Join the Friends of Ruskin Park  for a launch party for John Ruskin at 200 – a festival to celebrate the bicentenary of John Ruskin’s birth by thinking about his life, his ideas, and his relevance to us today.

The launch will be held at Carnegie Library, close to Ruskin Park, which is hosting an exhibition of heritage materials relating to Ruskin’s Denmark Hill, curated by Jon Newman of Lambeth Archives.

Join the Friends of Ruskin Park to raise a glass to Ruskin, to his legacies, and to our community in and around Ruskin Park.

The free event is free, but please book using Eventbrite.

Part of John Ruskin at 200, supported by Arts Council, England and the Maas Gallery.

A message not from Lord Kitchener but the Friends of our local Park:

The Friends of Ruskin Park’s Summer Fete is our biggest Community day and fundraiser and it wouldn’t be possible without people offering to volunteer on the lead up and on the day.   Help us make it great success.

Volunteers are needed to help with the following:

Before the day we need:

• Cakes for the Tea & Cake Tent
• Plants to sell

Please bring along on the day or drop off.
Contact fete@friendsofruskinpark.org.uk for drop off points

On the day we need help with:

• Supervising vehicles in and out of the park (slots between 9.00am-11.30am & 6.00-7.30pm)
• Setting up tables, gazebos & deckchairs (between 9am and 12pm)
• Helping on a stall – Tea & Cake, Tombola, Coconut Shy, Donkeys (between 12 and 6pm)
• Packing up at the end of the day (from 5.30pm)
• Clearing up at from 6pm-7.30pm
• Help with Litter picking throughout the day

We really do need your support so if you are able to offer some of your time to help with any of the above activities, please contact the FoRP Events team by email at fete@friendsofruskinpark.org.uk with details of your availability and your preferred
activities.   Thank you.

“There is no such thing as society”
-Margaret Thatcher

“Oh yes there is!” 
-the people of Lambeth

A Call for Community Solidarity  – support your local Advice Centre

For 50 years the Brixton Advice Centre on Railton Road has helped, advised and acted for local people with legal or administrative problems who would otherwise be unable to afford legal services.  It averages getting on for 5,000 cases each year, mostly housing, debt or employment issues.  It is a vital part of life in Herne Hill, Loughborough Junction, Tulse Hill and Brixton.  Unless you have used its services you probably don’t know it exists.

Austerity has savaged the Centre’s budget, so to generate income, trustees and staff will be taking part in the 2019 Legal Walk on17th June when the Lord Chief Justice and thousands of lawyers raise funds for good causes.

I am asking you to invest in the community in which you live by sponsoring our walkers.  Follow the link below:
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=BrixtonAC19&pageUrl=2

So, support your community Advice Centre.  Give us a fiver (or more if you can).
By making life better for some the Centre makes the community better for everyone.

Fred Taggart  
Honorary Secretary
Brixton Advice Centre
(and Herne Hill resident for 39 years)

Carnegie Community Trust is pleased to announce that it has signed a Licence to Occupy from Lambeth Council.

CCT is now taking bookings for the hire of space within the Carnegie Library building.

The Booking Form with hire charges, Terms & Conditions and other information can be downloaded here.

Please note our charges will be reviewed after 6 months.

Funders satisfied

The Chair of the Friends of Carnegie Library recently made two separate complaints about CCT to funding bodies. In each case he was attempting to undermine the Trust and persuade the funders not to give us money. This has been an extraordinary matter and we are appalled at this attempt to damage the Trust.  We are pleased to report that in both cases the funding bodies have confirmed either that they ignored the communication or that they have been fully satisfied with our response.

The second Anti-violence Forum focusing on Gun & Knife Crime will be held by Lambeth Councillors this Saturday, 20th April 2019 from 12 noon to 2 pm at Carnegie Library, 192 Herne Hill Rd SE24 0AG.

Following the successful launch of this Forum on 16th February 2019, the Councillors are looking forward to further work in the Community to develop strategies to prevent and if possible eradicate this epidemic.

