Charlie Kitto

I love this country. I love London with everything I’ve got. It’s the greatest city on Earth or at least, it used to be. And I’ll tell you this now: anyone who says London is safer today than it was ten, fifteen years ago is lying through their teeth. I’ve worked these streets my whole life. Grafted on market stalls since I was a kid. Rain or shine, cold mornings, long days I’ve done it all over London and the surrounding counties. It’s in my blood. I don’t know anything else and I don’t want anything else. I love the graft, the energy, the people. I love giving someone a proper deal and seeing them walk off with a smile. But it ain’t safe out there anymore. The streets have changed. And not for the better. Honestly only just Fifteen years ago, you had better community. You had characters. People would stop, have a chat, laugh with you. You had respect. Now? It’s a lot colder. It’s more hostile. It’s tense. You get people arguing, stealing, mugging. I’ve had more fights in the past few years than I ever did when I started. And for what? Just trying to earn a living. And it breaks my heart to say this but London don’t feel like London no more. The police ain’t on the beat. The people are scared. And it’s the older generation I worry about most. Their joy was getting out to the market, having a cup of tea in the café, seeing familiar faces. Now they’re prisoners in their own homes and they are too frightened to walk down their own street. That’s not the London I grew up in. That’s not the London I love. London has fallen. But I’m not giving up on it. I still believe in this gaff. I still believe in its people. And I believe it can rise again. But we need change. Real change. We need safety. We need pride. We need leadership that understands the streets, the markets, the working class. People like me. Because I’m not here to moan. I’m here to fight for what’s right. And I will never stop fighting for this gaff, for London. because it’s my we’re my family are from, it’s the absolute governor of a place, and it deserves better. It needs a bit of love. Who’s joining me? Bosh❤️🇬🇧

These self-isolating residents dance in the street together every day