Tim Arnold, 'Save Soho' founder and singer/songwriter - Londoner #77

Tim Arnold has Soho running through his blood - he is the third generation of his family to have worked in the area (his grandfather was a comedian for Paul Raymond, his mother a dancer at the windmill). He makes a living as a singer/songwriter and is the founder of Save Soho - an organisation campaigning to protect and nurture iconic music and performing arts venues that are disappearing at a terrifying rate. 1000 LONDONERS This film is part of 1000 Londoners, a five-year digital project which aims to create a digital portrait of a city through 1000 of the people who identify themselves with it. The profile contains a 3 minute film that gives an insight into the life of the Londoner, as well as their personal photos of London and some answers to crucial questions about their views on London life. Over the course of the project we aim to reveal as many facets of the capital as possible, seeing city life from 1000 points of view. www.1000londoners.com    / 1000londoners   www.facebook.com/1000londoners Twitter: @1000_londoners 1000 Londoners is produced by South London based film production company and social enterprise, Chocolate Films. The filmmakers from Chocolate Films will be both producing the films and providing opportunities to young people and community groups to make their own short documentaries, which will contribute to the 1000 films. Visit www.chocolatefilms.com Transcript: What is it I love about Soho, well it starts with coming from an unusual background, often feeling like I didn't fit in to places. You know, I'm a vegetarian, I grew up in a gay household, my grandmother was a midget. Soho's always changed and that's a great thing. But the way it changes is to add layer to layer to layer and overtime you put a new layer on, you don;t get rid of the layer that came before. That's why it's so amazing. At the moment, what we're seeing is people removing layers to put on something else that basically nobody wants. Nobody benefits from these changes. You know, a lot of people from all over the country that don't fit in, often find a home in Soho. It is good for people watching. I'm not nosy but, I am actually. No I'm not. My Soho welcomed eccentrics. That's me. I'm a singer/songwriter and the founder of Save Soho. I meet people in Soho all the time. Now more than ever because of Save Soho. What were battling is really asking the government at the moment to change the national planning framework so people can't just come in from the outside and start messing with this amazing square mile. I just want to say to everyone that feels Soho is being ripped apart: it is by some people and we're trying to fight that where we can. Madame Jojo's was closed down for lots of different reasons but the owners of this building who are friends and are an important part of Soho have every desire to reopen it with the same ethos that it was opened with originally. I started working at a restaurant on Great Windmill Street in 1994 and proudly told my mother that I'd got a job as a chief and she said to me on the phone "what street is it on?" and I said Great Windmill Street. And she said "well that's where I used to work". I found out that it was the same street that my grandfather worked on as a compere and comedian and my mother started her career as a Windmill dancer at the Windmill Theatre. When I found out that that's where my family had been for a long time, I started feeling like I belonged somewhere. Is it possible to sum up what Soho means to you? I'll try to. Sorry, just saw someone. I know who that guy is. He's a really good singer.