St Thomas’ Church is hosting a concert on Saturday
A charity concert raising money for earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria is taking place this weekend at St Thomas Church on Woodland Terrace. COLIN FOORD-DIVERS has the details…
St Thomas Church is hosting a concert by a band of young local musicians on Saturday 4th March at 5.00pm. The band are aged from 9 to 15 and are playing a set including songs by Talking Heads, The Beatles, Taylor Swift and songs they have written themselves.
They played a concert at the church last year and got a fantastic reception from a packed audience, raising money for the church’s school visits programme.
Tickets are £5 for adults and £1 for children with proceeds divided between the Turkish/Syrian Earthquake disaster (Embrace the Middle East) and St Thomas Church school visits.
The church is on Woodland Terrace, near Maryon Park, and if you’re coming from further afield, the 380 bus stops right outside.
Has the Six Nations reawakened your interest in rugby? Askeans, who took over the Rectory Field on Charlton Road a couple of years ago, are inviting the community to this Saturday’s match. DAVID SHUTE writes…
Askeans have reached the semi-final of the Counties 4 Kent Shield and are celebrating with a family day on Saturday when the match versus Greenwich will take place at the Rectory Field.
Admission is free. The day will start with a pre-match buffet from 1.30pm (£10, free for students and the unemployed) with the game kicking off at 2.30pm.
Everyone is welcome. For more information contact davidshute[at]outlook.com.
SOUTH EAST LONDON SLINGERS is a voluntary group that aims to help parents carry their children safely and comfortably. They have a pop-up market at Charlton Assembly Rooms on Sunday, February 5…
We are running an expectant parent and new family event on Sunday 5th February from 1-3.30pm in Charlton Assembly Rooms.
It is free to attend and we will have stalls with information for expectant parents and those with children under free.
There will be some items available to buy on the day including bargain slings, refreshments and other child related items.
For any queries about a stall, contact us on southeastlondonslingers[at]gmail.com, via our Facebook page or our website selphub.com.
The group also runs a sling library most Thursdays at Woolwich Library from 10am to noon – contact them for more details.
It’s that time of year again – Charlton House will be lighting its Christmas tree this Thursday, November 24th. There’ll also be an outdoor Christmas market, seasonal treats and warm drinks. The event runs from 3.30pm to 6.30pm, with the tree being lit at 5pm.
There’ll also be an indoor Christmas market on Saturday December 10th from 10am-4pm, promising carol singers and more than 40 stalls with festive decorations and accessories.
On Monday morning, staff and children at Invicta primary school joined firefighters past and present to mark 82 years since its original building was hit by a German parachute mine, killing 12 firefighters and three civilians. The school was being used as a base for the Auxiliary Fire Service at the time. Local war historian STEVE HUNNISETT was there – he takes up the story.
This year, the ceremony fell on the exact 82nd anniversary of the original incident, which occurred at 9:20 pm on 14th November 1940.
Ironically, the casualty list was so high because it was a rare quiet night in London, with the main thrust of the Luftwaffe’s attack being directed at the city of Coventry. As a result, instead of the resident firemen being out on calls as they would be on a “normal” Blitz night in London, they were still at the school, awaiting their first call of the night. The mine largely destroyed the school and instead of being the rescuers, the firemen of Invicta Road found themselves in need of help from the colleagues at other neighbouring fire stations.
Twelve firemen were killed, including Arthur Grant who had just weeks earlier been awarded the George Medal for carrying a live bomb from the assembly hall of the school into the playground, where it later exploded. Also killed were three civilians, including Charles White the school caretaker.
Present at the informal ceremony was Stephanie Maltman of the charity Firemen Remembered, who originally placed the plaque back in 2017. Also present were re-enactors representing the Auxiliary Fire Service and the Army, who fielded many questions from the pupils, including the school’s “History Hunters”, a group of children who specialise in the study of history. The History Hunters laid a poppy wreath at the memorial, as did a group of present-day firefighters from White Watch at East Greenwich Fire Station, who later to the delight of the children present, allowed them to inspect their fire engine and aim fire hoses across the school playground!
Thanks to Steve and Invicta Primary School for the photos.
The Charlton Neighbourhood Forum covers most of the SE7 area
On Saturday November 19, the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum are holding their Annual General Meeting (AGM), and members and non-members alike are all invited, write SARAH HORNSEY and PAUL CHAPMAN.
Since our last AGM we’ve had some great news. In February the Neighbourhood Forum was officially recognised by Greenwich Council (though not without some controversy over the boundary). Since then the committee have been working behind the scenes to get the forum ready to start the real work of putting together a neighbourhood plan. And that’s where you come in!
But first some quick background. The 2011 Localism Act gives local communities the right to shape development in their areas through the production of a neighbourhood plan. That plan is put together by a neighbourhood forum. The Neighbourhood Plan, in conjunction with other Plans, can shape future development on all sorts of issues, whether that is housing, transport policies, parks and recreation, heritage or more.
Forum members come from across the Charlton area
Put simply, a neighbourhood plan is a chance to have your voice heard when it comes to how Charlton develops in the future. The opinions expressed in that plan will be as diverse and representative as the members who make up the Forum, so if you live in Charlton please join us, and spread the word among your neighbours and ask them to join too.
At present, there are just under 300 members of the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum. But we want even more! Being a member of the forum doesn’t commit you to anything. You can sign up just to receive the newsletters and read the latest developments. Or you can get involved, either in shaping the whole plan or just in the specific areas that interest you.
In the coming year we’ll be running workshops, appearing at community events, and generally trying to reach as many people in the local community as we can as the forum put the plan together.
An early opportunity to hear more is the AGM on Saturday November 19 at Charlton House, at 11am. The AGM is an annual event where committee officers are proposed and voted for by forum members. You are really welcome to come along for a chat, have a cup of tea, join (if you haven’t already), vote on committee positions, or even put yourself forward for a post!
Meanwhile, you can read more about us on our website at charltonneighbourhoodforum.org. We also have a Facebook page, and a brand new Twitter account at @CharltonNForum (although whether Twitter still exists by the time you read this is unknown).
And if you have questions, or want to drop us an email, you can reach us on info[at]charltonneighbourhoodforum.org.
The volunteers caring for the Old Pond Garden at Charlton House have been busy over the past few days – KATHY AITKEN from the Charlton & Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society explains more and how you can get involved…
Garden volunteers at Charlton House have had a break from weeding and planting this week and have instead been decorating the iron gates to the walled gardens with a big display of poppies. The poppies are made from the bases of old plastic water bottles, which were donated by local Charlton residents during the year. While it may not be quite up to Tower of London standards, it still makes a wonderful “stop and remember” point during a walk through the park.
This is the second year the garden volunteers have made the display, it is becoming a fixture in their calendar, along with the Easter bunny hunts and Halloween spider trails. The volunteer scheme only started in 2020, just before the first lockdown, and is run in partnership between Charlton & Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society and the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust.
It was originally set up to revive the Old Pond Garden only, but has been so successful it has moved on to cover other parts of the estate. The scheme operates as a drop-in, so no commitment is necessary. Anyone with a love of gardens can come along any Tuesday 2-4 or Thursday 10-12 and join in. Tea and biscuits provided at half time!
The Charlton Champion 