Coffee mornings
Hot drinks and a warm hello at bus stops on the coldest mornings of the year.
A city-wide nonprofit · London, Ontario
London, lifted. One street at a time.
We ask Londoners what would make their city better. Then we do small, kind things about it, together, in every neighbourhood.
69.2%
London's sense of belonging, the lowest of Canada's 100 largest cities.
Belonging is the number we're here to move.
Most of what makes a city hard to live in, like rent and wages, takes governments to fix. Feeling like you belong takes neighbours. That part we can start on this week.
Everything we do comes back to one test: after we've been on your street, do you know more of the people on it?
Source: Point2Homes ranking of Canada's 100 largest cities, May 2023.
Listen · Question 01
What would make your street better?
Every month we ask London one question, at street tables and online. We read every answer, share what we hear, and turn the most common ideas into projects.
When an idea fits a City program like Neighbourhood Decision Making, we help the people who suggested it put it forward.
Your answer stays on your screen. Nothing is sent from this page. Copy it to share with us at a street table or online.
Lift
Small, kind things, done together.
A Lift is a gesture big enough to notice and small enough to repeat. These are the first ones we're planning for this winter and beyond.
Snow crews
Volunteers who clear walks and driveways for seniors and neighbours who can't.
Thank-you drive
Cards and treats for transit drivers, plow operators and hospital night staff.
Lift a Neighbourhood
One neighbourhood a month gets everything at once: a cleanup, a porch-light meetup and a kindness wall.
Today's Lift: know six neighbours.
Nextdoor's research suggests that knowing at least six of your neighbours can lower loneliness. Tap a tree each time you learn a neighbour's name.
0 of 6 neighbours
Groves
Start a grove where you live.
A grove is a small group of neighbours who run Listen tables and Lifts on their own streets, with our help. Pick your neighbourhood.
Rings: how we'll know it's working.
A tree adds a ring every year. So will we. Once a year we'll ask the same questions in every grove and publish what changed, good or bad.
- How would you describe your sense of belonging to your local community? Very strong to very weak, the same scale Statistics Canada uses, so our numbers can sit next to London's.
- How many people on your street do you know by name? The simplest measure of a neighbourhood we know.
- In the past month, has a neighbour done something kind for you? Because kindness should travel both ways.
Lend a hand.
Come once or come every week. Every Lift needs a few more people than it has.
Volunteer
Bring your hands
Pour coffee, hold a clipboard at a Listen table, shovel a walk.
Partner
Bring your space
Businesses, schools, faith groups and City councillors: host a Listen table or sponsor a Lift.
Lead
Bring your street
Start a grove in your neighbourhood. We'll help with the first table, the first Lift and the sign-up sheet.