Abbey News

Inside this issue

A Summer of Fun ........ 1

Eid Reception ............. 1

Music Concert ............ 1

Tea Dances ................. 2

Community Champions . 2

Member Spotlight ...... 2

Staff Update ............... 2

Volunteering .............. 2

SW Timebank ............. 2

Active Together ......... 3

Mobile Childcare ........ 4

Upcoming activities .... 4

Have Your Say ............ 4

AGM notice ................ 4

Sight-seeing trips ........ 4

Summer Fayre ............ 4

Challenge Network…….4

Summer/Autumn 2015

34 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BU · 0207 222 0303 · email: enquiries@theabbeycentre.org.uk · website: www.theabbeycentre.org.uk (If you would prefer to receive this newsletter via email, please contact us using the address above to join our mailing list)

65 years supporting healthy & cohesive communities in South Westminster

“The children are having fun & are engaged” - Parent

A summer of fun for local families!

We delivered 10 days of free activities for local families.

These included Zumba, arts & crafts, bouncy castle,

healthy cook & eat sessions, photography, table tennis,

story-telling & gardening! Families also enjoyed the

boat trip to the Tate & relished the chance to meet the

animals at Vauxhall Bridge Farm. Thanks to our team of

volunteers, crèche workers & partners SW Connects

who helped

organise such

a successful

and varied

programme

of activities.

Eid Reception

Trustee Jacqui, our CEO Lainya

and colleagues enjoyed the Eid

Reception at City Hall, hosted by

the Mayor of Westminster,

Councillor The Lady Christabel

Flight, celebrating the end of the

Muslim Holy month of Ramadan.

Above: Children & parents enjoy interactive story telling with Gladys, learning to growl!

Left: Local adults show off their up-cycling skills

Music Concert

We were delighted to welcome some talented

students from King David’s High School in

Manchester, performing a wide repertoire of

popular & classical music in mixed ensembles.

50 members enjoyed the afternoon as well as

soft drinks and refreshing ice cream served to

keep them cool in the summer heat!

To ALL our volunteers, ‘Thank you - we couldn’t do it without you!’

Member Spotlight!

South Westminster Time Bank

Big thanks to Chris Sweeny, co-founder

of Fitssi , for helping to connect SW1

through sports & fitness. Time bank

members are able to use workout

sessions at Pimlico Fitness.

Giving from the Heart - Volunteering

From April - July we’ve benefited from the skills & time of

many individuals through Volunteering, Timebanking &

local companies offering their support. In total they’ve

generously donated 2041 hours! Thanks in particular to

AIFS student Ricki Beigh, who supported our community

team for 3 weeks working on the Active

Together project. And school students

Mawaada, Meggi & Mio Fatlalla

who has been helping the Café &

really enjoyed the work experience.

Would you like to be a winner?

Then why not become a Community Champion?

We’re looking for volunteers from Churchill Gardens

& Tachbrook Estates to join an exciting wellbeing

community project. You will meet people, gain skills

& make a positive difference to others. For more info

please contact Nisha Subasinghe on 020 7227 0646.

Staff Changes—Welcome to new members!

Gena joins us as Chef. Come and taste

her delicacies in the Wash House Café

Nisha joins us as our

Community

Champions

Project Coordinator,

recruiting & training local volunteers.

After volunteering & training with

us Conan now joins the team as

Finance Assistant.

Ian joins us as our Engagement &

Enterprise Manager overseeing

our Community & volunteering

programme.

You make me feel like dancing!

Tea dances held in May & July saw over 50 members

from a range of backgrounds enjoy live music, raffle

& refreshments. We were dazzled by dance moves &

wish to thank all the volunteers who helped to make

the events such a roaring success. The next Tea

Dance is planned for Wednesday 18th November.

“I really enjoyed dancing & being able to meet

with friends. Great atmosphere!”

“I think that the Abbey Centre is doing good things in welfare and wellbeing services. “

Jessica Sutro has been a

volunteer for our Homeless

Welfare Service since

February. Local full-time

worker & multi-tasker ,Jess

enjoys giving her time for a

good cause & being help-

ful, preparing for the ser-

vice and welcoming

vulnerable people as they

arrive to the centre.

