Social Enterprise: @RiotCleanup London

This is about an immediate response from Londoners to start to piece their communities around the Capital together. It is a little bit of social enterprise and one of the best things to come out of the recent events. As a Londoner I have personally witnessed this City devastated after days of riots. So as thousands of Londoners embrace the social networks to help reclaim the streets this is a big positive. UK Celebrities like actor Simon Pegg and comedian Dave Gorman got behind the growing online movement, as users shared information on the worst affected areas and posted pictures of volunteer clean up teams.

Twitter and Facebook have become the perfect mediums to organise this social enterprise solution to clean-up. The @RiotCleanup Twitter page has collected more than 50,000 followers in less than ten hours. It is consistently broadcasting cleanup locations and times, along with other relevant information about the initiative. Those using Twitter to co-ordinate clean-up efforts are calling themselves the 'Riot Wombles' and are also using the hashtag #riotwombles to arrange meeting times and places. One, with the username Ladypaperclip, wrote: 'Sitting in the bus lane outside the station with dozens of #riotwombles waiting for the police to let us into #claphamjunction.'

While on Facebook, a similar page promoting this initiative of social enterprise has been set up as the main location for information along with its website riotcleanup.co.uk. Everything created within 24 hours. The woman behind the site is a website creator who is a resident of rural Shropshire, England and says, "I was sitting at home following the #londonriots hashtag then I saw #Riotcleanup start to appear. I am not in London, but wanted to do something. Near enough simultaneously, I registered riotcleanup.co.uk as someone else got the Twitter account @Riotcleanup going. I just knocked something together as fast as possible and uploaded it!"

These human stories of social enterprise are positive and heartening, and it is this one in Peckham High Street that I want to share. Members of the community arrived armed with cleaning equipment to help restore order in the aftermath of the riots. About 20 people with dustpans and brushes offered small businesses help cleaning up their destroyed lives and stores. One woman in her 20s said: 'I was devastated when I saw what happened last night. 'I was really angry so I thought I'd channel my anger in a constructive way. 'We have never met each other before we just spoke on Twitter this morning. Twitter can be used for good."

Experts have warned that the riots which broke out across London and other cities have caused 'tens of millions of pounds' of damage. Despite massive clean-up operation getting under way in affected areas, the Association of British Insurers said the total cost could run into the tens of millions. Thankfully this has not deterred Londoners who care and who are coming together to prompt a sense of community and social enterprise.

Photo Credit: hughepaul