IN THIS ISSUE

• Upcoming Events
• Training opportunities
• Health consultation closing soon

Local Events coming up

From Thursday 8 September at the Van Gogh House 87 Hackford Road SW9 is the Georgian terrace house where the young Vincent Van Gogh lodged during his formative stay in London in 1873-74.  It is now a site for exhibitions and artists’ residencies.  This week the house reveals this year’s artist commission, by Harold Offeh, an immersive sound and sculptural installation titled We came here.  It imagines a conversation between a 20-year-old Vincent and a 20-year-old Olive Morris, a Jamaican-born Brixton-based community activist.  It builds on these stories to map the perspective of young migrants arriving in contemporary London.Free tours are being offered to community groups and charities, though a donation of £3 a head is welcomed if you can afford it.  The exhibition continues until 18 December.  Bookings or enquiries to Quratulain Shams at quratulain@vangoghhouse.co.uk

Print Exhibition at Slaughterhaus Print Studio. Close to the Van Gogh House, artistic traditions are still going strong! The studio, at 13 Alphabet Mews, off Hackford Walk, is hosting an exhibition of prints by Robert White this month, entitled Periphery.  The private view is on Thursday 15 September, 6 pm to 8 pm, then the artist discusses his work on Thursday 29 September at 7 pm.  In either case, please RSVP to info@slaughterhaus.net so they can manage numbers.

Saturday 17 September – When Brixton Went on Fire A walking tour of Brixton, led by Angela Morgan, recalling the Brixton Riots of 40+ years ago, 11 am to 1 pm.  Concessionary tickets £5, more details at www.learningthroughthearts.co.uk or phone 07 510 917 517. 

Sunday 18 September – Barnanza in Brockwell Park. Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses are pleased to announce the official opening of their new Brockwell Barn, with an afternoon of celebrations from 2 pm, with live music, an exhibition of artworks, family activities and a chance to tour the barn and gardens.  The event is free (or £5 with food), but please book so the organisers can manage numbers, see https://www.brockwellgreenhouses.org.uk/events/

Thursday 22 September – Platform Cafe re-opensFollowing refurbishment, the cafe in Wyck Gardens, at the corner of Loughborough Road and Ridgway Road, will be open on Tuesdays to Fridays between 8 am and 4 pm, and on Saturdays, between 9 am and 4 pm.

Thursday 22 September – Raise the Roof Choir Re-starting at 7 pm on Thursdays at the Carnegie Library, Herne Hill Road.  No need to read music, a friendly and inclusive choir – more info at www.raisetheroofchoir.org or enquiries to Kirsty at info@raisetheroofchoir.org

Sunday 25 September – Harvest Festival at Brixton Windmill Open 1 pm to 5pm, live music, hot food and bakery stalls, craft and baking workshops for children, beer from Brixton Brewery, Windmill Tours (book via the website, www.brixtonwindmill.org.

Weekend 1 & 2 October – The Black Culture Market returns to the Department StoreThis is becoming a regular fixture in the basement of the Department Store, at 248 Ferndale Road SW9 8FR.  This is a free event, but to manage numbers, please book via Eventbrite, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-culture-market-black-history-month-tickets-392453768787 If you are interested in trading at this event, please see https://www.blackculturemarket.co.uk

Sunday 16 October – unveiling a plaque in Loughborough Road Advance notice that a plaque to Nellie Roberts (1872-1959) will be unveiled above Bon Bon News in the western arm of Loughborough Road, provisionally at 3-30 pm.  Nellie was a botanical artist who supported herself by painting different types of orchid for the Royal Horticultural Society, working from her home above what had originally been her father’s shop.  Meanwhile, occasional posts about the history of Loughborough Road can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/LoughboroughRDSW9history

Lambeth Heritage Festival

A series of events running through the month of September – here’s a few local highlights…

StoryTrails comes to Brixton Saturday 10 Sept, open 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday 11 Sept., open 11 am to 6 pm, at Brixton Tate Library (Reference Library) SW2 1JQ. Free, no need to book.  Combines local voices with augmented and virtual reality to bring untold stories from the past back to life.

