Henley to Reading
A solitary ten mile walk from Henley to Reading was the perfect opportunity to reconnect with my riverside meditations on inequalities in prosperity. NESsT is providing both financial and non-financial support to social enterprises in Eastern Europe and Latin America and thus bridging that divide between the prosperous and the disadvantaged. The world has changed since my last walk two years ago, and unfortunately on the whole the divisions between the haves and have nots have broadened during the COVID pandemic. We must hope that the current inequalities in vaccination and world health will be quickly and fairly addressed. NESsT has remained active throughout the pandemic providing its much needed support to social enterprises. I’m pleased to note how these social enterprises have tackled adversity through their adaptability and resilience.
My starting point was Henley, with an average house price in September 2021 of £864,290, and my destination was Reading, average house price just under half that amount. Vaccination rates in Henley stand at 81.1% of the population at 18 September 2021, contrasting with Reading’s 50.5%. Would my walk along the Thames reveal noticeable social differences even in the ten short miles between Henley and Reading? How would those differences be magnified with a window into the lives of NESsT’s social entrepreneurs? Poverty kills. Investing, incubating and transforming businesses to bring dignified employment saves lives.
Along the river, a self-important heron caught my eye and nodded to allow me to go on my way. He owned that fish-rich stretch by the marsh lock. Setting anthropomorphisms aside, I felt both a sense of respect and responsibility towards the wildlife living along the river, both contributing to and exploiting the Thames. This wildlife appears to have adopted a sustainable approach to its husbandry of the river. Speaking relatively and generally, we humans haven’t done much to destroy the beauty of the Thames on this leg of the walk. It is peaceful and surprisingly uncrowded. There was little litter, hardly any tarmac or barbed wire and a bittersweet lack of lock-side teashops. From a landmark point of view, I’d struggle to point out any really noteworthy features to you. The best part of the walk was its restfulness and the feeling of endurance and constancy it instilled that was so reassuring as we in the UK at least emerge from the worst of COVID. We need this endurance. We need this constancy. We need to support those in the world’s poorer economies in their sustainable endeavours as they show true resilience and ingenuity in tackling the challenges the last 18 months have brought.
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About the NESsTing Upon the Thames blogs:
This journey combines a number of my interests: London and its history, entrepreneurial businesses, ambling along a riverbank, and thoughts about how to cope when things go wrong.
In early April of 2020, I was appointed to the UK Board of NESsT, a charity I’ve followed and supported for the last decade. NESsT provides finance and business expertise to fledgling social enterprises in emerging economies. It helps people into dignified employment.
I admire the way NESsT engages and mentors those with drive and vision in creating jobs and improving lives.
In terms of charitable giving, alongside disaster and crisis relief, I believe in the longer term goal of providing the means for people in need to take charge of their own futures and to be treated with dignity and respect as partners.
Have a look at the rest of NESsT’s website.
I enjoy a relaxed walk and a companionable en route chat. The Thames Path offers a great balance of industrial and rural landscapes with a continuous theme of the power and value of riverside existence. I’m looking forward to seeing London’s varied life from the water’s edge.
These thoughts of resilience bring me neatly back to thinking of the common threads uniting NESsT and the Thames - lifelines to the entrepreneurial.
Wish us luck in our enterprise!
About Claire Wilkinson:
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Payden & Rygel Global Limited
Payden & Rygel Global keeps me busy during the days and I'm also delighted to be a Board Member of NESsT UK, the charity supporting fledgling social enterprises in communities in need in Eastern Europe and LatAM. I founded and chaired the Private Equity Lawyers Forum, now approaching its 20th year. I like to keep up to date on ESG/RI matters, especially through my links with Invest Europe where I teach the Foundation Course.