In the run-up to Christmas, I want to feature some easy ways for readers to make a big difference to their fellow Londoners. Last week generous London Centric readers donated more than £4,000 to a south London youth club, which was then matched by a third party donor.

This week I’m asking readers to consider giving blood, following an urgent appeal from the NHS in the capital. The health service is particularly worried about a blood shortage due to Christmas Day falling on a weekday, when donor sessions are usually held. If you’ve never given blood before, it really is far easier than you think and you can be done within an hour. What’s more, they’ll give you lots of packs of Seabrook Crisps and Club chocolate bars.

I’ll be giving blood in Brixton early on Friday morning (19th December) and then hanging around for most of the day if you want to say hello. Why Brixton? It’s a recently-launched full-time donor centre, next to a station on the Victoria line that makes it accessible from most of London, and it currently has 50 spare donation slots on Friday that would be amazing to fill with London Centric readers. Just click here to sign up.

Alternatively, book in your local area over the Christmas period at a time that suits and then WhatsApp over your experience. I know not everyone is able to give blood — but I’d love to hear from you if you’re able to do this one simple act for the first time.

Scroll down for stories about the most cursed Tesco Express in London, the curious finances of Rowans bowling alley in Finsbury Park, and how much your tube fare is really going up.

Speed gunning cyclists in the park

Exclusive: A London council has started issuing speeding fines to cyclists, after deploying staff with a speed gun to monitor a popular commuter route from south west London.

Park police employed by Wandsworth council have been handing out £50 penalty notices to cyclists who break a 12mph speed limit in Tooting Bec Common, in what is an incredibly unusual deployment of technology normally reserved for cars.

Local resident Ed Owen was riding his Brompton bicycle to work last week when he was pulled over by Wandsworth’s in-house park police force, which is separate to the Metropolitan police. They informed him their speed ...