Tell us a little about yourself.
A seasoned eco-worrier, I keep the gloom away by keeping busy. I work 4 days a week at Haringey Council and use Fridays and Saturdays for volunteering and personal projects. It’s important to me to feel like I’m contributing. I love reading, running and cycling, and this summer I’ve done loads of all of these. Winter gives me an excuse to watch movies and play computer games so I’m kinda looking forward to winter.
On weekends I like seeing what’s on at the Barbican, the architecture makes me dizzy and happy. Me and my partner occasionally have the ‘shall we move out of London conversation’ but I despite its faults I love this city and I can’t see myself anywhere else anytime soon.
What inspired you to start hosting Restart Parties? What inspires you to keep on?
This is probably the worst reason ever – but after trying my hand as a volunteer I realised I’m just not that great at fixing stuff. I do like to fix, but I’m just not that technically skilled when it comes to either electrical stuff or computer program stuff. Being a host allows me to make up for my technical failings by being sympathetic to both attendees and volunteers. Seeing people happy keeps me inspired.
Did you know anything about tech or electronics before hosting Restart Parties? Have you learned more?
A little, I’ve always liked pulling things apart but I’ve always been a little confused by what I’m looking at. Thankfully I’ve now learned where my limits are. I’ve learned to judge pretty well who’s the best Restarter to help someone and how long the repair might take.
How did you go about finding volunteers?
Host a good party and they will come. Host another good party and they will come again.
Describe a really memorable moment at a Restart Party
It was actually a workshop on how to run a Restart Party. Someone had brought along a radio for me to look at in front of everyone. I thought it would be a disaster but it turned out to be a very simple (and very obvious) loose connection requiring no solder (thankfully, cause I had none). When the radio was switched on, everyone clapped and I was so relieved. Someone approached me afterwards and said “so come on, that was a set up right?” Some days you just get lucky!
Share something cool with us [preferably a link]