Brixton Market Heritage Walk Saturday 10 Sept., starting 2-30 pm, a 75-minute circular walk through the markets, arcades and high street.  £5 including booklet, please book via www.brixtonsociety.org.uk/events

Revisiting Brixton Rec Thursday 15 Sept., 6-30 to 8-30 pm at Brixton Recreation Centre, Brixton Station Road SW9.  Help to document the histories of the Rec – bring your photos, trophies, medals and memories, to help capture the variety of uses and activities since the original opening.  See also www.revisitingbrixtonrec.org.uk 

Milling at Brixton Windmill Wednesday 28th Sept., 7-15 pm at the Windmill Education Centre, Windmill Gardens, SW2 5DA.  This year’s talk covers how milling was carried out here in the 19th and early 20th century, and how it was revived by volunteers in 2014. Free but please book via www.brixtonwindmill.org/news-events/all-events/

Minet Library Finally, if you happen to visit Minet Library or Lambeth Archives during this month, the entrance hall has a small display of some of the designs produced by Lambeth’s architects department under Ted Hollamby in 1965-80.  

Help Shape our Forum programme 

Next Live Forum Meeting – Thursday 25 October

This will be at 7 pm at the Advocacy Academy, in Vining Street, SW9 8QA.  We want to review what the Forum has been doing in the eleven years since we started out, and pick out priorities for future action.  And if there are new issues that you want to bring to the Forum, we will try to fit you into the agenda – but the sooner we hear from you, the better.  More details in next month’s bulletin.

The Forum’s executive committee has returned to a pattern of monthly meetings in between the general Forum meetings.  We next meet on 27 September, so if you have any bright ideas that we should follow up, it helps if we hear from you before then – e-mail to apiperbrix@aol.com. We are also attempting to rebuild contacts with other forums within the Lambeth Forum Network.

Health and Social Care 

Lambeth Together Public Forum

A last-minute reminder that the next Lambeth Together Public Forum is on-line on Wednesday 7 September between 1 pm and 2 pm, followed by the Board meeting between  2 pm and 4-30 pm.  More information at www.lambethtogether.net/get-involved or enquiries to GEvans2@lambeth.gov.uk

Lambeth Health & Wellbeing Strategy Consultation closing soon Lambeth is developing its Health & wellbeing Strategy, and the closing date for comments is 18 September,  to publichealth@lambeth.gov.uk If you missed last month’s on-line discussion for voluntary and community organisations, two more sessions have been organised by Integrate:Monday 12 September at 5-30 pm, via Zoom, and finally on Monday 19 September at 10 am, again via Zoom.  Book via eoin.heffernan@integrateagency.co.uk

Become a Community ConnectorProject Smith is back – another series of training sessions is about to start, to equip community activists to help their neighbours find their way around local health services.  This will be a 4-day course, on 21 September and 4, 5 and 26 October.  Sessions will be based at West Norwood Fire Station, 210 Knights Hill, SE27.  Bookings/ enquiries to Emma Corker, 07 734 670 300 or e-mail to emma@rbeassociates.com 

Funding, Training and Support  

Job Opportunities We occasionally hear about local projects looking for staff, volunteers or board members.  We are happy to publish details in these bulletins, but closing dates for paid appointments don’t always tie in with our publication schedule (see end of bulletin).

Loughborough Community Centre (LCC), who run the One O’Clock Club and Adventure Playground in Max Roach Park are recruiting more staff, including a part-time fund-raiser, finance officer, and early years practitioners.  More details should be on their website, www.lccmaxroach.co.uk or enquiries to the Director, Candice James, at candice@lccmaxroach.co.uk

Career OpeningsThe Black Cultural Archives are holding their annual Pathways career event on Thursday 15 September, 10 am to 4 pm at the Museum of London, EC2.  This year’s theme is “Seeing Ourselves, Hearing Our Voices”, to encourage young people of Black and Minority Ethnic descent into careers in  the fields of heritage, museums, archives, galleries and the arts generally.  See the events page of the BCA website to register, https://blackculturalarchives.org  

Grant Deadlines Reminder

These grant programmes were recently publicised by Integrate, but deadlines for applications are fast approaching.  If you missed the original notices, contact eoin.heffernan@integrateagency.co.uk for details or links.

TfL Walking and Cycling Grants – Two schemes, either for up to £10,000 over 3 years, or up to £5,000 in a single year, for projects that encourage walking and cycling.  Deadline 10 am Monday 12 September.

