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Watching a play can transport you to a different time and place. For a few hours, you can immerse yourself fully in a creative experience, free from distractions and day-to-day concerns. What’s more, as Zosha Nash says, “It’s not only about activating people’s imagination and experiencing the magic of creativity; it’s also about shared experience, which is becoming more and more rare in the 21st century.

“It’s about seeing stories from other people, other cultures that you may not ordinarily encounter, and sitting with people from all different walks of life to have that unique experience for one night only.”

Zosha is Director of Development at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, which has played a crucial role in West London for more than 130 years. The Lyric aims to be a platform for diverse talent. Zosha explains, “The stories on our stage reflect the community that we sit at the heart of. It’s really important that people can recognise themselves on the stage and recognise their stories.”

Making arts & culture affordable

While 73% of Londoners would like to go to the theatre, many simply cannot afford to. This is hardly surprising given that a single theatre ticket can cost over £100 at many London venues.

The Lyric takes a different approach. Its shows often receive critical acclaim, but tickets start at just £10. What’s more, the theatre offers free tickets to community groups through its Community Ticket Bank, which is part-funded by Hammersmith United Charities.

Zosha explains, “We want the theatre to be accessible to everyone, particularly those in our local community. For many people, it will be the very first time they’ve been to the theatre.

“The money from Hammersmith United Charities has gone towards funding free tickets for our recent show, Fences, and for our annual pantomime, which is brilliant for groups that serve young people or families. It’s also paid for theatre tickets for START and SPRINGBOARD participants [see below].”

Young Lyric

The Lyric offers free and low-cost theatre classes for young people, and also has three flagship inclusion schemes – START, SPRINGBOARD and REWIND.

Zosha says, “REWIND is for secondary school-age children who are at risk of leaving education. We work with these young people on being able to express themselves, tell their stories and re-engage with the educational environment. There are proven benefits to getting involved with arts & culture from a young age. Being confident and able to speak in public, for example, are soft skills that can have a knock-on effect in all different areas of your life, including employability and social mobility.”

START also aims to help young people develop soft skills that will benefit them throughout life. The six-week programme is for young people aged 16 to 25 who are currently not in education, employment or training. Zosha says, “We use theatre skills to improve confidence and enable the young person to look an interviewer in the eye, give a clear response and so on. It’s also about opening the door to the creative industries. If someone has never been into a theatre before, they usually wouldn’t have considered all the jobs that go on behind the scenes.”

The Lyric’s talent development programme, SPRINGBOARD, is helping to make theatre more accessible for young people from under-represented backgrounds. Unlike drama school, it’s free to attend and participants receive a bursary to help with living costs. Zosha says, “They have in-depth actor training, including sessions with every single one of our main stage directors. They learn all of the skills that you need to be a successful performer, such as vocal technique. They’re also coached in the practicalities of working as a self-employed actor.  Alumni have been on the West End stage, in TV commercials, in Netflix series and so on.”

Alongside its flagship programmes, The Lyric runs many other activities aimed at young people. A free Young Lyric membership, for example, offers £5 theatre tickets, member-only events and other benefits for young people up to the age of 25 who live in West London.

For the last two years, The Lyric has toured a play called Cross the Line, in partnership with H&F Council’s Gangs, Violence and Exploitation Unit, which tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who’s pulled into drug running. The show helps children to recognise the signs of grooming and County Lines exploitation before they’re most at risk. It’s been performed in every primary school in Hammersmith & Fulham and was awarded an Excellence in Arts Education award at the UK Theatre Awards.

Whether they’re enjoying a show, learning new skills or discovering a new career path, thousands of people across Hammersmith benefit from the Lyric every year. Who knows how far the experience could take them?

Get involved

If you’re interested in taking part in Young Lyric, you can find out more on the theatre’s website.

The Community Ticket Bank opens a few times each year. Keep an eye on the theatre’s Instagram page and the Ticket Bank webpage for more details.

Christmas is considered a time of togetherness, where we join friends and family to eat mince pies, play games, pull a cracker and celebrate. However, around 15% of people over 65 spend Christmas completely alone.

Here in Hammersmith, 500 residents who would otherwise be on their own at Christmas can instead join in with H&F’s Big Christmas Day Lunch. As well as roast turkey and all the trimmings, guests can enjoy dancing, live music and gifts. There’s no cost, and free transport to and from the lunch can also be arranged.

The event is organised by Hammersmith & Fulham Council in partnership with H&F Giving, and will be held at Novotel London West.

Book a place at the lunch

If you or someone you know wants to join the lunch, more details are available here. To attend, you need to be a resident of Hammersmith & Fulham and either be aged 60+ or referred by one of H&F’s services or charities. The closing date is Monday 7 December.

Support the Big Christmas Day Lunch

• The Big Christmas Day Lunch relies on donations from residents and local organisations. To ensure that people don’t have to spend Christmas alone, you can make a donation through H&F Giving here.
• If you work for an organisation that can’t donate, could they provide gifts for some of the goody bags instead? If so, please ask them to contact H&F Giving at team@hfgiving.or.uk
• Do you have a few hours spare to support The Big Christmas Day Lunch? Whether you want to take part on the day or help with preparations such as filling goody bags and writing cards, please sign up to volunteer here.

Young people face many challenges when leaving care, from financial instability to loneliness and mental health challenges. According to a Government study, many feel alone or isolated and don’t know where to turn.

Jenny Chigwende works in mental health so she is all too aware of the impact that childhood traumas and the care system can have on young people. Jenny is also Chair of W12Together – a resident-led charity for the people of Wormholt and White City.

