The day begins. Grunt. The phone rings. I wave goodbye to the journalist who swishes past, out and away.  It’s  a call from The BBC Radio 4  from Saturday Live. It’s a long phone call about tomorrows guests.  Sunand Prasad the head of RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects and Wibka Bruhns  whose book My fathers Country was serialised on radio fours book of the week. Her father was in the  failed plot to kill Hitler.  I make notes.  I shall be sat with them both, live on air,  in front of two million listeners tomorrow and for the broadcast  I must write a poem that may connect them both.  Nice. 

In no time I’m on my bike  racing  to Soho. I enter the  The Gay Hussar  and walk up a challenging  Georgian staircase into a  private dining room where about ten people are standing drinking wine and water. I grab a glass of water. Eventually I sit round the table with six  Angels. These Angels contribute thousands and thousands of pounds to Arvon.     I once went on an Arvon course  at 17/18 years old (1986) and have since taught at least fifteen public and closed courses there. The next one is in June.  It’s open to the public and advertised on my webpage.  The Director of Arvon is here and various Arvon workers.

I think I’m here as  a sort of ambassador for its incredible education programme.  The other writer/ambassador  at the lunch  is Mathew Hollis , editor at Faber and Faber and writer in residence at The Wordsworth Trust.  Nice guy.  My time came to make a short talk.  I waxed on about the education programme and its  redeeming properties.  It’s only afterwards that I realise that the event  wasn’t for the education programme. They were angels for Arvon as a whole. Feel like a fool!  After a venison ghoulash I get on my bike chained to a post outside the restaraunt and  return to  hackney. Love it all.