Our Abbey Growers have

been very busy planting

nutritious vegetables &

herbs from seed that have

transformed the garden!

We’ve harvested fresh bay

leaves, spinach & lettuce;

& our beans & courgettes

are coming along a treat!

Thanks to Laing O’Rourke

for the water tap, ramp &

other improvements.

Abbey BookWorms

Our fortnightly book club,

is going well with members

enjoying a range of popular

titles including ‘To Kill a

Mockingbird’, ‘Call the Midwife’ & ‘Catcher in the

Rye’. Abbey BookWorms meetings take place every

other Thursday from 2-4pm in the Wash House Café.

For more info please contact Ian on 020 7220303.

Above: Fresh bay leaves grown, picked, packaged & ready to sell in the Wash House Café!

Active Together - Project Update

A look at the activities we run for older members.

including weekly Bowls, Scrabble Group and a

fortnightly Film Club. For more info call Ian on 020

7227 0650 or ian.corpuz@theabbeycentre.org.uk

Abbey Housemates

Abbey housemates has so far enabled 6 older people

to host volunteers at home or at the Abbey Centre to

build social connections. If you know of someone

who would enjoy being a host or would like to

volunteer as a housemate contact Ian Corpuz.

Pimlico Now & Then—Reminiscence Project

Silver members share with younger Pimlico students

their memories of the area and how its changed!

Arts & Crafts—Flower Pressing

Thank you Fleur Press for hosting a free paper

making workshop. Members got creative & made

beautiful handcrafted greeting cards, flower

bouquets &other paper art. We even used some

for table decorations at our Tea Dance!

Mason gets to grips with some planting

Gerry shares his passion

for the power of scrabble

to keep minds fit and agile

as we get older! Here he

donates a scrabble game

to Ian for our members to

enjoy– thank you!

Abbey Grow & Eat Gardening Club

A member

proudly shows

a handmade

rosette made

from coloured

paper!

Membership of the Abbey Centre is FREE!!! Join us and enjoy being part of your local community.

Some Autumn Events & Activities

Parenting Programme 10th Sept - 17th Dec Thursdays 9:30am - 1pm

Belly Dancing 14th Sept—14th Dec Mondays 2-3pm

English Pronunciation 21st Sept - 7th Dec Mondays 10am-2pm

X-PERT Diabetes 21st Sept - 2nd Nov Mondays 9:30am-12:30pm

Mad Hatter's Tea Party 27th September 1-3pm

Silver Sunday Concert 4th October 3pm

Community Interpreting 13th Oct - 1st Dec Tuesdays 10am-1pm

Tea Dance 18th Nov 2-5pm

To view a full list of our current activities please visit our website

www.theabbeycentre.org.uk or pick up a copy of our latest activity leaflet

facebook.com/theabbeycentre

@theabbeycentre

Have Your Say!

Join us online and at fun meetings for

a chance to give your feedback and

opinions on our activities & services.

We’re always keen to hear what our

members & guests have to say so keep

an eye out for the survey going out in

late summer/early autumn.

Annual General Meeting—22nd October

The next Annual General Meeting of Abbey Community Association Ltd will be held on Thursday 22nd October 2015,

from 2-4pm at 34 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU.

Summer Table Top Sale

Big thanks to members of the Monday

Club who raised £340 at our Summer

Fair selling bric-a-brac. All proceeds

will support our ongoing community

programme of activities.

The Challenge Network

A group of students from The Challenge Network joined us

over August to plan and host a Mad Hatters’ Tea Party for

our Silver members

on 27th September.

It will be a lot of fun!

Don’t be late for this

very important date!

Abbey Community Childcare

Did you know that we run a mobile

crèche? The social enterprise helps

to provide work for local women &

offers childcare for those aged 0-8yrs

onsite at your venue. To find out

more or to make a booking contact

creche@theabbeycentre.org.uk or

call Assia on 020 7227 0643. Mobile, inclusive, affordable

Sight-seeing

Thanks to funding from The Big Lottery 100

members & their families enjoyed coach day

trips to Windsor Castle in April & Broadstairs

in July. It was a chance for those of all ages to

escape the city, make new friends & have fun!

I enjoyed the

trip so much &

have made new

friends. It was

my first visit to

the seaside in

the UK –

thank you!