through the ages.

Richard Kirker 

It is so important to celebrate the many and varied individuals who live and work in Spitalfields. It has a rich history that could add so much to the understanding of those who visit London. Spitalfields must not continue to be defined by the murderous acts of one vile individual.

Vivienne Palmer

Wonderful endeavour. There is so much history of creativity, beauty and also pain and poverty in our area. It will be lovely to see this told well, as inimitably it shall be. Thankyou.

Linda Wilkinson

I’ll probably never get a chance to do one of your tours (Vancouver, Canada is a LONG way away), but I am happy to support you.

Susan Henry

What a brilliant idea. My ancestors lived in Spitalfields, some were silk weavers, and I’d love for people to learn more about their way of life that doesn’t revolve around a certain serial killer or the workhouse! Wish I could chip in more, but good luck!

Helena Smith 

There is so much more to the Spitalfields area than Ripper tours. A strong change of focus is an excellent idea. We are happy to support with our best wishes.

London Historians

This is REALLY important work led by a person of great integrity with a genuine commitment to his community and home area. Its brilliant to have something really positive for Spitalfields and Spitalfields people happening and be able to support it.

yellowferret 

From across the sea: When my grandsons (now aged seven) make their first visit to London in a few years’ time, I want to be able to place them in the hands of the Gentle Author! I have so much enjoyed the blog and the books.

Heather E Cole 

Three cheers for the Gentle Author’s tour of Spitalfields!

Julie

This is a great initiative to hear the real voices and experiences of real East Enders! #SaveBrickLane

Saif

Man, what a great idea. I’ve always thought Jack the Ripper tours were gross, and I’d love to go on something like this.

Jean Ping

So glad to see The Tour about to become available to everyone who wants to walk in the footsteps of Spitalfields past, present, and future. We Torontonians may not get there this year but we’ll hold onto the tickets. Thank you, GA, for all you do for your blog followers and the residents of London! All best wishes to you.

Linda Grandfield

I’m happy to help. I regularly (at least before the pandemic) bring university students with me to London. I’m looking forward to booking a tour when we return to traveling! The blog is fabulous and can’t wait for the tour.