Gather your pocket change and hold your head high. There's some place to be every day of the week, no matter how skint you think you are. London provides.
Friday: We've already told you about the Courtald's East Wing opening tonight, but did we mention the cowled choir performing a Requiem for the Missing in the courtyard of Somerset House? Even better.Saturday: If you already have Valentine's Day plans, great. If you are looking for love of the universal kind, swap Valentine's for V-Day: Eve Ensler's movement to end violence against women and girls, starting in the DR Congo. The Double Club are dedicating tonight to the cause and bringing along Koko Kanyinda and his band, Soukous Kumbele.Sunday: Love the Thames? Prove it. Today is your chance to get to know our river a little better by joining Thames21 in cleaning up St. Saviour's Dock, "a particularly muddy site" in Southwark. Waders and gloves will be provided, and there's no telling what you might find. Think of it as mudlarking for a good cause.Monday: Now for a break from all this altruism. Did you get a little giddy looking at our photos of the Goldsmiths' Hall? See how shiny it looks in person on one of the regular open days today. If that's not enough, combine with a visit to the freshly scrubbed, re-opening Monument for another 30,000 leaves of gilt.Tuesday: It's official: we're doing a terrible job of feeding the world. How difficult can it be, really, with all the mighty resources at our species' disposal? Sit down in the Royal Institution's cafe (where else?) and hammer out a solution. Andrew Coker of Syngenta and biologist Colin Tudge will be there, but the real fresh ideas might come from the least expected corners.
Wednesday: Sandpit at the ICA: #8 in a series of collaborative, exploratory, anything-goes games. Works in progress involve freeing London's monsters, listening to voices in your head, and testing the privacy of privacy.Thursday: Want to go hunt some real monsters? Don't just charge off to the Himalayas (or the M25) looking for footprints. These things take preparation. Learn from the experts at the Centre for Fortean Zoology, who are back at the Grant Museum to teach us how to organise a cryptozoological expedition.