Independent Age – Cost-of-living Grants – Grants of up to £40,000 to help older people cope with rising costs, particularly for energy.  Projects can include benefits and debt advice, budgetting, helplines and community outreach.  Deadline Friday 16 September.

Santander Foundation – Financial & Digital Empowerment Fund, offers grants of up to £150,000 over 3 years, but limited to organisations with income over £75,000 a year.   Deadline 23 September.

Fat Beehive Foundation – grants for Digital Presence of up to £2500 for small charities (income less than £1 million a year), deadline 5 pm on Friday 30 September.

Disability Justice Fund – promoted by the Trust for London with the City Bridge Trust, to support a range of organisations for the deaf and disabled. Deadline Monday 3 October.

Lambeth Community Fund offers grants up to £20,000 to organisations with an income less than £250,000 a year.  Deadline 12 noon on Friday 7 October.

Women in Innovation 2022/23 grant round – for women social entrepreneurs, a £50,000 grant plus a package of mentoring/coaching and business support.  Deadline 11 am on Wednesday 19 October. 

Training Opportunities. Integrate also have a couple of training events coming up – contact as above to book or check details. 

Websites for charities and social enterprises – 26 September at 10 am, via Zoom;

Make your charity premises Green, accessible and energy-efficient – 13 October, 11 am to 12 noon on Zoom.

Fundraising Training via the Vassall and Coldharbour Consortium: Just starting, 3 sessions focussed on getting funds from BBC Children in Need, on-line via Zoom, on Tuesdays 6, 13 & 21 September, 6-30 to 8-30 pm. Register at https://forms.gle/Q2xgubSvpGfXyNDw7 or phone Surjit Power on 07 983 437 215.

Recent Data for your Funding bids:

Lambeth Council recently published their State of the Borough report, the first major update since 2016, providing lots of statistics such as education, employment, health and crime in the borough.  It’s still based on the old Ward boundaries, but the 93-page report can be found at https://beta.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-07/state-of-the-borough-2022-report.pdf

Support from VolunteersCorporate Volunteering:  Large City firms are sometimes able to offer help from a team of their staff, typically for just a day,  That can still be useful if you need to clear a backlog of maintenance, redecorate a hall, or lay out a new space.

Santander recently re-launched their Team Volunteering programme after pro-longed closure due to Covid restrictions.  Their Discovery Days offer a team of staff to help with tasks like gardening, painting, cleaning, conservation work and festive projects. A typical team is 6 to 20 people, and they may also be able to contribute up to £150 so you can organise materials and tools in advance. You can register any suitable project ideas at https://login.apricotsoftware.co.uk/6.6/auth/autologin/org_id/3530/hash/2f6f0230ee4567e1d402c0d8 or phone 0345 612 3570.

Community Sign-postingThriving Communities is a new website supported by Lambeth Council but provided by GoodPeople.  From the link, https://thrivinglambeth.co.uk You can register an account via the Get Involved button, or click sign-up.- You can set up a group for your organisation, or post updates in the relevant theme groups.- You can use your group’s “feed” to post updates, or create a discussion group, or submit an event.- You are encouraged to invite your users to the platform, to register and follow your activities, for free.

This is still a pilot model, to be gradually extended in scope.  Explore the link for yourself, or enquiries to Joss Hunt at GoodPeople on 07 710 918 378 or at joss@goodpeople.co.uk 

Business DevelopmentSharing Wisdom:  A reminder that Impact Brixton have made available recordings of several of the Masterclass talks that they have hosted over the past year.  See https://exceptional-teacher-2462.ckpage/legacy,library

Keep in touch

We’ll be back!

We aim to publish this bulletin monthly, but dates may vary a little because of other commitments or to give you some warning of an imminent event. Normally we need to hear from you before the 5th of the month, to ensure we can publish around the 10th.  Send your news to the Forum Secretary at apiperbrix@aol.com

Contact Us

Your place or ours? Once again, we can host one-to-one or small-scale meetings at International House during weekday office hours or early evenings, by prior arrangement.  Enquiries to Alan Piper on (020) 7207 0347 or apiperbrix@aol.com

Is this your best e-mail? Please notify any mailing list corrections or additions to us at admin@brixtonneighbourhoodforum.org and especially:- If you want to add a colleague or neighbour to our mailing list;- If you want these bulletins sent to a different e-mail address, so that you see them sooner or more reliably;- If you have moved away or are no longer interested.