from Home-Start Merton
“THANK YOU” for your continued support /
Date: October 2015 / Issue no.06
Home-StartMerton Have you visited our website:
First of all we have to apologise that we have not managed to get a Supporters and Friends Newsletter out before this, but quite honestly we are not quite sure where 2015 has gone. But gone it has, ‘cause we have already booked the Canons for the Family Christmas Party and have sent a special request to F.C. to make sure he has his visit to us booked in his very crowded diary, so it must be true.
So what has been happening you may ask? Well,the beginning of the year saw us celebrating at the Mayor’s Annual Ball, which is one of the last “official” events for the outgoing Mayor, and as the Mayor was one of our very own volunteers we supported her on many occasions throughout her term of office. She raised an amazing amount for her two chosen charities and also managed to make several smaller donations to other local charities, including ourselves. So well done Agatha and “Thank you”.
We are delighted to say our web site has been revamped. Whilst we are still learning, it is definitely more user friendly and well worth a visit. Please check us out.
Our Fund Raising Committee has been extremely busy over the past few months and has been recruiting “Friends” as a way of spreading the word about who we are and what we do. It is also a source for bringing in much needed regular and/or one off donations. More information can be found on the web site.
As a starter event, we had a “Meet the Brewer” evening at the Hand in Hand, a lovely Wimbledon Common pub and not only did it mean a very good local brewer got publicity and we got to sample his beers, but also Home-Start got a brilliant plug from the then Mayor of Wandsworth who made a speech extolling Home-Start and what we do. It turned out that he was a good friend of our Trustee, Simon Lloyd, who organised the event and one of theMayor’s chosen charities for his term of office was in fact Home-Start Wandsworth! Couldn’t have been better if we had planned it!
Our annual Tennis Tournament turned out to be the best ever and it didn’t rain! One of our ex families agreed to talk to the ladies and it was only at the end she revealed she was actually talking about her experiences. This event raised just over £1000 and we have to say a huge “Thank you” to all who organised and participated.
One of our volunteers has just completed the Royal Parks half Marathon and with the gift aid added has raised nearly £1400. She said she enjoyed it especially running through the major tourist sites in London with no traffic!!!
Last month saw a whole array of soft toys, mostly Teddies, taking part in our sponsored Teddy Bear Walk from the office to Morden Hall Park. We are glad to report they all made it safely despite the little legs and a couple misbehaving at Deen City Farm on the way. A full report can be found on the web site and it looks as though we will raise just over £2000.
Back in July we held a Family Fun Day with a slant towards healthy life styles. We were able to hire a juice bike which for the uninitiated means you have to peddle to make your own (healthy smoothie) drink! The children thought this was very cool. We had a smoking cessation session for those who wanted to give up smoking, various stalls, bouncy castle and surprise visit from Elsa from Frozen. Needless to say by the end of the afternoon we really did want to “Let it (her) Go”! The volunteers excelled themselves by providing a multitude of cakes. The families who attended all said they had enjoyed it and when would the next one be?
Littlehampton or bust! This so nearly didn’t happen this year as the coach company we had booked went into receivership the day before the day of the summer outing. The telephone lines nearly melted from all the calls being made to find alternative transport, but we are pleased to say we made it. All the families enjoyed themselves and again for some this is the only opportunity they get to go to the seaside.
Two girls from Carshalton High School got in touch and asked if they could raise funds for us as part of their school’s philanthropic project. They had chosen us purely by typing in the word “charity” when carrying out their initial research andalso wanted to support a charity out of Borough. They did a 14 mile sponsored walk and sold second hand clothes. Unfortunately they didn’t win, but came a fantastic second.An amazing achievement, well done and thank you
We are pleased to report that the Promoting Health and Wellbeing in East Mitcham grant working in partnership with the Commonside Trust at The New Horizon Centre in Pollards Hill enabledus to deliver successful Cook & Eat and CHEW ((Children Eating Well) sessions. Unfortunately the Money for Life workshops were not that well attended, but as the whole project was a first for both of us, we learnt a lot and hopefully will be able to work jointly again in the future.
We were again approached about taking on a new student Social Worker placement and we are delighted to say she has now started and her name is Belinda Cave. We have already warned her that we are expecting great things from her!!! Both our two previous students have proved to be amazing and we are confident she will be up to the challenges we set her. No pressure there then.
As this will be the first Supporters/Friends Newsletter for some of you we hope you find it informative. We really do have to say a huge, huge thank you to all of you who have supported and/or continue to support us throughout the year with a special mention to The Dorus Trust and The Taylor Family Foundation. We also have to mention The Wimbledon Foundation as we have just been successful in being awarded a three year grant from them.
We wanted to resist the temptation to wish you the Compliments of the Season but truthfully it will be 2016 before the next Newsletter, so we do hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful and
Home-StartMerton Have you visited our website: