Youth club members and staff ran on behalf of the Community during the Richmond
5k back in October. Despite unusually high temperatures, hundreds of people took
part in the event.
15 year old Andrew Curry took the honours for CYC, finishing an
impressive 5th overall and first in the junior age bracket.
Not to be completed
outdone, everyone else recorded excellent times.
Their efforts resulted in the youth
club raising much needed funds for new equipment and we are grateful for everyone
that made a donation.
~~~
Youth Club Update...
We are continuing to see great progress in the work taking place with young people.
New members are attending the youth club every week and we are delighted to be meeting and working with so many people in the area!
Boxing, Halloween and Christmas themed games, ASB and sexual health workshops and group cooking are just some of the fun and informative activities that have taken place at the Centre during the past few months.
We are also delighted to welcome new volunteers to the staff team, new faces are always welcome!
~~~
News & Events ...
Tales From St Mary’s...
Coffee Morning
Due to popular demand Vanessa and Philippa ran the St Mary’s coffee morning on a bright
October morning and managed to raise a whopping £134!!! This will go towards tickets for
the Elders group to see a play at the Lyric theatre in January 2012. Thank you to everyone
who baked cakes for the occasion and those who bought them to eat!!
Toy Service
A big thank you to all the parishioners who donated lovely toys and gifts to the St Mary’s Toy
service on Sunday 27th November 2011.
CCP were able to provide children in Playgroup
and Infant Club with presents during our Christmas parties.
CCP are extremely grateful for
donations of this kind.
~~~
Butler at your Service!
Back in October Lynda Butler joined CCP as the new Playgroup Manager.
We were
delighted to welcome her and she has very quickly settled in and is doing a fabulous job.
CCP just wanted to take this opportunity to say welcome to Castelnau!
Lynda also wanted to say "thank you to everyone for making me feel welcome at Castelnau.
I have 16 years experience working in childcare settings, but this is very different from my
past experiences."
"I hope everyone is happy with how the playgroup is being run. If there are any activities you would like me to
provide please let me know. Thanks again for your support."
~~~
Volunteer Highly Commended
Rebecca volunteers with Castlenau Community Centre in the community café twice a week making hot drinks, serving snacks, taking payment, table clearing and keeping café tidy. She also helps out with other special events held at the Community Centre such as the Elder’s Christmas lunch among other things.
Rebecca does a lot in terms of supporting young disabled teenagers at her local youth club & is also doing a ‘DJ-ing’ course and a volunteering course.
Rebecca likes to volunteer to help in the community and help disabled people. "I get a lot from volunteering,” said Rebecca. "I feel part of a team and I like to be busy. It has helped develop my confidence and as well as my work and social skills and I’m having fun at the same time as feeling useful and building on my skills. To be ‘highly commended’ in the Time to Shine Awards makes me feel "very privileged and so happy.”
To anyone thinking of volunteering, Rebecca gives the following advice: "It’s great experience and you can get so much out of if, so just find out more and do it!”
Are you interested in giving your time to local charity and community projects?
Find all the local volunteering opportunities on the Richmond CVS website, or contact Philippa Marshall here at CCP on 020 8741 6526.
Parties, discos, dressing up, making masks, visits from witches, visits from Santa, present
giving, apple bobbing, face painting, carol singing – so much fun was had at our festive
proceedings over the Autumn and leading up to Christmas.
There was the Halloween family
workshop and disco, Halloween parties for Playgroup and Communities Clubs and even the
elders entered into the spirit dressing up for their very own Halloween themed lunch!
Then
Christmas celebrations included parties and a special thank you for our staff and volunteers
held in the Community Café.
As always CCP would like to thank everyone who put in so
much hard work to make these events so successful.
Fun was
had by all at the Halloween and Christmas parties, and at Easter we will be having an egg
hunt so hopefully this will be enjoyable too.
~~~
Plus...
Our Community Café
The café at the Castelnau Community Centre continues to go from strength to strength
providing a warm welcome and top quality drinks including a luxury hot chocolate with cream
and marshmallows for only £1.40.
The café is run entirely by volunteers and currently there
are thirteen.
The volunteers are from a variety of walks of life ranging from mums to retired
people as well as people who have additional needs.
One of the newer volunteers, Rebecca
has found her experience at the
café to be very rewarding. ‘This
is the best volunteering position I
have ever had. I enjoy being
busy and there is always plenty
to do at the café.’
Rebecca
volunteers twice a week and
also helps with the elder’s
lunches. ‘My family have been
to see me at work and they are
so happy that I have become
such a valued and responsible
member of the community.’
~~~
Our hugely successful café is now open Mondays - Fridays from
9am to 11am.
Do come along to sample the finest fairtrade coffee
and tea in North Barnes at very reasonable prices.
There is also
time to volunteer to help on one of the five mornings or to offer to
make a cake for the café.
Pop in when we are open and hand
your details to the volunteers behind the counter.
~~~
Community Allotment
Here are Children from Infant Club working on the community allotment
plot. They have grown produce that has been used at the Elders lunches.
We also have a Café plot, which provides produce for the Youth and Community Cafe.
Also, we now currently have produce available to the general public for a small donation to the Community Café and Centre.
