Agenda item

Hear from the organisations applying for funding this year. Detailed below.

Ageing Well in Lewisham – Social activities in Care Homes

Ageing Well in Lewisham - LCC are experienced in running groups for isolated older people living in Lewisham with an excellent record of reducing isolation and improving community cohesion. Our bid 'Creative Social Groups in Residential Homes' seeks to provide 26 community art sessions in three residential homes in our ward to encourage interaction and encourage the development of friendships. There are 8 homes in the ward of Catford South.
We will develop the sessions in the homes where current provision does not enable residents to participate in therapeutic groups. Our main purpose will be to bring fun, laughter, stimulation and the feel good factor to people through the activities! (Residents sometimes complain of feeling lonely and spending  too much time in front of the television).
We will encourage local volunteers to engage in the sessions led by our experienced tutors. We are also hoping care staff will get involved and learn simple art skill.
At the end of the project we will encourage and support participants who have enjoyed the sessions to take the next step and join regular Befriending Groups outside their homes so they can feel closer to their community and valued members of it.
Please consider providing funding for this valuable project to often over looked older people and help to give residents more purpose  in life and for some the confidence to gain ongoing enjoyment in their community.

Brownhill Road Baptist Church (BRBC) – The Garden on the hill

Brownhill Road Baptist Church (BRBC) has been a landmark building and a gateway into Catford for over a century. We have the largest public frontage on Brownhill Road and we want to work with local residents to create a new colourful community garden in the large beds in front of the church and community hall. Brownhill Road is renowned for being dirty and noisy with many front gardens either paved for parking or overgrown with weeds and discarded furniture. 

OUR SOLUTIONS:

1. A BIG Community Clean Up Day: Working with the Council, we’ll provide bin bags and gloves for residents to clear those front gardens, and we'll even share our skip!

2. ‘The Garden On The Hill’: We're inviting everyone to join us to build a beautiful garden, erecting trellis, replacing hand rails, adding soil and plants. The garden will brighten up Brownhill Road, showcasing the area to the hundreds of cars and people passing by every day. Fundraising is already under way to cover the bulk of the refurbishment, replacing old hand rails, the big notice boards and super new benches! 

We serve this community: The new garden will be a space for the community to congregate and socialise outdoors. Two churches use our building- BRBC and El-Bethel, a long standing Tamil Baptist community. Our community hall is well used with a full time day nursery in residence, plus a weekly youth club and Scouts & Brownies. There are also weekly sports clubs meetings and clubs for older people.

Conisborough College Dig it Project

The Progress unit is an educational resource base for students with moderate learning disabilities situated at Conisborough College. This project involves the unit reclaiming a previously disused and redundant area of the school and developing a vegetable garden in it that can be accessed by everybody. This project encompasses many different groups and aims to encourage the children to build an awareness of their role as member of the local community.

Once the garden is completed, the children will provide both elderly and vulnerable adults with fresh food, new recipe ideas and contact. Students will promote both healthy eating ideas and encourage families to eat more affordably and sustainably. They will design recipe cards to accompany their boxes and produce homemade chutneys for sale. They will have a much needed opportunity to work in an outdoor space on a regular basis, taking ownership and responsibility for their area.  Students will be supported to build links with local employers to develop their recipes and thus developing both skills for independence and employability. Students will also be able to share the skills they have learnt with their families. Once the area has been developed and the garden is up and running, students will be able to sell produce to fund seeds and tools for following years making this project realistic and sustainable. It is benefiting vulnerable young people, their families and the wider community for many years to come.

Conisborough College Photography Club

The Photography Club will prioritise KS3 children who have been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as well as pupils with low self-esteem. The club aims to encourage these children to interact and engage with an extra-curricular project that will positively improve their confidence and enhance their knowledge of photography.

In addition, the club aims to merge the attitudes and understanding of art and visual language; introduce photography as an additional means of communication; tap into the student’s interests and enhance their creative skills.

Fully qualified staff will challenge the students to achieve a number of projects over a course of 10 months (during term times) within Conisborough College.

On completion of the club students would have:

- Been given the opportunity to explore creativity through photographic projects and artist research.
- Been given the opportunity to form friendships with other Conisborough College students.

- Undertaken activities which demonstrate and develop their own interests and skills using photography.

- Experienced learning activities which demonstrate a clear difference to school-based learning.

- Increased in their confidence and self-esteem.

- Felt valued and motivated to participate in on-going projects.

Additionally, the club will expect completed sketchbooks and outcomes (e.g. prints) so that parents, students, staff and locals can be involved in viewing and appreciating the projects carried out. This will hopefully play a big role in raising the students’ confidence and helping them to feel a sense of involvement in their community.

