July Community News
Welcome to July’s community news update. Throughout the month we have worked with the NHS and the partners to host events and activities in our centres, or we have gone out an about to support with events across the borough
MSK event at Glass Mill
The MSK team at University Hospital Lewisham once again used the atrium space at Glass Mill Leisure Centre to host one of their physio patient support days. They had 100 people turn up to this event. Future events are planned for the rest of the year, so if you know someone that would benefit from this event, get them to speak to the physio.
Lewisham to the World Alex Yee Event
The Community Sports Manager popped into the annual Alex Yee triathlon event at St Dunstan's College, as part of this event Better had provided 1,200 leaflets to give out to participants. We have also in partnership with the From Lewisham to the World Foundation offered 5 swim bursaries to participants for our summer holiday crash courses
Young Lewisham Project
Better were invited to the Young Lewisham Project Summer Showcase. This event brought together community partners and organisations that work with YLP to celebrate the young people they have worked with this academic year. Awards were given out to young people and speeches were given from partners. We were also able to listen to music the young people had made and sample cakes they had baked. The event was also attended by Cllr Schmidt.
GLL Sport Foundation Awards evening
On the 2nd of July the Broadway Theatre once again hosted our annual GLL Sport Foundation Awards evening. Close to 40 athletes and their guests came together in celebrating the sporting talent in the borough. We had Cllr Regisford open the event which featured a fencing display alongside a Q&A. Cllr Ashwell closed the event
Powered by Community – Access Sport event
Better were invited to attend Access Sports Powered by Community Celebration event which was also attended by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE. We were invited to be part of this event through our work with Access Sport via the Lewisham Disability Sports Network. The event was to highlight and showcase work that has been done featuring Q&As with clubs with Aquilia Taekwondo being one of the chosen clubs. (Aquilia provide the Taekwondo at our SEN Camps)
Parkside Community Jobs Fair
Organised and hosted by Peabody, Better were invited to promote jobs and training opportunities in the centres. Around 40 people attended this event which was held at Parkside Community Centre.
Forest Hill School – Careers Talk
As a local employer Better were invited to speak to pupils in the school as well as have a stand in the dining room. The Community Sports Manager lead the talks in one of the classrooms where each year 10 class came to hear about employment opportunities and roles within leisure. Our Community Activator Apprentice supported this event by manning the stall in the dining area.
Adult Learning Lewisham
Adult Learning Lewisham held two events over two days to allow their students the opportunity to speak to employers in the local area. The first was Meet the Employer this was a smaller scale event where people had a set appointment time to meet with employers in the room to find out more about what they do and how that aligns with their career ambitions/goals Around 30 people attended this event. The Meet the Employer event was attended by Cllr Asaw who came to our stall and had a chat with us. The second day was more of a generic jobs fair which has close to 100 people attend.
3 Rivers Clean up - Volunteering
On Wednesday 8th July the Lewisham Management team jumped into the River Quaggy to support Lewisham Councils annual 3 Rivers Clean Up Initiative.
We supported council colleges cleaning a section of the River Quaggy at its confluence with the River Ravensbourne. Alongside doing a litter pick we were also tasked with clearing an invasive Himalayan Balsam. The Environment Agency were also present to support with the clean up and help educate the team about the ecology around the river.
By the end of the 2 hour session
• Over 9 large bin bags of rubbish were collected
• 1,000 Himalayan Balsam plants were removed
• 2 shopping trolleys and a child's bike were among some of the larger items fished out of the water.
SEND Camp
The Lewisham Disability Network SEND summer camps started in the first week of the school holidays. Close to 30 children attended the first session which offered, Tennis, Multisports, Taekwondo, Football and Dance. The camp will run twice a week for the remainder of the summer holidays. We have already received lots of positive feedback from parents/guardians including one who said we’d exceeded expectations. The funding secured will allow us to run this camp for the next few holidays