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If someone you know is aged 60+ and likely to be alone on Christmas Day, please tell them about the H&F Big Christmas Day Lunch. Up to 500 people will celebrate Christmas Day together at Novotel London West. The annual event is free to attend and includes a two-course lunch, live music and a goodie bag.

Almost one million older people in the UK often feel lonely. While this can be hard to cope with at any time of the year, Christmas can be particularly difficult. The festive period can be a painful reminder of loved ones lost or living far away.

The Big Christmas Day Lunch means that people can choose to enjoy the day with others rather than spending it alone. The event is always very popular. Guests and volunteers dance, chat and form new friendships.

It’s completely free to attend and free transport can also be arranged for those who need it.

Get involved

Attend the lunch

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Big Christmas Day lunch, you can sign up here. The last day to register is December 10th. 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.

Donate to ensure more people can benefit

It costs around £55,000 to run the event, so it’s only thanks to the generosity of local people and businesses that H&F Council can keep the lunch free to attend. Without these donations, many more people would spend Christmas Day alone and lonely. If you’d like to support the lunch, you can find out more and make a donation here.

Volunteer to help local residents

H&F Council is recruiting volunteers to support the Big Christmas Day Lunch. If you can’t volunteer on the day, there are still plenty of ways to get involved, from filling goodie bags to writing Christmas cards. You can sign up to volunteer here.

Volunteers are at the heart of our community, sharing their time and skills to support others and, in turn, gaining new experiences, new friendships and contentment. Around 966,000 people volunteer in London each year. Those aged between 65 and 74 are the most likely to volunteer. Once people have retired from paid work, they often find that they want to continue contributing to their community and now have more time to do so.

One such volunteer is almshouse resident Siobhan, who has been supporting the Chelsea & Kensington branch of the Royal British Legion for 10 years. She finds it immensely rewarding: “Volunteering is a way of giving something back and helping others. It gives one a good feeling.”

For several years, Siobhan took on much of the responsibility for organising the branch’s Poppy Appeal, including managing volunteers and ordering stock, as well as selling poppies herself. She shares, “It ended up taking up a full four months each year. At our busiest times, I’d sometimes leave my home at 8.30am and not get back until 7pm.”

This year, Siobhan has reduced her workload considerably, but she’s still been helping out by packing and selling poppies.

The Poppy Appeal raises around £45-£55 million every year, which the Royal British Legion uses to support thousands of members of the armed forces, including with:

• Emergency grants, temporary accommodation and other practical support
• Career advice and training
• Counselling and wellbeing services
• Care homes, home adaptations and mobility equipment

None of this would be possible without an army of volunteers across the UK, many of whom have retired from paid work. As well as raising money, Royal British Legion volunteers help to raise awareness. Siobhan shares, “People will stop by the stand and ask questions. They’re often surprised that the Poppy Appeal isn’t just about the World Wars; it’s about supporting all veterans.”

Siobhan wholeheartedly recommends that people consider volunteering. Prior to the Royal British Legion, she supported Crisis at Christmas for five years and found it a “magical, rewarding and gratifying” thing to do. In fact, Siobhan has already found her next voluntary role – supporting patients and staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. She’ll be greeting visitors, running errands and delivering medicine to wards.

Siobhan isn’t the only person at Hammersmith United Charities who enjoys volunteering. Several of our other residents and staff members volunteer regularly or on an ad-hoc basis. Siobhan even persuaded Scheme Manager Chris and Gardener Victoria (V) to sell poppies when she was short of volunteers!

Find out more

The Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion is always keen to hear from people who would like to volunteer. There are a number of ways to support veterans through the charity, from selling poppies and sorting stock to helping in the office. To find out more, email ChelseaKensington.Chairman@rbl.community

Other ways to volunteer

Hammersmith & Fulham offers hundreds of ways to volunteer for your community. As Victoria Hill, Chief Executive & Clerk to the Trustees at Hammersmith United Charities, says, “Every single one of our grant-holders relies on volunteers in one way or another.”

You could read with children, serve clients at your local foodbank or help people to manage their finances. Whatever your interests, skills or availability, you’ll find volunteering opportunities by contacting local charities or visiting Simply Connect and Link Up London.

While caring for a loved one can be an extremely rewarding experience, it can also be an isolating one. Artist Mellezia channelled those feelings to create The RENA Initiative – a CIC offering free visual arts programmes that create opportunities for people to be connected, empowered and valued.

Mellezia explains, “RENA stands for Recognising, Empowering and Nurturing Artists. Rena is also my mother’s name. She taught me that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to and be whoever I wanted to be. I wanted to be able to share that experience of being nurtured and empowered with others.”

Creative workshops

The RENA Initiative is currently delivering HeArty – a project co-designed with residents – where health and wellbeing practitioners come together with artists to share health education through fun and creative activities. Attendees are older women and women from global majority backgrounds ranging in age from 24 to 86. One participant shares, “There are very few spaces like this one in which, as women, we can be totally free to express ourselves and be at peace with one another. We share many things not only about art but also about our lives and that is very special.”