Corbett Estate Neighbourhood Forum Lewisham Bataillion afternoon tea

The project will offer two themed afternoon tea events in the Abbotshall Healthy Lifestyle Centre: 1) World War I & II themed, inspired by recent service and re-enactment of a Lewisham Battalion; and 2) Christmas theme.

The aim is to provide a social event in a pleasant environment for older residents in the Abbotshall Healthy Lifestyle Centre to come together where they can have fun, share stories meet old and new friends. There is the option of physical activity: e.g. dance to music of the era or walk in the community garden providing a gentle physical activity. Opportunity to address possible isolation for those who live alone. Opportunity to work with Diamond Club, Resident Groups and Teachsport to try a new way of increasing local offer and to ask attendees what they might like and points to be considered for a new service.

The Need - In March 2011 of 15,214 people registered living in Catford South Ward, 1,726 were aged 65 and over.  Catford South has a higher proportion of retired residents than the average for Lewisham.  When looking at local services at the time of writing this there was the Diamond Club which is full with a waiting list.  Initial research has identified that some Catford South residents take part in activities at the Lewisham Pensioners Forum in Rushey Green. For those residents who might like and are unable to attend these activities there is a severe lack of local services for these residents.

Corbett Estate RA – Firework event

A free professional firework display in the centre of Catford South Ward with associated stalls, live music and entertainment. The event will be open to all residents of Catford South Ward.  We expect the event to be attended by approximately 1,500 local residents. Many attendees will be families with young children and we understand that many of these find it difficult to get to the Blackheath fireworks due to the volume of people and transport difficulties.

Community Cohesion:  One of the CRA’s main objectives is to improve community cohesion. This social event will bring together many local residents, faith groups and other local organisations as well as all the residents associations within the ward. We have support from the local schools, churches, mosque and synagogue and minority interest groups. These and other organisations within the ward will be invited to have a stall at the event to promote their activities to local residents.

Volunteers: The event will be organised, promoted and delivered by a team of up to thirty local volunteers. Having successfully delivered similar scale events in the past we are confident in our ability to deliver this project.

Legacy: We hope that the event will achieve a financial surplus which we will use to invest in equipment for the use of the community and at future events held at the Abbotshall Road playing field.

Corbett Estate RA – Sandhurst Parade Christmas Market

The aim of the Christmas Market is to create a positive and friendly atmosphere on Sandhurst Parade which will bring the community together. The market aims to make the parade a safe, attractive hub for the community, to increase footfall in order to support local businesses and to encourage people who do not normally shop there.

For the last 2 years the Corbett Residents' Association have run a very successful Christmas market so we would like to continue to build on what has become a lovely Christmas tradition.

Feedback form local residents and families is that they thoroughly enjoyed the event and would love to see it again this year.

We'd like to promote the parade as a hub for the community, encourage traders to come together to promote their shops, to support local businesses and assist local businesses to attract more customers.We believe the market achieved these objectives in the last 2 years and encouraged local residents to get a better understanding of the variety of goods and services available along the Parade, providing feedback to the shopkeepers. This time we will encourage more shopkeepers and traders to participate making it a bigger community event.

Culverley Green RA – Pop up Cinema

The project is a “Pop Up Cinema” event on Culverley Green. This is an open air family film screening from about 7:30 PM beginning with 30mins of short films, building up to a mainstream family favourite. The short films will be produced by local students, together with vintage films of the local area, obtained through the British Film Institute (BFI).

As an independent film maker myself, I also intend to collect cine film of the area from the local community to screen a musical montage of days gone by and can also screen productions of other work I have been involved in myself. This will build up to an enjoyable feature length screening for the whole family.

The event will be accompanied by a mobile food/drink facility but people will also be able to bring their own food/drink and be invited to bring blankets/ deck chairs for comfort. The intention is to enjoy an open air screening reminiscent of those fantastic Saturday morning film shows but with a contemporary flavour.

I intend to invite an introduction to the evening from a well-known actor/actress connected to the area to give the screening a real buzz.

Let’s encourage the local community and schools to look beyond Youtube and discover Independent film making for a wider audience. Let’s promote our creativity and ethnic diversity, remember days gone by, enjoy local cohesion through a common interest, and let people outside the area know that we are a borough of artistic initiatives.