With your help at the first meeting, a range of areas were identified that needed to be tackled including:

• Poverty – especially in-work poverty
• School exclusion: disproportionately black children excluded from schools
• Lack of youth provision
• Mental health support
• Role of religious institutions (for example Churches, Mosques and Synagogues)
• Opportunities for young people
• Role modelling
• Housing shortages

You are invited to join us once more to develop our work in this area.  Please come and take part with the help of speakers:

• Florence Eshalomi London Assembly Member
• Cllr Mo Seedat Cabinet Member for Community Safety
• Pastor  Peter Adigun, Province Head, Celestial Church of Christ, Loughborough Junction
• Abdul Karim Chair of Lambeth Neighbourhood Board
• Representative from Lambeth Police Service

Organised by Herne Hill Councillors Cllr Pauline George and Cllr Jim Dickson.

(Hosted by Carnegie Community Trust CIO)

With the second meeting of the Garden Group coming up Carnegie Community Trust is moving into Spring both in the garden and inside.  See a note of the first meeting here.

Our new Project Development Officers start work a few days from now and they will be making more visible progress with the Community Hub; confirming hire prices for the available rooms, recruiting volunteers and working up their training offer, planning the Enterprise Centre with entrepreneurial activities, and building the overall business plan with the Trustees.

Already we are taking bookings for both regular and one off events in the Community Hub including yoga, exhibitions and large meetings and we are opening discussions about the community café.

We are developing local groups to take forward specific activities, including chess.  If you would like to get involved, or have an idea for an activity or project you would like to see at Carnegie – particularly if you are ready to offer some help – please let us know at:
info@carnegiecommunitytrust.org.uk

Best wishes,

Are you interested in helping to restore the garden at Carnegie?  The building works have left the border sections of the garden in a sorry state.  The rear garden has been landscaped, however the border gardens urgently need restoring.

Several people have expressed interest in forming a  garden group to take forward a careful renovation of the garden areas. This will involve firstly planning and seeking funds, and eventually planting to restore a lovely garden.   Some hard digging,  preferably by machine, will be needed along the way but we would not be expecting you to dig!

When: Saturday 16 February 2019

Where: Carnegie Library, 192 Herne Hill Road, London SE24 0AG

Time:   12 noon – 2.00 pm

A public meeting has been organised by Lambeth councillors to address the growing concern about violent crime, especially the impact it has on young people.  Last week Scotland Yard published latest figures showing that half of all knife crime offenders in London are teenagers or even younger children.

Local community leaders, elected representatives, faith leaders and local police will be present to discuss ideas to help address the issue of violent crime. It is hoped this might become a recurring series of meetings, so if you are keen to keep this issue at the top of the agenda, please take the opportunity to make your voice heard.

Speakers include:

Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich & West Norwood

Florence Eshalomi, Assembly Member for Lambeth & Southwark

Cllr Mohammed Seedat, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, LB Lambeth

Pastor Peter Adigun Province Head Celestial Church of Christ, Loughborough Junction

Representatives from Lambeth Police Service

Organised by Herne Hill Ward Councillors.

ALL WELCOME

The Carnegie Community Trust supports this event in pursuance of its charitable objects. A safe environment is essential to improving conditions of life in our area of benefit, and also to creating a successful Community Hub.

A big thank you to all who came to our pre-Christmas gathering at the Library, where the optimism and positivity of everyone was very encouraging.  People were excited by the new spaces becoming usable by the Community for the first time in decades.
If you couldn’t make it on the 10th, please feel free to get in touch and if you have any ideas, or some time to offer, let’s have a chat over coffee.

A list of some potential community activities is here.   Paper copies, and a post box, are available in the former Workroom (which CCT is licensed to use).  Some of the listed activities already existed before the building closed.

Let us all look forward to more progress in 2019, bringing this public building more fully into Community use.
Contact us on:  info@carnegiecommunitytrust.org.uk

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Carnegie Community Trust CIO