Tackling isolation

A key aim of The RENA Initiative is to help ease social isolation and loneliness. As one participant shares, “The project has done excellent work to educate me, improve my self-esteem, expose my hidden talent, keep me in touch with the community, gain new friendships and have a better quality of life.”

Empowering women

Mellezia mentors others to lead workshops, set up their own business and develop their project ideas. One mentee shares, “I feel Mellezia has a genuine interest in developing my know-how, best practices, care and attention for these workshops and events, which has boosted my confidence. Even if I were to hit a bump, there is always guidance and support.”

Menopause Awareness Month

This year, as in previous years, October’s HeArty workshop was focused on Menopause Awareness Month. Mellezia explains, “Due to the way that women, especially Black women, have been treated by medical professionals in the past, there’s a resistance to asking for help. It’s really important for me to create safe spaces where the community feel empowered and able to advocate for themselves. This year, we partnered with health coach Lorraine Fontaine of TheWellHealthSpace.com to explore how to support brain health and emotional wellbeing through the stages of menopause. Artist Jenny Bardoville then led a session on neurographic art.”

HUC’s grant

We recently awarded The RENA Initiative a £7,684 grant to support its work. Mellezia says, “We could not afford to provide our services without the help of this grant.

“What I love about HUC is that they are embedded in the community. They invest in grassroots organisations and projects that are important to residents. HUC trust and empower us to deliver our services, and they are accessible if we need support.”

Broadening horizons

“The cost-of-living crisis is massively impacting our community,” Mellezia says. “We provide activities that are fun and free. As well as workshops, we go on monthly outings. This month, we’re going to London Zoo; we’ll have a guided tour of the zoological society library, explore the zoo, sketch some of the animals and enjoy a nice lunch. That is something that would otherwise be completely out of reach for many people.”

The women agree. As one says, “This project has given me the opportunity to visit places I thought was out of my reach. It has broadened my horizon.”

The RENA Initiative has turned into a true tribute to Mellezia’s mother and helped Mellezia to work through her grief at losing her mother, “It helps to keep me going, knowing that something beautiful has come out of such immense loss. It is thriving, it lives on and it’s helping others.”

Find out more

The RENA Initiative’s HeArty workshops and outings both take place once a month on a Thursday. If you’d like to join, email info@therenainitiative.com or visit www.therenainitiative.com

Spending time in nature brings a wealth of benefits for children’s mental and physical heath. However, 34% of children in London don’t have a garden and 5% have no access to any outdoor space at all. Families on a low income are more than twice as likely to be deprived of outdoor space as those on a better income.

As Carlos Izsak, the new director of Urbanwise.London, says, “Our grandparents’ generation would explore miles from their home without supervision. Now, children go from their home to their car to school and then back again. They don’t get to explore the outdoors as much. They spend a lot more time on devices and they’ve lost touch with the local environment.”

Founded in 1983, Urbanwise.London gives children and adults the chance to reclaim the natural world. Carlos explains, “We work with young people and community groups to help them learn about the environment, history and geography, including how places have changed and will change.”

The educational charity is based in College Park and Old Oak – an area of high deprivation, where 38% of households have an annual income under £30,000. Over half of the homes are flats or maisonettes and many families can’t afford extra-curricular activities for their children. While the ward includes one of London’s largest public green spaces – Wormwood Scrubs – many residents don’t make full use of it.

Hammersmith United Charities’ grant

We’ve supported Urbanwise.London with several grants over the years. Our latest grant is helping to fund:

• A club at Old Oak’s Family Hub for children and parents
• After-school clubs at Kenmont and Old Oak primary schools
• A summer family event and trips out

All sessions are free for participants and will include hands-on experiences out on Wormwood Scrubs. Carlos shares, “The children might learn how to use simple tools, how to look after themselves outdoors and how to be more resilient if it’s cold or raining. There’s a lot of teamwork involved and our education officer, Lydia, runs creative, sustainable arts and crafts activities with the children, plus some forest school-inspired activities.

“We also explain that the Scrubs is a resource for them to use and tell them about activities that they can join. It’s not just about connecting with nature; it’s about connecting with the local area and its history.”

The impact

Urbanwise.London aims to close the opportunity gap by offering children from families on a very low income the chance to engage with nature in a way that their better off peers may take for granted. 93% of children who participate in an Urbanwise.London project report feeling happier and calmer after sessions. Teachers and community staff say that children’s behaviour and focus improves.

As one parent fed back, “My child came home excited and confident – he talks about nature in a way he never did before. This is the first time I have been able to keep him attending a club outside of school.”

Other projects

Urbanwise.London also runs several other projects for people around Hammersmith, including:

• Guided walks focusing on culture, heritage, wildlife and wellbeing
• Greener Canalside, where a team of volunteers tidy and replant the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, including litter-picking by kayak!
• Local studies sessions and projects with schools

Black History Month

One of our previous grants enabled Urbanwise.London to create a film for Black History Month. The film showcases historical figures who have made an impact on Hammersmith, from Mary Seacole to Ellen and William Craft.

Find out more

To keep up to date with Urbanwise.London and find out when projects are open to new participants, sign up to the charity’s newsletter.

If you’d like to volunteer to help more children enjoy nature, the charity would love to hear from you. Email learn@urbanwise.london.