In a bid to better support the care leavers in their community, W12Together is launching a new service, Tree for Life, which will offer narrative therapy for young care leavers who have experienced trauma.

Jenny says, “It’s a chance for them to tell their story, in a non-stigmatising, non-traumatising way, and to have the rest of the group hear their story. They’ll explore their strengths, values, relationships, skills, hopes and sources of resilience by drawing a tree to represent different parts of themselves. The roots are where you come from – the foundational things that helped to make you who you are. The ground is where you are now. The trunk is your skills and talents; the branches are your hopes and dreams; the leaves are the people who are important to you; and the fruits are the gifts that you’ve been given by those people, like patience.”

The new service is due to launch in January and is being funded with a grant from Hammersmith United Charities.

Christmas dinner for young people who have experienced care

The Tree of Life project is building on an existing W12Together service – its annual Christmas dinner for care leavers. Jenny shares, “The White City dinner launched two years ago through Gold from the Stone – a charity set up by the poet Lemn Sissay to make sure that care leavers have a space to go on Christmas Day, where they can have dinner and feel part of the community. If you live in W12 and you are a care-experienced young person, there will always be a place at our table.”

Each young person who attends will receive a Christmas hamper, along with a quilt from Quilts for Care Leavers. Jenny explains, “The idea is that it’s a hug in a quilt. Every care leaver at the dinner can decide whether they want a quilt, and if they do, they can choose the colour and style.

“One young person who came to our first dinner was about to go into her first flat on her own. She was terrified and talked a lot about that at the dinner. In January, she sent us a photo of her on a sofa wrapped in the quilt. She said, ‘I spent my first night in the flat. I was really anxious, so I reached for my quilt and I felt all of you guys around me.’”

Get involved with W12Together

As well as its support for care leavers, W12Together is working to improve life for the residents of Wormholt and White City in many other ways. You can get involved by:

• Joining a focus group to help shape the future of local healthcare
• Volunteering at local events, such as the charity’s annual festival
• Helping the charity with admin or other tasks
• Joining the Board of trustees
• Offering support in other ways, such as wrapping gifts for the care-leavers’ Christmas dinner

Find out more on W12Together’s website

More than 30% of people over 65 live alone. While many do so happily, others can find themselves becoming increasingly isolated as their mobility needs increase.

Jazz Browne is CEO of Nubian Life. She says, “Isolation is not simply the absence of activity; it is the absence of trusted contact. It’s about not having someone who understands the cultural references, family pressures, migration history, food, faith, humour, grief and pride that shape later life.”

Culturally competent care

Nubian Life provides day care services for African and African-Caribbean residents aged 65+ in Hammersmith & Fulham. The charity started 30 years ago when, as Jazz explains, “A group of elders recognised that they weren’t going back to the Caribbean. They were made to feel unwelcome when trying to access services, and so they set up their own group – Hammersmith & Fulham Black Senior Citizens – which then became a luncheon club, Nubian Life, which then developed into the day centre.”

“Nubian Life is a place where people feel welcomed. They feel at home and they do not have to explain who they are. It is really important that culture is not considered as just an add-on when it comes to care for older people. They do not leave their culture, memory, faith, food, music, family life or lived experience at the door when they need care. Culture is who that person is, and care should respond to the essence of that person. We collect clients in the morning, bring them into the day centre and organise a wide range of activities based on their interests.”

Most of the people who attend the day centre have dementia and/or complex health needs and some are on very low incomes. Jazz shares, “Our clients are known as the Windrush generation, who had to work twice as hard, but they remained lowly paid. When we look at the impact of financial inequality in later life, we’re looking at financial instability; we’re looking at poor quality of life in some cases and we’re looking at isolation and loneliness because they cannot always  afford to go out and join clubs and take part in social activities.”

Alongside its day centre, Nubian Life offers a weekly social group for older men, an advocacy service and exercise classes.

Befriending

Hammersmith United Charities has recently given Nubian Life a grant of £14,374 towards the cost of launching a new befriending service. The service is aimed at people who cannot attend the day centre, either because they don’t meet the criteria or because they’re housebound.

Jazz says, “People can become very isolated at home or in residential care . It’s important that they don’t just fade away. Nubian Life will offer a culturally competent befriending scheme designed to reach people before isolation sets in.”

The charity will be recruiting volunteers through Nextdoor and social media, and is aiming to match them with isolated older people who share similar interests.

Jazz adds, “ The befriending scheme is about building resilience at a community level, so that we all start thinking about what’s going on behind closed doors for older or vulnerable people in our communities.”

Alongside the one-to-one befriending service, Nubian Life will run four group connection activities, tailored to the clients’ interests, whether that be the theatre, art or sightseeing.

HUC’s grant will pay for a part-time member of staff to co-ordinate the befriending scheme. Jazz says, “As a charity. HUC are very clued up about the needs of local communities within the areas that they cover. The staff are really supportive. They’re not a distant funder; they are very approachable.”

Volunteer in Hammersmith & Fulham

Jazz is keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in becoming a volunteer befriender. She says, “If you’re interested in the theatre, going out, knitting or any other kind of activity, and you have a couple of hours a week that you’d like to share with somebody, we’d welcome you. Even if you can only spare 20 minutes one evening a week, that’s enough time for a telephone call and any time is valuable if you share it with somebody else.”

Find out more by contacting Nubian Life: info@nubianlife.org.uk / 0208 749 8017