The noisy neighbour who made such a racket an entire nation joined in
The unifying force which spread across the UK on Thursday night could become a weekly event
THE nationwide clap for healthcare workers started its journey on a terraced street in north London 10 days ago.
Dorothy Boswell, 67, heard her neighbours had been standing on their front doorstep every evening and clapping for the NHS, much to their daughter’s embarrassment.
Ms Boswell, who was self-isolating because of a lung condition, typed a message on a local Facebook group inviting residents to join her in the applause. “Singing, dancing and musical instruments all welcome – just make sure you keep a house width apart,” she wrote. “9pm on a doorstep near you.”
Eight people joined her on Wednesday night, and double that number the next day as the event quickly gathered pace until, just over a week later, the whole country was clapping.
“It’s a nice punctuation to what for many people will be quite strange days,” Ms Boswell told The Daily Telegraph. “You open your door, see other people, and wave to them. It makes you feel like we’re all in it together.”
A retired counsellor, Ms Boswell added that she often takes a glass of wine, saucepan and wooden spoon with her to her doorstep.
“It’s nice to feel like you’re not isolated, and to let off steam – especially for the children,” she said. “Some of us are banging saucepan lids and a neighbour has a hooter. It’s really lovely.”
On Thursday, as the nation joined in, people also set off fireworks and lit up buildings in blue in honour of the NHS.
It was Annemarie Plas, a yoga teacher, who separately started the nationwide campaign to #Clapforourcarers. Ms Plas, who had seen a similar event in the Netherlands, her homeland, created a social media invite that said, “In these unprecedented times [our carers] need to know that we are grateful.”
She said: “The cherry on the cake, Victoria Beckham, willing to open up her reach to spread the message, which made me feel, ‘OK, maybe it’s going to happen’.”
Ms Plas is calling for a nationwide clap every Thursday at 8pm. But Ms Boswell has bigger ambitions. She plans to keep the applause going every night on her street in north London. Before long, she said, it could become a nationwide singalong.
“We have a lot of good musicians in the street who play at street parties,” said Ms Boswell. “They’re threatening to bring out their guitars, banjos and make a song out of it.”
One option is You Are My Sunshine, which Gareth Malone, the celebrity choirmaster, has been teaching to Ms Boswell and thousands more in his Great British Home Chorus.
Ms Boswell, a volunteer for Future Matters, an organisation that encourages people to think about end-of-life care, isn’t scared about Covid-19.
“I’m not worried for myself even though I’m self-isolating,” said Ms Boswell. “I‘ve had a very nice life and, if it comes down to it, I would rather they gave a ventilator to a younger person.”
Instead, she thinks about her family when she applauds each night, including her son, as well as her brother, a social worker, and niece, a nurse.
“Last week, my son brought me some necessities, like sourdough, red wine and chocolate,” she said.
“It’s amazing how many people don’t talk to their neighbours. Just getting an email list of your neighbours is really worthwhile.”
Lana Harvey, a local resident, said: “It’s escalating every night. Dorothy has done a great job of rallying the troops.”
‘The cherry on the cake, Victoria Beckham spreading the message’