Breadboards often have this motto and it inspired me to credit the disparate team of specialists, guests, friends and family who have chipped in somehow or helped overcome one or other obstacle along the way:
Valerie – for making a path through the Alzheimer’s confusion so I could get PoA and look after mum
Mr Davies – Landau Morley – for helping with finances
Jeanette and Helena – Carers – for helping me keep mum at home right to the very end, so she could continue to enjoy her boards, and pass away among them
Holybourne Day Centre – dementia – for giving me space to run our lives and recharge, and for giving mum space to be social and make friends
Dozens of NHS professionals across 4 hospitals and many clinics – for supporting us for 6 years through multiple health crises and challenges
Bambi Maxwell – Wandsworth Social Services – for being proactive, stable and organised during the difficult times
Ken and Tone – neighbours – who paid up front to reconnect mum to BT after she was cut off a second time for failing to pay her bill.
Charles – neighbour – ordered a mini-cab to get mum to my flat when mum got locked out after she used an old key on the new lock and jammed it, at 11:30 pm, on, yes, a stormy night…
Doug and Joyce – neighbours – who let mum stay at theirs of hours till I got back, the first time she could no longer identify which key was the door key
A passer by – who brought her to the nearest police station.
And another concerned passer by on another occasion who called the police when they found her on the streets at 2am.
Kourosh Monirzad – Fine Art Photographer – patiently photographed the collection and advised about lighting, wall colour and furniture in the museum http://www.unicaartservices.com/
Steve Crittenden – Restorer – restored gallery furniture and hung the boards painstakingly so that they all aligned and were evenly spaced
Tom Samuel – Cabinet maker and Carver – sorted through 20 boxes of research documents and helped with thrashing out theories and developments where nothing had been written before http://www.tomsamuel.co.uk/
Janice, Mike and Sue at Portobello – looking after mum when she was too frail to continue but too stubborn to give up
Brian – drove my mother’s car to the garage with no MOT, no service, no insurance, when I was trying to sort out her life, before I passed my driving test
Sue – who kept inviting her up to Lincolnshire and being a friend despite all the madness
Airbnb – giving us their endorsement, publicising our museum, organising payments, and creating extraordinary encounters
Sarah Parkinson – Meedja Ltd – designing and ordering attractive fliers and greetings cards (oh and Andy)
Bob King – Artransco Ltd – boxing everything up snugly and delivering it back in manageable waves while I was caring for mum full-time
Marty Free – Builder – for being honest and decent through the whole refurb
Dani – for her savvy financial advice on pricing the tours
Louise – for her advice ‘maximising opportunities for creating good luck’
Steph – Time Out – for coming with an open mind and giving us a cheeky write-up
Julia Bright – volunteer at Wandsworth Radio – came and interviewed mum very tactfully and sympathetically for a broadcast
Frances Allitt – Antiques Trade Gazette – gave us a warm write up
Cath Mattos – Wandsworth Arts Fringe – for giving us a trial run at opening to the public
Huon Mallalieu – Journalist – for his elegant and accurate write-up in the Times and Country Life
Chris Evans – The Daily Telegraph – for publishing our letter about Bath’s pews
JP Devlin – Radio 4 – for taking the time to visit the museum and making a very sensitive podcast about how it all happened
Nora Pate – Artist and Airbnb guest – suggested many ways to make the most of the collection including merchandising and an exhibition at Putney Library
Charlene – Putney Library – joyfully booked the boards in and suggested a launch party ‘Talk and Cheese’
ALL OUR VISITORS – who love breadboards, who appreciate the art of carving one and who ain’t afraid to show it! All your Cream Tea monies are keeping us afloat.
Nicholas – who set up this blog and maintains it.
Sylvia – for inviting us to write about the ritual and religious angle of breadboards in Parish, the magazine for St Mary’s and All Saints Putney.
Mr Hart of RHS Wisley – has most generously agreed to mount a display of floral boards for a month in their Library as part of their October WoodFest. And correctly identify the flowers, which is most valuable.
Bear huggies – sharing her lovely collection from Insatgram
Theresa Robertson – allowing us to show her photo from Instagram
Fred Strickland – sending a beautiful portrait of mum looking at a board, which he took in the last years before her business had to be shut down. He has fond memories of her giving him a lovely welcome as he came round the market with his dad who was also a dealer.
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Breathing new life into antique breadboards 