Will Richards

I moved to London when I was 19 to study textiles at Goldsmiths College. I couldn’t wait to get out of the cultural desert I grew up in, sandwiched between Portsmouth and Southampton. Once I’d got to London, I was a crazy student: I’d get up at 6.30am and stay in the studio till 8.30 in the evening. I have quite a strong work ethic! I came to Soho for the first time in 1994, with a fellow student from Sweden. One of her friends worked behind the bar in the Coach & Horses pub, and I remember getting drunk with hairdressers, journalists and interesting-looking folk – and being shouted at by the landlord for nursing my pint! I quickly realised that you have to stand up for yourself. When I moved to Soho in 2000, it was the first place I had ever felt at home. ‘I wanted to show that the residents of Soho have stories to tell’ Then I joined The Soho Society because they needed an administrator. The society aims to preserve the spirit of the area. I became part of the planning group, and got involved in some of the campaigns. When it comes to disputes that occur here, residents are central – they live and breathe it every day. We tried really hard to keep old traditions alive too, like bringing back the Waiters’ Race for the annual fete. Dozens of waiters race around Soho while trying to balance a full tray, with a glass, an ashtray and a bottle of champagne on it. Soho is changing a great deal. A few years ago, the rate of the change  became phenomenal, with some really substan