Joe Meekel, founder of Finsbury Park Focus

AN Instagram account celebrating small businesses and local history in Finsbury Park is defying gloomy headlines about fading high streets and fragmented communities.

Whether it’s snaps of Northbanksy’s murals in the tunnel, news about jazz nights at The Blackstock, or the back story of architect-turned-hairdresser Em’s barbershop in Stroud Green Road, @finsburypark_focus is a one-stop shop for the neighbourhood where its founder, Joe Meekel, was born and raised.

Mr Meekel said: “Finsbury Park feels like a bit of a middle child – you’ve got Islington on one side, Haringey on the other, and Hackney somewhere down there.

“The idea was to take our businesses and put them on one feed, to build up a good vibe in the area. Finsbury Park is a fascinating area – it’s mad, it’s a buzz. There’s so much energy, culture and history that lives there, which makes the job easy.”

Mr Meekel, who works in TV production, had been helping local businesses make social media content for a few years before he started Finsbury Park Focus last February, when he created a short video about a “solo date in N4” – smell the roses at Bud Flowers, treat yourself to a gift at Pretty Shiny Shop in Stroud Green Road, and finish up with Thai food at the Faltering Fullback.

Since then, and supported by the Stroud Green Traders Association, the account has become his own love letter to the area.

“A small independent business is someone’s dream, they’re not just running it for the fun. But I know how hard it is – business rates going up, rents going up, I’ve seen so many shut down because the goalposts move. So it’s important to give them support in the online world,” Mr Meekel said.

Part of his motivation is to create positive content, he said.

“It’s easy to say everything is broken. But what are you doing about it? Especially online, when you see one negative story it feels like five, but you see one good thing and scroll right past it.”

As the account has grown – it now has more than 1,500 followers – he has been thanked by business owners who say customers discovered them through his page and was even praised by one commenter for successfully “romanticising the N29”, a rite of passage for any north Londoner.

He now has a never-ending list of local stores who want to be featured on the feed.

“One thing that keeps coming up in the comments is community, community, community – everyone wants that community ‘back’, but it’s always been there,” said Mr Meekel.

“Community is about having some consciousness of people around you, being aware of and supporting each other.”

In future, Mr Meekel hopes to pass the mic to more local business owners or content creators themselves, and delve into doing street interviews – all focused on making these people the “stars of their own show”.