Made in Fulham
It never fails to surprise us what a talented bunch you Fulham folks are. Each month Urban Village Ldn introduces you to THe Fulham face behind an idea, product or business and ask them what they love about being a local resident. This month we talk to Kim Perlow from Link UP London.
How long have you called Fulham home? I moved to Fulham almost 10 years ago and have loved the green spaces and sense of community. I remember the second time I went into a shop and the owner remembered me from a week before. Prior to moving here, I had been living in the same place for 5 years and this had never happened, so I knew that living here would be different from the outset!
Tell us a bit about yourself/and your family. I am originally from New York but have been living internationally for the past 23 years. After working in Azerbaijan and Croatia on programmes developing the charity sector in these countries, I moved to London with my husband and it has now become home, and we love it! We have 2 boys ages 9 and 15 and a lovely red fox Labrador puppy who is keeping us very entertained.
What’s your favourite local haunt and why? We are so excited that Bridge Baker opened and has thrived at the end of Studdridge Street. We have wanted a really good bakery on Wandsworth Bridge Road for years and this has definitely met this need!
What is your slice of Fulham heaven and why? We spend a lot of time in South Park with our dog and have gotten to know many of our neighbours there, it’s a wonderful little gem. I also love walking along the river and in the gardens in Bishop’s Park and eventually ending up in the lovely Palace café for a coffee.
What have you missed about Fulham life during the pandemic? I truly miss going out to restaurants (and having someone else do the cleaning up!) and having leisurely coffees with friends in one of our many local cafes. However, it’s been quite wonderful to not have the constant flow of airplanes!
What local shop/service/business has helped make life easier during the pandemic? Bridge Baker continued to supply bread, pastries and sandwiches along with some fruits, vegetables, eggs and flour. Randell’s also was always well stocked. We tried to order from local restaurants to support them and were excited to find Manuka Kitchen and Brooklyn Pizza which have become family favourites along with Thaiphoon.
If you could do one thing to improve Fulham what would it be? Improve the traffic flow. It is the most frustrating thing about living here. That is one thing I didn’t miss during lockdown!
Tell us about Link UP London and how it came to be. While working at a policy organisation a few years back, I was looking to volunteer in a substantive and flexible way and struggled to find a role that fit my schedule. At the same time, at my sons’ school I met many highly skilled women who were on a career break and trying to figure out their next steps. From this, Link UP London’s Skilled Volunteering was formed so that talented women and men could contribute their skills to local charitable organisations in their communities. We aim to make volunteering easy by creating structured, flexible, time-bound opportunities for people to share their skills such as finance, legal, PR/marketing, human resources, social media, strategy and much more, with local charitable organisations. These organisations continue to experience increased demand and decreased resources but are usually unable to afford high level skills that are incredibly valuable in helping them to improve their work and reach more people. As part of our skills mobilization mandate we introduced our ReLaunch Programme in early 2018 and through small group workshops support women on a career break to identify their strengths, build confidence, define a goal and clarify their next steps. While skilled volunteering is not a necessary part of ReLaunch, we have found time and time again that taking part in one of these projects helps build confidence and remember the value of skills quite quickly. I’ve been extremely lucky to have an incredibly talented Fulham resident, Nancy Saichin, join Link UP in 2017 and she has played an integral part of launching our ReLaunch Programme and our overall strategic development.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of starting their own enterprise? Have a clear plan, build a committed support network, test your services and refine them and then go for it! If it’s something you’re passionate about, and are willing to work for, you will make it happen. Even if it’s slow at first, give it time and stay focused.
What is the key piece of advice you’d give to women looking to relaunch? Confidence is one of the things that we, as women, struggle with most. Unfortunately, as one of our ReLaunch coaches is fond of saying, there is no magic formula for people to gain confidence. It comes mainly from being willing to put yourself out there and begin to do things. Once you start, even if you stumble a bit, you will be on your way.
