This week, I’m handing the Camdenist Guest Editor reins over to an old friend who is doing some amazing work in increasing positive social and environmental impact here in London, and far beyond.

As he explains below, Julian Blake has gathered together some of the most interesting innovators and visionaries of our times, to see how they might collectively help each other - and you - to solve some of today’s biggest challenges. He’s leading the Impact Unlimited Summit over at Rich Mix on Wed 30th Sept.

I've always had a strong passion for events, going back to the 90s when I helped set up the charity Trees For Cities by running a series of fundraising club nights.

Partying with purpose was a pretty successful initiative, one which has quite literally borne fruit in the last few years, as the charity has now planted over 2 million trees.

That addiction to putting on events is something I’ve stuck with, whether that's running a community organisation for Hackney residents for 15 years, or working around Shoreditch and what was back then labelled ‘Tech City’, covering startups. I knew that a lot of them were doing more than just building apps to make money – many founders were looking to achieve something more meaningful, with positive social and environmental impact.

And so I grew into that space and set up a project called Digital Agenda, based around an Impact Awards programme. The idea was to get away from the often-boring format of posh dinners in a hotel around a huge table where you can't speak to anybody.

I wanted to put the founders and innovators front and centre, hearing from them about what they were doing, be it in health or education or sustainability, what drove them, and having a little party together at the end. That’s still very important.

Fast forward to earlier this year and, having spent time during and after the pandemic helping organisations set up their own events programmes, I've returned to the world of impact.

We’ve assembled a gang of brilliant partners and set up Impact Unlimited, and host our inaugural public event, the Impact Unlimited Summit, on Wed 30th Sept at Rich Mix. I’ll be co-presenting on stage with the awesome Gemma Greaves from Nurture.

This time, we’re not simply celebrating organisations making positive changes for people, places and planet. Our focus is on helping them to scale the impact they make.

When I look back, a lot of the businesses we showcased have hit bumps in the road and a lot haven’t survived. Most startups fail, and being impact-led is particularly tricky, as you’re delivering purpose as well as profit, so achieving financial sustainability can take longer.

We’ve drawn on our networks to tap into their knowledge, resources and contacts, and gathered together a brilliant community across sectors. So it’s not just business leaders and founders, but also technologists, investors, charities, government, academics and more, all interested in these issues, but also in helping others to grow their own impact.

Our Summit convenes all these people into one room for a full day of exploration, hearing positive impact stories from those that have been there and done it, and having frank conversations about the issues and challenges, too.

A key part of the day is what we’re calling the Impact Challenge, looking at how collaboration can overcome these problems. My old charity, Trees For Cities, has been faced with the challenge of newly planted younger trees surviving the droughts during hot, dry summers. This doesn’t just require water - it requires people to go out and do the watering.

The charity got together with one of our leading community members, Olio, the food-sharing app which started here in North London and has since developed into a network of over 100,000 socially-minded volunteers.

The Summit will also see homelessness charity Centrepoint looking at the challenge of getting a new model of affordable homes for single people adopted by local communities, plus the King’s Cross-based NCVO, which represents 20,000 UK charities, tackling issues around how its small charity members could adopt AI.

Other highlights include Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation talking with Ed Gillespie of the Futurenauts podcast about how it is are helping organisations with their energy transition, Sanjay Lobo, who created the UK’s largest volunteering platform OnHand, and won investment from all the dragons on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, and Guy Singh-Watson of one of the original sustainable businesses, Riverford Organic Farmers, on whether it is possible for ‘good business’ to ultimately be ‘business as usual’?

Ultimately, our aim for the Summit is to engineer plenty of serendipity by making sure everyone is in the same room; from university graduates to people delivering on big ideas and the people with money, then building in plenty of time for them all to talk with each other.

That good old fashioned thing of actually gathering together, where the introductions and connections can be quite magical, potentially sparking something that ends up making a genuine impact at scale.

Despite still not having caught up with any of their speakers for a Guest Editor slot yet this year, I’m very excited about heading back up to Kenwood for the end-of-summer delights that is the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival. The thought-provoking mix of philosophy, politics, science, art, comedy and live music takes place next weekend, 19th-20th Sept, with speakers ranging from Louis Theroux to Mariana Mazzucato and we’ve got a code that will get you a tasty 20% OFF the very last tickets…

Just enter CAMDENIST20 at the checkout and the discount will automatically be applied. But hurry, as we’re told they are nearly all sold out.

YOGA 🧘🏼‍♀️Las week, in my late night deadline haste, I failed to add a link to Kentish Town-based We Breathe Yoga, which begins a new annual cycle of foundational Pranayama breathwork, suitable for all levels on Sunday mornings, starting from this week, Sun 13th Sept. You’ll be led by trained yogi and psychotherapist Sara, exploring the relationship between body, breath, mind and the stories we carry with us. Ideal for an autumnal reset.

IMMERSIVE 👩🏼‍⚖️ In an unscripted encounter with an AI judge, humanity is on trial next week at Lightroom, as GAWD v The People debates whether we deserve to remain on Earth. Hot from the Festival De Cannes Immersive Competition 2026, there will be just 12 shows, limited to 17th-19th & 24th-26th Sept, and with audience participation shaping the outcome, each ‘trial’ will be totally unique.

SHOP 🍯 Hampstead’s independent homeware shop, Fodder, has launched The Hope Collection, a ceramics exhibition in collaboration with I Have This Thing With Ceramics, with all sales from the collection contributing 20% donation to Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust. See the exhibition from 11 different ceramicists until Sun 13th Sept and by them in the shop or online until the end of the month.

MUSIC 🎷A free afternoon bringing together some of the most compelling voices shaping the UK’s contemporary jazz landscape, Jazz Re:Fest 2026 hits KOKO this Sun 13th Sept, with Theon Cross & Friends, SULA, Marla Kether, Alex Cosmo Blake and LOX among the artists playing live.

MUSEUM 🧊 As part of the annual Heritage Open Days initiative, London Canal Museum are offering totally free entry on Mon 14th & Tues 15th Sept, where you can explore London's canal history in their Victorian ice warehouse in King’s Cross and there are free ice trade tours for adults.

MUSIC 🎤 Dutch-British songstress Tessa Rose Jackson performs in the intimate surrounds of St Pancras Old Church this Wed 16th Sept alongside a string quartet, having reimagined some of her biggest hits, including The Lighthouse With Strings and you can listen to that here.

EVENT 🗺️ The latest proposals for the 15-acre Murphy’s Yard site go on public display at two events on Thurs 17th & Sat 26th Sept at Shed 3, which is on the site itself. The consultation is also offering site tours if you register your interest in having a nose around areas that have not been open to the public for decades.

WALK 🐓 It’s Open House Festival across the capital this weekend, and as ever, Camden has masses of places to have a nosey around, but many will have long been booked up, so do check first. It includes a first look inside Gospel Oak’s The Cloud House, which looked a bit much when it was granted planning permission, but I have to say having walked past recently, does look pretty special. It’s also an opportunity for locals to take guided tours that really get beneath the skin of the neighbourhood, such as this walking tour of Somers Town led by the People’s Museum host, Diana.