Culverley Green RA – William Colbeck Memorial Plaque

This application relates to a Lewisham memorial plaque to Lieutenant Commander William Colbeck  R.N.R. (1871–1930), who took part in three expeditions  during the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration.   The plaque, which has been approved by Lewisham Archives, would be installed on 51 Inchmery Road, where he lived from 1913 until his death in 1930.                                                                                                                      

In 1898–1900 William Colbeck was a member of the ten-man Southern Cross expedition.  These were the first people to spend a whole year living on the Antarctic land mass.  In 1904, he commanded the two ships that, without the aid of modern communications technology, found Captain Scott and freed his ship Discovery, which was frozen in ice 18 miles from open water.

Recently on Radio 4 this was said to be as challenging as space exploration today.  Both primary and secondary schoolchildren should respond his story as a local hero and be encouraged to take pride in the history of their area and the people who lived here in the past. Alongside this application I intend to contact local schools to offer talks about William Colbeck, who was my grandfather.I am asking for £300 as a contribution to the total cost of £740, since Lewisham no longer funds its maroon plaque scheme.

Dalmain Athletic Girl’s Football Club are the ONLY girl’s football Club, in Lewisham. We offer lifelong opportunities to play football, from the age of 5 up to under 16’s, through to our Ladies sections and onto our 40+ Walking Football programme.

Dalmain Athletic Girls Football Club – Fit and Healthy Project

We have twice been awarded the FA Charter Standard Mark, for our excellence in girl’s football, a sign that we are a safe club for girls to attend. In the 2014-15 season we were very proud to be awarded the FA Female Charter Standard Club of the Year Award.

We will offer the girls of Catford South the opportunity to participate in a girl’s football project, most of them participating in football for the very first time.

We want to encourage young girls in the ward to be more active and exercise regularly. We will be offering girls FREE coaching via a 3 stage project.

We will be challenging obesity figures and encouraging healthy lifestyles. We will also offer the girl’s the opportunity to join Lewisham ONLY girl’s football Club, based at Abbotshall Road.

• Stage 1- we want to run extra curricula taster sessions, in 3 schools within Catford South ward targeting Years 2 & 3.
• Stage 2 - We will organise a schools tournament at Abbotshall Road.
• Stage 3 – Girls will be invited to attend 6 Community coaching sessions at our Club FREE of charge, girls will also receive a free Catford South t-shirt to encourage them to join our club, as well as advertising Catford South Ward.

LEMP / BASCA Oral History Project

The aim of the project is to develop a rich and varied cultural resource by gathering stories from a diverse range of people, fusing traditional and other methods. 

We will seek voluntary contributions of items of cultural significance to people that will help them to tell their stories about things that impact on their lives and are of significance both to remember the past and inform the future.  That means leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to know and understand how they view the world.  This will be of special importance to persons who may have migrated here from other places and feel their traditions have gradually eroded over time. 

Developing the idea of storyboards will give people the confidence to narrate in a non-threatening environment as they recall things that they once held dear.  It can also help them make sense of their surroundings.

The project will also provide an opportunity for older people to be active and socialise as they narrate their experiences especially when these are centred around familiar objects. 

Stories thus collated will be made available as a shared resource that can be of use to schools and other community settings. The activities the project will undertake include:

1.       The narration of childhood experiences and other stories in one-to-one settings as well as in small groups;

2.       Audio –recording and transcribing the stories;

3.       Illustration the stories where necessary;

4.       Making connections between artefacts and places of interest;

5.       Publishing the stories.

Lewisham Youth Theatre Catford Exchange Project

Lewisham Youth Theatre is a charity, since 1987 we have been creating FREE high quality drama projects for young people aged 8 to 24 who live or learn in Lewisham & attend no after school drama.

We use drama as a tool to develop skills that help young people throughout their life – like working with others, thinking through problems, taking responsibility, leadership, having a voice, skills that will help them within school & beyond.

The funding we seek is for Catford South Young people, aged 14 plus, to take part in our Senior Youth Theatre starting in January  2016.  Sessions will run from our home, the Broadway’s rehearsal room. Each year approximately 25% of our Senior Group live or learn in Catford South.

In July this year we worked with our community to put on ‘Celebrate Catford’ – which involved Community members, local business, organisations and young people. It was a spectacular event and it gave our young people a great sense of pride in Catford, they learnt about its past & feel part of its future.

Thanks to Catford South LAA funding in the early stages of the project, we were able to attract other funding, that made the project a bigger and better event. Thank you. Senior Youth Theatre 2016 will be another great project – our theme is ‘exchange’, & we are exchanging with a youth theatre from Antony, Paris, Lewisham’s twinned town. We hope you can support us in giving Catford South young people another extraordinary experience.