Gizmo changed Shari Gill’s life, and living in Goodluck Hope changed Gizmo’s.
Londoner Shari began fostering dogs from Eastern Europe during lockdown, when she was living with her parents back in Germany and the animal shelters were overcrowded.
She’d been working part-time at a doggy daycare in East London during her studies, so was well-versed in looking after other people’s pets. “Then I got Gizmo, and I got so attached,” she says.
“He was really traumatised, but he bonded so much with me. Even my dad was like, ‘oh my God, you can’t give that dog away’.”
When Shari returned to London, it was with Gizmo in tow. “He was such an anxious dog, so I knew I had to find something that worked for him.”
Shari had previously been renting on Brick Lane with her best friend, but London’s rental market is notoriously unfriendly to pet owners. When her cousins moved to Goodluck Hope in 2021, she assumed a development in a regeneration zone would be a little “too corporate” for her liking. “Then I went to see them a lot of times and then I realised it was actually really nice.”
Set on the Leamouth Peninsula, across the River Thames from Greenwich, Goodluck Hope is a development of 841 homes built by developer Ballymore on what was an unloved stretch of industrial land. The project has won a slew of prizes, including Best Large Development at the Evening Standard’s New Homes Award 2023.
Shari been lucky enough to inherit some money to put towards an apartment, and Goodluck Hope was — importantly — pet-friendly. They moved into a one-bedroom flat on the third floor of Prinsep House in April of 2022.
“It’s been amazing for Gizmo, because now it’s very quiet where we live,” she says. “Before, he would get so terrified of the traffic he would just pee himself because he was so nervous. I feel like he’s changed so much for the better.”
Along with Gizmo’s all-important approval, Shari enjoys the communal vibes in her new area. “I was worried about moving because I had this amazing community before. But I’ve met amazing people here,” she says. “I see one of the girls that also lives in Goodluck Hope basically every day, we always cook dinner for each other.”
Having moved from a house share into a one-bed, Shari was worried that she might feel lonely. But between regularly hosting old friends and making plenty of new ones, she feels she has fit right in at Goodluck Hope.
“Because of my dog I meet a lot of other dog owners, and some of them became really close friends. There are lot of dogs here as well, because the apartments are pet-friendly.”
There’s also a group chat for residents, which came in handy in October 2023 when Shari was setting up Tailwaggers East, the doggy daycare business she co-founded.
Tailwaggers East is based out of a unit on London City Island, a five minute walk away from her apartment, and her neighbours pitched in when they kitted the space out. “People here are so helpful,’ she says. “I needed a heat gun and then immediately found someone who gave one to me.”
The Leamouth Peninsula is well connected, with the new pedestrian and cycle bridge linking it to Canning Town Station, something Shari appreciates. “I used to live in Hackney before Brick Lane, and it was hard when the Overground was always delayed,” she says. “Now I’m next to a tube station, which is so good with the Jubilee Line and the Elizabeth Line.”
But Shari and Gizmo find they rarely need to go far to find entertainment. “You have the gym and the pool, which is a really nice way to socialise,” she says. Goodluck Hope as a sky lounge, called the Lantern Room, as well as a cinema space, and Shari has rented both out to host her friends for dinners and gatherings.
“London is very expensive to buy [a home in] so some of my friends have moved out,” Shari says. “But the when they come to London for the weekend or for a night out they always have somewhere to stay with me.”
When they’re not walking along the riverside paths, Gizmo is welcome at all of Shari’s favourite haunts. Layers cafe and bakery, which opened at the bottom of Prinsep House earlier this year, is dog-friendly. Across the bridge in Canning Town are The Lockdown Room and Nebula, both bars that welcome people and their pooches.
Being close to her cousins, who now have a baby, has cemented Shari’s desire to put down roots in the city. Her father is Indian, and after growing up in a “very white” part of Germany, the capital’s diversity is a huge draw. “That’s one of the great things about London,” she says. “I feel so much more comfortable living here, I don’t think I want to live anywhere else. ”
Shari has decorated her flat with art works that speak to her South Asian roots that she picked up while travelling, along with pieces painted by her mother, who is an artist. When they don’t have guests, she and Gizmo enjoy sitting back and enjoying the view.
“From my balcony you have water to the left and to the right,” she says. “I even saw a seal the other day.”
