Paul McGill watering flowers at St John the Evangelist Church

THE coronavirus crisis goes on, but Islington’s community spirit continues to shine brightly. And here’s another little selection of examples of people selflessly giving their time to help others. Remember, if you know somebody who is going out of their way during the lockdown, let us know. We love hearing about these acts of kindness through such a difficult time – and we have this space reserved every week to tell the rest of Islington about them.

ARCHWAY residents Alex Curtis and Paul McGill have used their exercise time to give the garden in a local church a facelift. The pair called Reverend Alan at St John’s the Evangelist Church, in Pemberton Gardens, after they had spent a few days sitting on a bench and noticed the place needed a scrub. A friend helped source some plants and flowers. Mr Curtis, of Holloway Road, said: “We hope to be able to help the garden blossom into a beautiful, tranquil place that all local residents can enjoy by the summer.”

St John the Evangelist RC school premises manager Nick Matthias with pupils Anaih, Evelyn and Ellie, and head Stephanie Day

TEACHERS at a primary school in Angel have strung up photographs of themselves to deliver a special message to their pupils. The St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic primary school teachers are all holding up signs in the snaps which when tied together read: “Your teachers and teaching assistants at St John’s are missing you so much. We hope you are having lots of fun and are looking after each other. Most importantly we hope that you are safe and happy. We can’t wait to have you back, we can’t wait to see you.” Stephanie Day, headteacher at the Duncan Street school, said: “We are all looking forward to welcoming the children back in the coming weeks.”

Apprentice Joseph Huston-Mendy with council leader Richard Watts and Cllr Una O’Halloran

COUNCIL staff have come up with a novel idea for keeping some of the food they are delivering from a Holloway leisure centre fresh. The Sobell Centre has been turned into the Town Hall’s food delivery and collection hub as they move tonnes of supplies each day to foodbanks and community centres around the borough. In order to keep the fresh food refrigerated the council officers have started storing it in the ice rink. Town Hall leader Cllr Richard Watts said: “I am extremely proud of the tremendous work that’s been going on in our borough to help our most vulnerable neighbours.”

Coryn McGovern in his cow suit

A VOLUNTEER at Freightliners is running a marathon in a cow suit to raise money for the city farm in Holloway. Coryn McGovern, who ran the London Marathon last year, has taken on the challenge again despite the event being cancelled last month. As the Tribune reported last week, the coronavirus lockdown has meant Freightliners is having to rely more on donations and fundraisers as the income it had from its café and corporate days has been cut off.

Michelle Collins loading up deliveries

FORMER EastEnders actress Michelle Collins has been helping deliver food parcels in Holloway and Islington. Ms Collins is a patron of the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation (AWTF), which runs a clothes bank for local people and also organises the supplies that go into food parcels distributed through the Ringcross community centre to 70 families a day. AWTF has launched a food appeal for non-perishable food donations and money to keep the service open. Ms Collins said: “People don’t realise what a lifeline these charities have become for so many people in recent years.” For details on donating, visit www.awtf.org/food-appeal

A YOUTH worker who has held workshops at Hungerford primary and Beacon high schools has launched a new website with free mindfulness lessons. Tony Dallas is a trained mindfulness practitioner, “bringing attention and awareness to the present moment”, and founder of the youth charity Success Club. He said: “I am a firm believer that we can heal ourselves. Mindfulness has got me through my worst moments in life. I thought to myself, if we can get young people to sit with themselves, and listen to their breathing, maybe we could make change happen.” Lessons on the website are updated weekly and provide materials for children, teenagers, parents and teachers to practise. Tony added: “There are different things on there you can be creative with and take your mind off the current situation and, at the end of this, have you running out of it instead of sleepwalking out of it.” Visit successclub.org.uk/