There’s a lot to be said for a community that pulls together in a time of crisis. Earthquakes. Tragic accidents. The election not going the way you might have liked. When the going gets tough, it’s always a sign you’re amongst good folks when those around you — even strangers — pull together in the name of a selfless, common good.
Hackney Wick, and indeed many of the residents of 90 Main Yard, was recently rocked by an event such as this, one which, thanks to the tireless efforts of hundreds of local, friendly souls, ended up with a winning result.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen: I’m talking about ‘Nacho‘.
For those of you (sadly) not as up on local events, this story begins back in the heady days toward the end of April. April 20, in fact. ‘Nacho‘ — described as a “friendly but timid” black house cat by her distressed owner, Harriet — went missing.
I’m not going to lie : the telephone poles around Hackney Wick seem to get a lot of missing cat posters, but something about Nacho really tugged at our collective heart-strings. Her plight became our plight. The hunt for Nacho was on.
For several weeks, community noticeboards, Facebook groups, poster walls, discussed (practically) nothing else. Despite the traumatic circumstances, Nacho quickly became a celebrity, part of a mass-media news-cycle that just wouldn’t go away. Not that we wanted it to : Nacho needed to be found. We owed it to Harriet. Hell, we owed it to Nacho.
Within days, one of Hackney Wick’s most popular community Facebook groups started receiving reports of Nacho-sightings. These, sadly, often turned out to be false, in part due to the fact that Nacho looked like a lot of other black cats out there roaming the street, but in part because of a particularly friendly black feline named Keith. No to disrespect Keith, of course – he seems like a nice guy. But despite having a “stupidly long tail and a nick in his ear” (Source: Keith’s owner, Emma), he did seem to be the root cause of a lot of false flags, disrupting and confusing what had now become what locals were calling the biggest man(cat)-hunt the borough had ever seen.
Just as Nacho Fever reached its peak, suddenly, this week, it was over.
Nacho had been found.
According to the official statement released by those close to Nacho :
“19 days, 400 flyers, 50 possible sightings, countless tears.. 1 Nacho trapped in the ceiling of our bloody car park. THANK YOU dear Wickers for all your calls, texts & downright loveliness. You’re all ace.”
One of the greatest riches you can find in this life, is the love and support of a community you can call yourself part of. Most of us 90 Main Yard and Hackney Wick folks seem to get that – it’s half the reason we love living/working in the building or the area in general. Even closer to home, there have been times when various members of our MY90 family have had their big ups or nasty downs, but somehow, these random strangers we’ve found ourselves living and working amongst have come together with their love, support and advice, and helped them through the tough stuff.
To Nacho, and all those who were part of her safe return, we salute you.
If this is what community is all about, we’re glad to be a part of it.
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